Price of Gas Affecting You, Too?

I pay 1.41 a litre for regular. (1.41 x 3.8 = 5.358 cad = 5.36 usd) it is quite expensive less than when I lived in Germany however. It seems that the US has some of the lowest gas prices of the G8. Actually by quite a lot, Canada is the next I think. If you look around you will see your prices are very reasonable and that perhaps enjoy them while you can. The trend is not going to change. My last trip to the UK I paid 8.67 USD/US gal. (1.4382 BP per L x 3.8 = 5.465 £ - 8.67 USD)

Are any of you guys aware of peak oil?

I think we are headed into some very rough times. You think what you pay now is bad? Just wait.

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Originally Posted by Raptor

I live 32 miles away from college. It takes me about 40 minutes to get there. A quick google search says the average bike speed is 13 mph. Assuming I maintain a constant speed, it would take me two and a half hours to get to college. Meaning I'd have to get up at 4 am vs my usual 5 am to get to class by 7. If I'm lucky, I average 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night. This is ignoring the fact that I go up to college twice on Mondays and for my evening class have to drink an energy drink to stay awake (it usually doesn't work).

As for danger, I'm 4'11". Think about it.

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13 MPH is pretty slow in my experience. That said, even at a more realistic speed (I averaged more like 17 back when I was bike commuting), 32 miles is probably about a 2 hour ride. I agree with you that this is not a viable solution. It worked out well for me because it was actually considerably faster than my only other option at the time (bus). It'd take me 45 minutes plus or minus 5 minutes depending on weather conditions (wind direction and speed, mostly) to do the 13 miles to work on my bike vs a minimum of an hour and 15 minutes on the bus. Sometimes it was more like an hour and a half, depending on the bus schedule on any particular day. Obviously this led to me biking whenever the weather was not awful. (Biking in the rain sucks, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a big fat hairy liar - I'd actually rather bike in the snow than the rain, even given that I ride a road bike with skinny, nearly slick tires.)

As for your perceived danger, I don't really see that your height is all that relevant. As long as you run a headlight and a taillight when it's anything less than bright out (edit: heck, run that blinking tail at all times!), you shouldn't have a problem being visible. Your height might actually count as a benefit to speed and/or efficiency, as your aero profile should be better than mine. :)

I get that biking isn't a good option for you, but I have a hard time understanding how a car is practical either, though. 64 miles/trip is what, 2-2.5 gallons of gas if you get pretty decent gas mileage (high 20s to low 30s MPG), so that's about $8-10/trip. Seems like you're probably spending in the neighborhood of $200/month or more on gas alone. The true cost is of course higher, as you need to take maintenance costs, insurance, etc, into account.

We could all try tooting into our gas tanks and see if that works?
The price of beans would go up but at least we wouldn't be getting robbed at the pump.

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Originally Posted by Raptor

I live 32 miles away from college. It takes me about 40 minutes to get there. A quick google search says the average bike speed is 13 mph. Assuming I maintain a constant speed, it would take me two and a half hours to get to college. Meaning I'd have to get up at 4 am vs my usual 5 am to get to class by 7. If I'm lucky, I average 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night. This is ignoring the fact that I go up to college twice on Mondays and for my evening class have to drink an energy drink to stay awake (it usually doesn't work).

As for danger, I'm 4'11". Think about it.

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I agree that 64 miles a day on a bike would be extreme unless you're into doing triathlons or training for the Olympics, on the other hand I shudder to think what your gas costs are in an average car. If I were in your shoes I'd at least be going with a motorcycle or a scooter. As for being 4'11'', I used to have a friend who was about 5'0'' who biked 30 miles round trip to work everyday except for the coldest days in the winter. Much like Olstyns experience, she saved a lot of time over taking the bus.

