General Cycling Discussion - Gas is over $1.00 per litre

It is now 103.9 per litre. I never thought it would get to a dollar per litre. I was in my LBS on Sunday, I got a broken spoke on Saturday and I brought it into the shop yesterday, I get it back tonight. While I was in the shop, I saw about 3-4 people looking at possibly buying bikes, in fact I believe one person had already purchased a bike. I was wondering if maybe they are pissed about the price of gas or they just want a bike, I hope it is both.

You can never have enough bikes on the roads.

might be,
Its part of the reason why i wont buy a car now like just about every other 16 year old here

It is now 103.9 per litre. I never thought it would get to a dollar per litre. I was in my LBS on Sunday, I got a broken spoke on Saturday and I brought it into the shop yesterday, I get it back tonight. While I was in the shop, I saw about 3-4 people looking at possibly buying bikes, in fact I believe one person had already purchased a bike. I was wondering if maybe they are pissed about the price of gas or they just want a bike, I hope it is both.

You can never have enough bikes on the roads.

Gas prices drive me insane. I was in VAncouver the other day, $108.9 / litre. Got out to Chilliwack and it was $77.4 / litre ( this is an hours drive away!) - over the Coquihalla to the Okanagan and it is $101.9.

However, when you pull up to the pump they are actually taking 3.5 litre off at the till so actually charging 98.40 / litre.

The equivalent to $101.9 / litre is US $3.22 per US gallon. Remember that the US gallon is 5/6 the size of an Imperial Gallon , why I don't know.

I am still amazed at the guys I see in F350's and Hummers flying around with their feet flat on the floor, I can only imagine the sight of the gas guage needle just dropping as you look at it. Can you imagine how much it would cost to fill one of those monsters?

I drive a MAzda and just about puke when I put $50 of gas into it. When I bought it three years ago it cost about $32 to fill it.

My wife drives a PAssat - Premium unleaded - OUCH!

Good article
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucwb/20050813/cm_ucwb/lookingaheadoil;_ylt=AprNvHQVoGFi_G0PtRhH6WH9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

High gas prices won't force people who drive now to start bike commuting. Maybe the people who live really close to work might consider it, but on the whole even if gas prices went to 2 bucks a litre it won't happen.

But it might encourage them to buy marginally more sensible driving machines than hummers.

Or is that just wishful thinking?

Many people who might like to commute by bike are limited by poor routes, lack of facilities at work, and so forth.
In my case (and I do bike-patrol for a police department!) it's about 10 miles to work, over roads that in many case are high-speed and have no curb or parking lane. With our typically-wierd police hours, I'd have to be on the road at about 0530, quite dark.

And, only reasonably feasable about half the year. Some may be willing to brave winter, but not I; makes my knees hurt.

Remember that the US gallon is 5/6 the size of an Imperial Gallon , why I don't know.

because here in the US, they can't handle drinking a real pint...

as for gas prices: my daily driver gets about 18 mpg on premium unleaded. so i've definitely noticed the jump in prices. but it doesn't "bother" me, really. i'm paying around $2.56 US/gallon for premium. last time i was over in England, i was paying around 75 pence/liter - now it's up to 90 pence/liter. that's about $3.80 US/gallon for regular. yep, still got it better over here.

do i wish my car got better mileage? sure. but not enough to get rid of it. do i wish gas was cheaper? sure. but i don't expect it's my due for just being a US motorist...

One of the guys i work for has a shirt with a picture of a hummer on it and it says
DUMMER
I like that.

120 right now here in Oz per litre

1 liter = $2.20 USD in iceland

You can never have enough bikes on the roads.

Yes you can. Check out China, choked with bicycles. Average speed there is reaaaaaaallllllyyyyyy slow.

High gas prices won't force people who drive now to start bike commuting. Maybe the people who live really close to work might consider it, but on the whole even if gas prices went to 2 bucks a litre it won't happen.

You're right. It would have to go pretty high, my guess is about $5/litre which would be a $240 fill-up on my vehcicle. My hope is that it will:
1)
Make people drive less. When you get home after work, stay the hell home and don't be out driving around. Less traffic on the road makes for a better bike ride for me.

