I made my last car payment this year. That was a great day ... I felt a lot like a slave until then, partly because the economy went sour. I had a really terrible job that I was afraid to quit, largely because I was already on the hook with the car loan. Great to be out from under that!

That's another way bikes are better than cars ... people rarely go into debt for a bike, making payments for years. Just the interest on a typical car loan will pay for a carbon fiber race bike with Ultegra all around. To my credit, though, I was commuting 20 miles each way when I bought the car ... now it's 4.7 miles each way, on the bike. Better late than never, to benefit from knowledge.