For those Europeans who are paying more in gas, while that's true, we in the US and Canada are a lot more spread out then you are. It's really not unusual to put on a couple of hundred miles on my vehicle over the weekend just running errands, not to mention the higher costs of goods due to the higher costs of shipping. When my tomatoes are coming from Florida, my onions are coming from Texas and my Lettuce is coming from California, that's a much more expensive salad then it used to be. We're really not bemoaning the high cost of gas as much as we're bemoaning the high cost of maintaining what we consider a normal life. Especially when you consider that the oil industry is hands down the most profitable business on the face of the entire planet. (bunch of greedy pigs)

It's a little better here than on the east coast of Canada. But I still just payed about $4.85 a gallon to fill my tank. And that was for the cheap stuff at a discount gas station. Wasn't that long ago that gas here was under $1.00 a liter. Then there was some crises that affected supply in the Middle East so of course gas prices went up. Makes sense due to supply and demand right? Sure except the crises ended, supply was restored and the price stayed right where it was. Then all of a sudden the cost of crude does not directly affect the price of gas. Funny it sure did when there was a shortage. The oil companies are a bunch of thieves plain and simple. :(

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I agree that 64 miles a day on a bike would be extreme unless you're into doing triathlons or training for the Olympics, on the other hand I shudder to think what your gas costs are in an average car. If I were in your shoes I'd at least be going with a motorcycle or a scooter. As for being 4'11'', I used to have a friend who was about 5'0'' who biked 30 miles round trip to work everyday except for the coldest days in the winter. Much like Olstyns experience, she saved a lot of time over taking the bus.

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$40 a week. I take the toll road which is fairly uninterrupted, and honestly, the SUV gets better gas mileage going on the toll roads/highway than it does in the city. Problem with the motorcycle is that I'd have to be able to lift it if I had to and I probably wouldn't be able to. Scooter, I doubt those are highway legal.

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Originally Posted by Raptor

$40 a week. I take the toll road which is fairly uninterrupted, and honestly, the SUV gets better gas mileage going on the toll roads/highway than it does in the city. Problem with the motorcycle is that I'd have to be able to lift it if I had to and I probably wouldn't be able to. Scooter, I doubt those are highway legal.

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That depends on what kind of scooter you get. My younger brother has a scooter that'll do highway speeds. It's nowhere near as fast as a real motorcycle, but it'll keep up with traffic, gets great gas mileage, and is legal for highway use. I apologize, but I don't know what type it is exactly, just that while the controls and "format" of the vehicle are those of a scooter, he had to get a motorcycle endorsement on his license because of the engine size. (I think it's either 125cc or 250cc.)

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Originally Posted by olstyn

13 MPH is pretty slow in my experience. That said, even at a more realistic speed (I averaged more like 17 back when I was bike commuting), 32 miles is probably about a 2 hour ride. I agree with you that this is not a viable solution. It worked out well for me because it was actually considerably faster than my only other option at the time (bus). It'd take me 45 minutes plus or minus 5 minutes depending on weather conditions (wind direction and speed, mostly) to do the 13 miles to work on my bike vs a minimum of an hour and 15 minutes on the bus. Sometimes it was more like an hour and a half, depending on the bus schedule on any particular day. Obviously this led to me biking whenever the weather was not awful. (Biking in the rain sucks, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a big fat hairy liar - I'd actually rather bike in the snow than the rain, even given that I ride a road bike with skinny, nearly slick tires.)

As for your perceived danger, I don't really see that your height is all that relevant. As long as you run a headlight and a taillight when it's anything less than bright out (edit: heck, run that blinking tail at all times!), you shouldn't have a problem being visible. Your height might actually count as a benefit to speed and/or efficiency, as your aero profile should be better than mine. :)

I get that biking isn't a good option for you, but I have a hard time understanding how a car is practical either, though. 64 miles/trip is what, 2-2.5 gallons of gas if you get pretty decent gas mileage (high 20s to low 30s MPG), so that's about $8-10/trip. Seems like you're probably spending in the neighborhood of $200/month or more on gas alone. The true cost is of course higher, as you need to take maintenance costs, insurance, etc, into account.

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Didn't see this post last night.

I live in a rural area and drive into the city, meaning there isn't any public transportation. With that said, it's not exactly wise for a woman of my size to be biking by herself in an area like that. At least if I have an issue with the suv, I can lock the doors and wait for someone.