2)
Make people choose a smaller, more fuel efficient vehicle. Smaller the vehicles makes for a better bike ride for me.

3)
Make people consider alternative forms of transportation - walking, bus, bike. Again, less cars = better bike ride.

4)
Less damn youngsters on the road. I hear them outside my house peeling the car tires and screeching up and down the road like gas is free. Less of THEM on the road makes for a vastly better bike ride for me.

5)
Consider car pooling, combine trips, consider the distance (can I walk instead?), etc. For example, I have adjusted my work hours to match my wifes so we only take one vehicle to work. Sometimes I have to wait up to an hour to 1.5 hours for her to get off work, so I either catch up at work, read, go for a walk, run some errands, etc. This is what people have to do, put up with some minor inconvienences to reduce their cost for fuel. I'd bet, much to their surprise, they'd find out it is not that inconvienent and there are advantages if you put your mind to it.

I'm happy it's going up, can't get the smile off my face. :D See?

$1.10 a litre here in Vancouver today

I was wondering if maybe they are pissed about the price of gas or they just want a bike, I hope it is both.
--- Gasoline prices will ALWAYS continue to get higher as the supply peaks out:
www.peakoil.com/sample/index.html
www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/polisci/gcpr/oilprod.cfm

When gas rationing is implemented, the bicycle will come into its own.

But it might encourage them to buy marginally more sensible driving machines than hummers.

Or is that just wishful thinking?

Wishful thinking. If someone can drop $60,000 on a status symbol vehicle, they can afford an extra tank's worth of gas every month. This goes for more than just the HUMMER, as well.

Porcshe Carerra GT: 10 / 16
Mercedes C320: 14 / 19
Bently Arnage: 10 / 14
Chrysler 300C/SRT: 14 / 20
Hummer H2: 12 / 16

So... It's not just the idiots in hummers trying to make up for what we show off in our tight pants.. an extra $2,000/year is hardly anything to the people who can afford the above listed cars. A drop in the bucket but something to whine about anyway.

$1.14 per litre in montreal yesterday.

[QUOTE=Bikewer] I do bike-patrol for a police department!

That is my dream job!!

Gas priced will continue to go up as long as no one is complaining. How many industries can raise their prices on fear? The people in charge get afraid and raise prices that is ridiculous. I can't go into my boss and tell him I am afraid about the future so I need a raise. In the 70's when gas started going up, people got pissed and started holding rallies to protest gas prices. They also told detroit to take a hike and started buying smaller, more efficent, Japanese cars. This hurt America and prices came down. Now when we turn on the news everyone says, "Yea it stinks but I am not going to change my driving habits." Bush is getting rich off of this so what incentive does he have to drive down prices. Even though I have been a life long Republican I still say that Bush is the worst president since Carter, or perhaps ever!!

As gas prices go up, have noticed that the price of a fruit bar, which I eat about every ten miles while cycling, has stayed roughly the same price. Water hasn't gone up much either....

It's not the Arabs raising the price, it's the world market, and the fact that only about 3 refineries in the US are required to blend about "89" different types of gasoline for different areas set up by the EPA. That problem causes a periodic shortage in certain blends as the refineries have to shut down or reconfigure. You'd think they would be a bit more responsive to changing conditions, but the refineries and oil companies say that is impossible as their profits continue to spike. Best bet...buy oil stocks.

Before the next election, let the Neo Cons and Radical Revisionists battle it out, ignore the winner and vote for a cyclist.

OMG I just proof read my last post. How many grammatical errors can you find in my text?

OMG I just proof read my last post. How many grammatical errors can you find in my text?

In addition to the run-on post? :D

http://www.ncf.ca/~af895/LJ/signage_small.jpg

Click here for a larger version. (http://www.ncf.ca/~af895/LJ/signage.jpg)

Click here for a PDF version. (http://www.ncf.ca/~af895/LJ/signage.pdf)

Print, laminate, cut out spoke cards.

af895, do you know of any way I could get my hands on these stickers? I would love to put them on my bike and ride through a gas station.

af895, do you know of any way I could get my hands on these stickers? I would love to put them on my bike and ride through a gas station.


