Stoopid driver's license.....
Admittedly, it was close. I wasn't super gung-ho on the idea of a car, but spending a grand on a nice bicycle rather than a beater car just wasn't something that occurred to me and my family as a good idea.
The whole car thing never really took hold until I got hooked on rally. Many thousand of dollars and hours spent on cars and motorcycles later, I've learned that bicycle racing is about the only kind of racing I can afford (but just barely).