No thanks, they can go take a hike on their bike.
I live miles away from work, up and down major hills, the one time I tried it I was knackered, hot and sweaty and it took absolutely ages. There aren't enough hours in the day for that... no showers at work.. and I don't trust the oiks around town to leave my bike alone. A colleague here gets really cheesed off how often his bike gets vandalised - and he has to use a chain a mile long and thread it through every removable part - or bring the front wheel, saddle, lights etc into the office for safekeeping. Might as well bring the whole bleedin thing indoors up the stairs, it's only the frame and back wheel left chained up!
And in winter it's utterly miserable, I remember that from my schooldays, breathing through a scarf wrapped around my head to keep my face warm, hands frozen inside my gloves, the joy of being soaked right through, with dirt spattered up my back because the mudguard didn't catch it all. Filthy trousers, oil stains, all the fun of chains coming off - I'm delighted to have all that firmly in the past.
NO NO NO. So long as everyone else in the civilsed world can afford to run their own personal motorised transport, I insist upon being able to do the same.
I also remember how much accidents hurt, and I still have problems with a knee, even now. NO WAY, for the sake of my family, am I putting myself up for that kind of risk. No matter how much fuel goes up, no matter how much the Live-Life-Our-Way-Or-Else busybodies put up parking costs, I'll cling on to my car until the bitter end. I'd rather give up work and live on welfare than give up my car. I wish the usual anti-car suspects (a certain constable and roads committee spring to mind) could understand even a fraction of how strongly I feel about that... and I suspect I'm not the only one.
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