I spend about $160 a month on gas, sometimes less. It just depends on if my parents decide to use the suv, which is theirs. More often than not, they'll fill it up.

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Originally Posted by olstyn

That depends on what kind of scooter you get. My younger brother has a scooter that'll do highway speeds. It's nowhere near as fast as a real motorcycle, but it'll keep up with traffic, gets great gas mileage, and is legal for highway use. I apologize, but I don't know what type it is exactly, just that while the controls and "format" of the vehicle are those of a scooter, he had to get a motorcycle endorsement on his license because of the engine size. (I think it's either 125cc or 250cc.)

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Can it do 75 mph? That's what I do on the toll roads.

Regardless of it all, for my situation, a bike, motorcycle, or scooter isn't viable for my situation. Rainstorm? I'd end up arriving at college/back home soaked. Snowstorm? Yeah. Driving in last week's blizzard was bad enough in the truck. Visibility was down to 10 feet, at best. If I lived in the city, sure.

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Originally Posted by Raptor

Didn't see this post last night.

I live in a rural area and drive into the city, meaning there isn't any public transportation. With that said, it's not exactly wise for a woman of my size to be biking by herself in an area like that. At least if I have an issue with the suv, I can lock the doors and wait for someone.

I spend about $160 a month on gas, sometimes less. It just depends on if my parents decide to use the suv, which is theirs. More often than not, they'll fill it up.



Can it do 75 mph? That's what I do on the toll roads.

Regardless of it all, for my situation, a bike, motorcycle, or scooter isn't viable for my situation. Rainstorm? I'd end up arriving at college/back home soaked. Snowstorm? Yeah. Driving in last week's blizzard was bad enough in the truck. Visibility was down to 10 feet, at best. If I lived in the city, sure.

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I'm with you! Biking isn't a feasible option here either. Besides the fact I am required to have my vehicle for work... let's just say I worked in an office all day and didn't need to drive around all over the place... There's no way I'd be able to get to work on a bike or scooter, because neither is allowed on the highways I have to take. IF I were able to find a non-highway route to work, it would take me at least 20 miles out of my way, and probably take 3 or 4 hours to get to work, one way. Working an 8 hour days, with a commute like that, means I'm gone from home 16 hours of the day, leaving me 8 hours for the rest of the day. That's just exactly the kind of life I want to live, commute, work and sleep! No time to do any kind of house work, spend time with my animals, friends or family. I don't consider a motorcycle a safe option, because around here people drive crazy. Not a week goes by that I don't hear about at least a couple fatal accidents in my immediate area, often involving pedestrians, DUI's, or motorcycles. Being in a car can be fatal too, but at least there's a little bit more between you and your surroundings, and a few more safety features than are possible on a motorcycle. I COULD move closer to the office, but that's going to mean I pay more than double in rent or mortgage than what I'm paying now. I spend about $50-75 a week to commute to and from the office using the little commuter sedan, that's actually a savings compared to the increased cost of living if I were to move. If I used the SUV, I'd be spending more like $75-100 a week, which is still a savings.

We all have to make choices. Unfortunately many parts of the US are absolutely *NOT* set up properly to allow for walking or bicycling to/from work or school, and many parts of this country also do not have very good public transit. Many of us are really stuck in what we can or cannot do when it comes to commuting. Options for many of us mean using our car and spending the money on gas, or paying a higher housing cost. Unfortunately with gas prices rising the way they are that means we are going to spend more to commute. Unfortunately housing costs are not going down either. Unfortunately wages are not going up either. Unfortunately many other costs of living (utilities, food, etc) are also going up. Unfortunately many people are unemployed with no relief in sight (my husband has a college degree, has been in the active army as an officer for 4 years, and has been looking for a job for the last 4 months and hit one dead end after another, even minimum wage jobs won't hire him because he's "over qualified"). That means a lot of people are feeling a real crunch, a lot of people are barely making it (I see more homeless people now than I ever have in my entire life! and not just people who are mentally handicapped, on drugs, or disabled, but every day people who in better times would be living in your average middle class neighborhood!). All of that combined means we ARE going to complain about things like the cost of gas. It hurts when the price jumps 10c or more every night.