I live in the old central part of our town. While the newer outskirts have fantastic bike lanes and roads with shoulders, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get to any of the retail areas safely on a bike. It's easy to get out of town and ride to neighboring towns, which is why I'd rather ride the 40 miles round trip to work (out of town) than ride the 4 miles round trip to my gym (in town). Some places are easy to get to on my bike, like the library, the ice cream store, the pool, but others just aren't. We can also walk to a lot of restaurants since we are just 2 blocks from the old downtown area.

Oh, and I just love it when people honk at me on the highway (between towns) like I'm in their way because I'm on my bike (on the right side of an 8 foot wide shoulder). From my point of view they should be thanking me I'm not yet one more car in that awful 2 mile long line of stopped cars waiting to get through the next traffic light.