Originally posted by Chris L
The concerns spelled out in the above post explain why, given a choice, I always use the backstreets. Another thing I do is to slow down when a particularly bad one (i.e. a truck or something) passes me. I don't mind riding like a granny for a few hundred metres to save my lungs. 
Chris
Why is it that Chris L. always makes so much sense?
Another argument for cycling vs. driving: cycling alerts you daily of your need to keep healthy (which, in turn, keeps you healthy, etc.). Driving demands just enough of your physical man (or woman) so as to alert you to practically nothing. :confused: