I had a really good one last week! I was commuting to work and came up on the last stop light. The driver in the car beside me rolled his window down and told me that he sees me all the time on a bicycle coming to work. He said that I need to manage my money better and I would be able to afford a car.

I responded by telling him that "I just bought a brand new MB C240 a week ago and I am commuting to work so that I don't become a fat-a$$ like you are sitting in the vehicle! By the way, come back to me when you have a truck that is more expensive than my bicycle!" He wasn't too appreciative of that remark!

I'm still waiting till I move out to the suburbs so I can get a nice $7000 seven to commute on. Then when some driver in a cheap hyundai drives up, I can say, "my bike probably costs more than your car."

This guy's junker would have been luck to bring $1000.

Be careful it is not wise to piss off people in large heavy vehicles . On the other hand I understand why you told him off.

bike bike now (2005 trek 520) costs more than my first and second car put together. Love the bike, don't miss the cars at all

ray

My wife and I just bought a 2nd car (a Toyta Prius) two weeks ago. Most often we still leave both of them at home, she rides the bus and I cycle.

The only time I take the car to work is if I must run an errand (i.e. pick up bricks at hardware store) or appointment (i.e. dr. appt 10mi away on 1hr. break) that can not be done on cycle only.

Al

That wasn't really necessary was it...
Could've just smiled and said ok while thinking to yourself... little does he know. I reserve harsh comments for people that cut me off and honk at me.

I agree, I think it was a little harsh. I would have gone the other way - I would have mentioned the car but I would have said that I liked to bike instead and describe some of the benefits of cycling to work.

This says it all. In terms of finance, I've actually been able to invest quite a bit for my retirement, largely due to the fact that I haven't owned a car in five years. I've estimated that my bike has saved me $8,000-10,000 in that time.

This might sound stereotypical, but I'm guessing that driver's attitude is fairly typical in that part of the country. There are some people like that here in Seattle, but probably far fewer.

A more subtle way would've been to say, "I can't afford a car yet, my bike cost me $6500 cause I opted for the campy record shifter set."
Then watch them try and realize that you just said your bike costs several times their car.

Ummm, to the cagers way of thinking wouldn't you just prove his point? After all they see little difference between some expensive uber bike and some Walmart special. He'd probably think you really have poor money management problems, but then how many financial advisors drive beater pick ups.

How about, "My bike only costs 1/4th what my mercedes convertible costs, I save that for weekends."

Once while waiting at a red light I had a carload of smarta$$ teenagers yell at me, "Get a car you idiot!" They laughed out loud as they drove off on the green light. Needless to say, I quickly caught up to them once the traffic came to a gridlock and as I passed them (you guessed it) I yelled, "Get a bike you idiots!" and as I rode away, they never caught up to me.

And about bike costs, my hubby and I used to use his old El Camino to haul around our mountain bikes. The ongoing joke amongst our friends was that the bikes increased the value of the El Camino by 300%.

Hahhahah OOOOOOOOWNED!

my reply to this line of crep is "I am managing my money...riding this to work on bike saves me thousands a year...and I get exercise...think of it as a self-given pay raise"

Of course they usually just roll up the window and look away after that

I sold a motorcycle so I could get a bike and equip it for commuting. After all is said and done, I'll have paid more for the bike & accessories that I did for the motorcycle.

I am fortunate to own a very reliable exoperienced (used) car. So far, every year from the beginning of March to the beginning of December, it sits in the driveway, unless I need it to go out with the little lady, shopping, chores, etc, which generally sums up Friday PM through Saturday PM.
Though I am not a huge cyclist by any stretch, I can honestly say that I put more kilometers on the bike than I do in the car. By far, I know that my bike is worth more than the car. Heck! I paid more for 2 bike tires than I did for 4 car tires. Go figure right? Now, wouldn't it be nice if I got a set of those Conti GP4's... what else is on the (bike) wishlist...

I thought the reply was a little hard.

Anyway. There are plenty of people like myself who struggled owning a car. I could never save any money when owning a motorcar after paying the monthly bank loan, insurance, gas, tolls, tickets and repairs. You have to make good money today to own a car in the city and it's silly when you consider all the bus and rail transport available.

Owning a car does not make you richer. It means your monthly transportation costs are very high.

Would anyone ever consider driving their car up to a bus stop to roll down the window and say, "y-know people, if you manage your money better, you could be owning cars like me and drive to work.".

I live in calgary, and our public transportation is bursting at the seams because parking downtown is either impossible or too expensive. Try telling an oil exec using alternative transportation he should save his money to buy a car. He probably already has a hummer and a lexus sitting in his garage.

[QUOTE
I responded by telling him that "I just bought a brand new MB C240 a week ago and I am commuting to work so that I don't become a fat-a$$ like you are sitting in the vehicle! By the way, come back to me when you have a truck that is more expensive than my bicycle!" He wasn't too appreciative of that remark! [/QUOTE]

How on earth could you have gotten all that out of your mouth on the spur of the moment? As you can see, my hat is off to you.
Of course, one always thinks of a come-back much later, but I would have impugned his intelligence for being a slave to his vehicle.

LOL, can you imagine? If you did that in Philly, you'd probably have half those people pull a gun and shoot at you.

I'm struck by the difference in acceptance levels towards bikers in different areas. I mean, here in the North East US, in the suburbs, I never had a problem and many drivers seem to be more careful around a bike. But there are no places to lock up a bike, and most traffic lights don't respond to a bike. The only time I experienced any aggressive behavior has been when I rode into the city.

Then over the weekend I took a trip (by car) down to Arlington, Virginia, and saw LOTS of commuters. One person was carrying groceries in a pannier, one had a guitar strapped to her back, one old guy in a derby cap and sports jacket looked like a college professor. There were bike lanes on the road, and places to lock up your bike all over the place. It was so different from here in the 'burbs and in Philly.

$1K would buy a good bike.

That's a similar decision I had to make recently. A friend was going to sell me a truck for around $1k. It was a really good truck for the price. A great deal if I had wanted a truck. Then I started thinking about it. 1) I don't NEED it 2) I don't think I even WANT it. If I had a car, it might keep me off my bike sometimes and I wasn't willing to pay money to tempt myself to skip the best part of my day.

I COULD have taken that $1k that I was prepared to spend on the truck and bought a bike. But I decided that my old faithful bike has more miles left on it and it can wait. So the money went into 401k. Now, let that guy lecture me about managing my finances!

Publlic transportation is considered the poor mans motorcar. I don't see it that way but people are brain washed after watching 40 hours of sports car commercials each week that this is the only way of life. People would rather save nothing for retirement, pay minimum on credit cards, walk around with an empty check book for the luxury of showing the neighbors they have a car. It's insane.

Man, you've got balls telling off a driver like that. I'd be afraid they would circle back around and try to hit me from behind. Or down here in Alabama everybody and his brother has a hunting rifle. They just wait till the next day and you'd get sniped