I too am from Australia, and as a cyclist I've already coughed up: besides riding a bike I have two cars and a motorbike on which I pay all relevant taxes. I do more kilometres per year on my bikes than the powered vehicles combined (tho' they do around 5000km per year all up), so not only am I subsidizing driver's fat arses thru' my tax and fuel levies, I'm causing less wear and tear on the roads, not taking up your precious car park spaces, and spending less time twiddling my thumbs burning juice whilst going nowhere.
The vast majority of cyclists I know who ride chiefly on the road (and I've known quite a few having been a cyclist for some 35 years) own and use motor vehicles, so give that rotting carcass of an argument up.
What apparently sticks in your gullet is that cyclists are LEGAL road users who unbelievably may at times exercise some road position to protect themselves, and in so doing add 10 seconds to your journey. And don't give me that 'cyclists are a law unto themselves' crap - get out there on a bike and see how many boofheads in cars routinely make up their own rules as they go along. You'll get no argument from me that there's definitely wankers in both camps, but I've never been run off the road by a wanker on a bike who thought it was a great laugh to buzz me, or had some deadshit on a bike hurl a half full beer can at me as he passed going the other way.
