I have bicycle commuted off and on since 1989. I’ve done every STP (Seattle to Portland) bike ride since 1991. The first 10 years in two days and the rest in one day. It’s 200 miles.
I like to bike ride, it keeps me in shape, and I am sharper when I get to work than I am when I’ve sat in a half hour of rush hour in a car. A couple of years ago, I counted the cars I PASSED on my 9 mile ride to work. I passed over 300 “stop and go” cars before 100 of them overtook me just before I pulled into the office. :)
I consider a mountain bike to be an excellent form of transportation when you put kevlar belted road tires on it. And if you leave the mountain tires on it is not only fun, but it can be a good way to get places during economic collapse. People do not realize just how fast bicycles are compared to cars in an urban area. Heck, I used to commute 46 miles round trip to my job in the University district. It took 55 minutes each way by bike and 1 hour and five minutes by bus.
I don’t force it on anyone else, and I have not gone down on a bike since I was jumping dirt piles in summer of 1965 in eastern Washington.
And no, I don’t stop at stop signs or even traffic lights if there is no traffic or cops. And I’ve been hit by three cars, all of which were badly scratched up by my handlebars and pedals but I stayed up with no damage whatsoever every time.
All that said, what makes it fun is that I don’t HAVE to. Nor would I force it on anyone else.
Perhaps. But I'll bet you don't smell very good when you get to work. Especially in the summer.