Two reactions in a car... I fail to see how "fun" some folks apparently find it.

The other reaction is that it takes a long time to get to some close places in a car.

I haven't driven in six or seven months, so this is from memory. The thing I remember most from last time was continuously looking for my rear view where my drop bar end would be. Trying to see behind while looking at the arm rest doesn't cut it!

I hear car owners go on a lot more about their car's appointments than they do about driving them. But all the leather seats, ipod hookups, and cupholders in the world won't save you from those red lights you're hitting. Uh oh, I feel a smug attack coming on...

Whether I'm walking or driving, I find myself always looking to my upper left to see who is behind me. However, when I'm walking or driving, I'm not wearing my bike helmet with rear view mirror attached, so I can't see who is behind me. I actually have to turn my head to do that when walking or look to my lower left/upper right for the rear view mirrors in the car. I've come to depend far too heavily on my rear view mirror.

I'm much more nervous about driving now that I'm in my car so little.

Much, much rather be on my bike.

I tend to coast slowly up to a red light waiting for it to change to green so that i don't have to come to a complete stop and unclip. At least it gets me more miles in between brake jobs.

You actually should do this anyway, saves both brakes and gas. However, it drives those racing to the red light utterly insane.

I don't have a problem driving after cycling for weeks on end, but i do have two issues. 1) the power goes to my head and i drive like the lead footed a-hole we bemoan here. 2) i can't stand a traffic jam, if i have to wait two or more light cycles i die inside.

I keep going down these one or two dead ends with bicycle path cut throughs to the next neighborhood then I realize I can't fit.

I go under the speed limit and get worried when cars come up behind me and aren't moving over.

I feel alot less visible and trapped in my car and am paranoid about the other drivers.

Are some of you guys making some of this up? I can't see how you can possibly mistake being in a car with being on your bike, they feel so different. When I'm driving a car, I feel awkward and more aware of what I'm doing because it is an unusual situation that I'm in, I don't relax and behave like a bike. That's not to say I'm relaxed on my bike, I'm definitely vigilant/aware, but I'm even more vigilant/aware/stressed in a car. I make my girlfriend drive a lot more now.

Now when I'm behind the wheel, I drive like an old man -- under the speed limit, never in a hurry. I coast a lot.

What's the rush? I'm blistering along at 25 mph ... uphill!

Since I drive my car and bicycle the same way I don't have this issue at all. Good habits on the bike translate to the car and good habits in the car translate to the bike. Bad habits do as well apparently as I note from comments in this thread.

+1000



I like to roll down the window and feel the air on my face...

When I drive, I miss the smells of the world around me. One of my favorite bike commuting "rewards" is coming home near dinner time and smelling all the food cooking in the neighborhood and trying to figure out what someone is having for dinner. Mmmmm Meat Loaf...

I think the part of the brain that's making the routine on-road decisions (checking for obstructions, adjusting speed and position as necessary etc.) doesn't care if you're in a car or on a bike - it just kinda does what it's used to doing. I drive extremely little (so every time I'm in a car it's definitely a new and unusual situation for me making me vigilant and sometimes unnerved), but even so I occasionally still find myself thinking "Parked car ahead, oh not a problem, there is room left in the lane, so I don't have to chang lanes... um, wait... I'm in a car, the car won't fit there."

On the other hand, I do have a zero-tolerance policy on rolling stop signs when in a car. That comes naturally anyway, since you can't see anything in that freaking metal cage, and you really do need to stop a lot of the times to be certain that the intersection is clear. Well, at least I do.

You can never forget how to drive... it's just like riding a bike.

Nothing related to driving necessarily, but when walking, I've found myself looking down when trying to look back (since I'm leaning so far forwards on a bike). I also check my blind spots before changing "lane position" while walking on sidewalks or in hallways.

In general I think biking has made me a slower driver on secondary roads and city streets but not always a better driver. I seldom drive in the city so I get frustrated in the car- I can get there much faster on the bike. Most of my driving is highway/freeway driving and since I don't do that on the bike my habits are pretty much all car related.

I do sometimes forget that I've driven and have come out and looked for my bike thinking it's been stolen before I realized I drove- then I have to remember what I did with the car?!

Yes, the brain does develop mental habits, but they are usually triggered by the context/environment. Being on the road on a bike and being on the road in a car are completely different contexts for me, so my biking habits are suppressed and a whole new "oh crap I'm huge and fast" frame of mind starts.

I haven't forgot how to drive but I let my dl expire so long ago the state seems to think I did. I have to take the whole driving test over again. The bummer is I no longer own a car so I can't take the test. Guess I am stuck with the bike.

Driven maybe three times since 7/07. Thinking abut getting a new car this year but get disgusted every time I see some assinine behavior on the road or see some money pit making all kinds of noise. Keep thinking to myself, do I really want to go back to this for the luxury of taking a trip whenever I feel like it, going back to school, or if I become unemployed?
When I do drive I'm much more cautious and downtown Cleveland at rush hour stressed the hell out of me.

Yikes! I'm glad most of you stick to bikes as primary transportation. Reading through this thread makes me wonder how many poor drivers I've encountered were really just bicyclists off the saddle. This could be referenced as one of the best "pot calling the kettle black" threads ever.

I find myself starting to point out holes and signal turns with my arms when driving sometimes. I've also been driving slower because I'm just not as comfortable driving when I only do it 1-2 days a week. When I drive to work, I take roads I would never cycle on because of the heavy traffic and speed limits, and it seems so much more dangerous than commuting on the back roads and neighborhood streets of my bike route.

That's the closest I've gotten to "forgetting how to drive". I never got stuck, just ended up on the opposite corner of a park that I usually ride through but had to drive around.

I've never had that much stuff in my cars -- I always liked driving better than parking. I did install an amplifier, better speakers and a sub in my last one, but focused more on handling & power mods in my current car. Ironic, then, that I live in one of the worst-congested cities in the US. At least the auto racing scene around here is really strong.

More like admissions of "I suck at driving, so I should stay on my bike."

Exactly. What good is 400 HP when you're revving up and riding your brakes through an endless series of traffic lights?

True. How's this for irony, though: because I ride to get so many places in town, the bike makes it easier to justify modifying the car since it's mainly used for long trips, bigger loads, and just for fun.

Like I said,
The last excuse I need now is to get married. She'd have a more civilized car, so I could strip mine down and make it louder, faster, and harsher.

I've never driven that much, so I get nervous and drive like an old lady.

But as far as actual habits, it takes me a while to get used to using mirrors again. Not good, probably. I retain the habit of looking over my shoulder frequently to see what's going on behind me, as though I were on the bike. And then I get annoyed at all the stuff blocking my vision...

Since most people here are admitting to driving very infrequently, I doubt it. Most people are describing a lack of familiarity, not the sort of aggressive and unskilled riving that is the scariest whether you yourself are on a bike, in a car, or on foot.

Also in my case, I pay pretty close attention and drive very cautiously.