I'll throw another story in.
It's kind of scary, but possibly also telling of the mindset.

I was on a solo, straight-thru ride from Chicago to Charleston, SC - about 900 miles, or 16 hours, depending on how you want to measure it. Toward the end of run the scenery gets pretty boring. Nothing but pine trees right up next to the highway, exits 15-20 miles apart, and not another vehicle in sight. I'd been riding since before dawn, and it was hitting sundown about the time I was going thru the boring stretch. I'd noticed an exit I was passing and figured out in my head the mileage left to go - about 40 more miles. A few seconds later I looked up and was 2 miles from my destination.

I was still in my lane, going the same speed, but had lost about 35 minutes of time. Was I asleep at the bars? "In the Zone"? Lost in thought? I don't know, but I do know that I'm comfortable enough on a bike for my body to go on automatic and still get me thru safely.
I don't get that in a car. I have to concentrate on my driving when I'm in a car - if I start to get lost in thought too deeply, my speed wavers or I drift within my lane or something. There no feedback in a car, other than visual.

A car is something you fight and manipulate - press this pedal to change speed, move this wheel to turn. Go around a corner fast and you have to fight to keep your seat. Roll up the windows and you are isolated from the world.
A bike is something to control, not manipulate. It is more an extension of yourself. To speed up, you roll your arm/wrist. If you want to change direction, you lean your body and the bike follows. Go around a corner fast, and you are pressed more solidly into the seat. When you stop, you have to put your feet down and support the bike. And you are totally immersed in the environment - sunlight, wind, air temperature and humidity, rain, snow - all of these are an integral part of riding a bike. The sounds and smells of the road tell you much more than you ever get when trapped inside a car. Going somewhere on a bike is more of an experience than a ride.