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I talk about bikes a lot. I think some people around me are kind of tired of hearing me talk about how great bikes are all the time. I believe bicycles are better than cars. I know some bike advocates still drive cars and get a little touchy about that.
I used to drive a car. Growing up in Estacada, it seemed like there was an unwritten law that said "you must drive a car." I obeyed without question. I never even thought about it. One day when I was driving to work, I started noticing the cyclists around me and realizing that I was polluting the atmosphere and wasting resources and they weren't. I realized that I was contributing to the rising rate of asthma and that they weren't. They were part of the solution. I was part of the problem. I knew that the only solution was to buy a bicycle and start commuting by bike.
Motor vehicle use degrades the environment in a number of ways, but bicycle use does not. Noise pollution, for instance, is a real problem for those living near highways, but bicycles produce no noise. Congestion creates stress for motor vehicle users, pedestrians, and cyclists, but bicycling does not significantly add to congestion. Adding extra lanes to existing roadways and building limited-access highways can degrade or even destroy neighborhoods. Creating bikeways or adding shoulders to roads, can be used for cycling, and have beneficial effects. Motor vehicles are the primary cause of air pollution in the US, but bicycles produce none. And carbon dioxide from motor vehicles adds to global warming, but bicycles are again innocent.

Pollution from our cars destroys wildlife habitat. People are