I still need to have a car of my own for the time being, but I have a 4x4 (SUV) at the moment. Road Tax here has shot up to £440 per year (about $900). Insurance is another £250 ($500) on top of that and the price of diesel fuel has gone up again to 93.5p per litre and the taxation on it is going to rise again in September so we're looking at £1 per litre. Our greedy government is hitting the motorist all the time.

I need to have a car because of my son's illness (he suffered kidney failure 5 years ago when he was 15). My brother is coming down from Scotland next month to be tested to see if he is a suitable match for my son. If he is, great, if not then my son will be put on the transplant list. The renal hospital is 40 miles away and we would have to get there very quickly if a suitable kidney became available (that's surmising that my brother may not be able to donate). My husband's job takes him all over the place so I still need the use of a car but I object to paying over the odds for my 4x4 just because our government (thanks to a vociferous minority of people who hate 4x4s) is targetting 4x4s as the next cash-cow after speed cameras Anyway, I thought if I sold my 4x4, that would finance the new bike and a smaller car, plus still leave me with a nice little nest egg - not to mention what I'm saving by using the bike to commute

Now I'm looking forward to cycling to work tomorrow and all this week