This letter is in response to Tom Rees’ recent missive on bicycling.

Tom, I live 900 miles away from you, but felt compelled to respond nonetheless. I ride my bike daily: to get to and from work, to run errands, social activities and for longer recreational rides. I completely agree with you that cyclists should follow the laws of the road, and it irks me just as much as you to see folks who do not adhere to them.

It’s a shame that cycling laws aren’t enforced more stringently, but the same thing goes for cars. How many cars do you see speeding, running lights or disobeying traffic laws without getting reprimanded? I can tell you in my town, early on I had the police stop me to point out how I was riding wrong, so it does happen.

However, where we disagree is your journey in to the classic anti-cycling blunder of us not having a right to the roads, because of taxes. You should realize that probably 90-95 percent of people out on bikes also have a car — tagged and taxed, just like yours. Most of them also have driver’s licenses, proving their knowledge of the same traffic laws as those piloting much more lethal vehicles.

I pay property taxes and sales taxes, all going in to the same coffers as your hard-earned money.

However, the real irony in your logic is that while cyclists’ help pay for roads that are designed for cars, their cars are sitting in the driveway at home. Not taking up your lane, not taking your parking spot, and not making you wait in line at the gas pump. You’re getting the best of both worlds.

Very little in the world perturbs me more than people who are anti-cycling. Most of it come from a lack of understanding. The economic, environmental and health benefits are all positives for the greater good. Most often, it is drivers who can’t be bothered to slow down for a few seconds to share the road with bikes who are the real culprits.

Zac Altheimer is a resident of Asheville, N.C.