So I've been using a PowerTap for just a few weeks, and this is already happening to me:

"Those who adopt the bicycle as a means of transportation could potentially develop an increased awareness of the environmental impact of their actions and may over their lifetimes reduce energy consumption substantially in their other, non-transportation activities."

I'm tending to turn off the lights in the house more frequently now that I know I can get to work 23 miles away with *less* energy than it takes to light my kitchen for 90 minutes.

"For trips of more than 10 km outside of cities, the automobile may require less transportation time than the bicycle. There may therefore be an economic cost in lost productivity due to longer transit times by bicycle for those who would not otherwise spend time on physical activity."

Clearly, the author has never experienced some of the area highways at peak hours (I'm thinking of portions of I-66, for instance).

OK, maybe I'm over-stating it. However, I would note that the opposite level of productivity should be taken into account. In order to get from my home to my office, it's about a 10 to 15 minute bicycle ride. It is consistently about 40 minutes to drive (rather, be driven - driving and finding parking would take longer) or take public transit. It takes me no more than 15 minutes to lock the bike up, take a shower, and be ready for the work day. This means that I'm normally in the office at least 10 minutes sooner than would otherwise be the case. Thus, productivity increases along with my health.

Of course, you have to also take into consideration the decreased productivity associated with showing up at lunch hour to participate in the "Hains Point Grand Prix and 365-day Omnium," but that's another question....

Soylent Green was just on tv yesterday, that showed one solution to all that increased longevity...

As this article proves once and for all, anybody who is really serious about saving the environment from themselves needs to commit suicide *immediately* to reduce their hideous burden that each of us material-consuming, smelly material-producing goods places on the sweet, sweet Earth. While she moans when you drive a Hummer, Mother Gaia flat out weeps when you ride a bicycle. (She'd weep when I ride, but I'm way too fat, and she can barely breathe when I'm wheeling across her ample and strangely spherical bosom). It's clear these bicyclists, or "bicyclists" as they are sometimes called by critics, are a Menace 2 Society.

For completion of the Earth-loving environment-saving suicide, watching Bill O'Reilly or Keith Olbermann (depending on one's preferences) for a half hour should do the trick. Rumor has it merely riding a bicycle in D.C. traffic may do the trick.

Richard Cohen would agree with my position, and possibly even agree to help.

Actually, I wonder if this isn't an updated sarcastic riff along the lines of the delightful Sokal's Hoax: http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/weinberg.html

Good luck on the bar exam, Roy. It's not true what they say - I only had to sell half my soul, and I had nearly a teaspoon left over afterwards.

Thanks. I think I passed - will find out in October.