HA! Very cool idea but...
...these aren't stickers yet. :)

They only exist as that PDF file that I did this week.

VERY easy to turn these into water-proof cards though.

Print on a colour inkjet or laser printer.

Either pay Staples/OfficeMax to laminate the page for you or buy the laminate material, use a home clothing iron on LOW-HEAT and do it yourself.

Cut around each sign leaving 1/4inch clear to keep the edge sealed.

Voila! That's all I do. :)

Word, CrimsonEclipse.

Your sig reminded me of this one:
"Experience is a harsh teacher. It gives the test before the lesson."

The high gas prices only irk me because I have no good way of getting to work without driving to the subway station. Also, if we want to buy decent groceries, the Whole Foods market is around 25-30 min by car. It's really hard to live in this area without driving. Very few provisions have been made for bikes, although it is getting better.

I reckon as hybrid cars are released that use 30% less fuel, the oil companies will have even more room to raise prices without the public revolting.

It is now 103.9 per litre. I never thought it would get to a dollar per litre. I was in my LBS on Sunday, I got a broken spoke on Saturday and I brought it into the shop yesterday, I get it back tonight. While I was in the shop, I saw about 3-4 people looking at possibly buying bikes, in fact I believe one person had already purchased a bike. I was wondering if maybe they are pissed about the price of gas or they just want a bike, I hope it is both.

You can never have enough bikes on the roads.

You think that is bad, gas here in Oregon is about $2.40.

[QUOTE=Bikewer] I do bike-patrol for a police department!

That is my dream job!!

I don't know about that... but I am security not police... it might be fun!

Gas here... 3:68 / gallon. I had to drive into LA this morning... 62 miles each way... dumped nearly 16 dollars in fuel going out there...

My car, ford focus gets 18 - 19 city and 23 - 24 highway. I think with a tune up it may go up more. I also could maybe get the foot off the gas a bit but lately I have been driving slow and it has not helped much!

You think that is bad, gas here in Oregon is about $2.40.

Bear in mind: $1.00 per LITER... there are FOUR LITERS per GALLON.
At $2.40 per gallon, that's about $0.60 per liter.

By the same measure, we're paying over $4.00 per gallon. Even taking into account the exchange rate, it's still nutty - something like $3.32/gallon.

its still cheap gas in the usa. its about a buck 40 a liter where i live in europe. drive a 1.0 liter, it costs me over bout 60 bucks to fill. now thats insane. no wonder i cycle so much

--- Gasoline prices will ALWAYS continue to get higher as the supply peaks out:
www.peakoil.com/sample/index.html
www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/polisci/gcpr/oilprod.cfm

When gas rationing is implemented, the bicycle will come into its own.


I think oil prices today aren't only based on the physical supply of crude oil left on earth, but production capacities, demand, and most of all: speculation!! but then again, I could be wrong (it happened once).

maybe i'm a non-believer, but I believe I will live to witness the end of the world (and I don't expect to live past 90).

uh oh spaghettios!

I paid $1.10/liter or $3.45USD/Gal the other day for 87 octane for the family van...

My own car takes only 94 octane though. Its off the road for a while longer, engine work and stuff like that going on. I dont complain though, pay to play in the performance car arena.

1.34 Euros per liter in France... what are you complaining about.

I drive 200 miles per week and return 22mpg in my Mercedes 500SL. 300/22x approx.£4 per UK gallon = £36.36.
If I bought a Toyota Yaris I'd return 41mpg. 200/41x £4 = £19.50 making a vast difference of £16.86 per week or £876 per year.
Considering a basic Toyota Yaris starts at £9,000 it would take over 10 years to pay for and that's not including loan interest rates or servicing costs.
Personnly I'd rather have my Mercedes over a Toyota which probably won't be running and I'd still be paying for in 10 years time :D

pushing $3.00 for 87 in the Washington, DC area :( My ((totally awsome)) hyundai accent gets roughly 30mpg. I don't drive it much anymore, but I'm about to relegate it to a weekend only vehicle . . . Looks like I'm going to have to do some reading up on the Commuter/Living Car Free/Winter Riding forums :D

The equivalent to $101.9 / litre is US $3.22 per US gallon. Remember that the US gallon is 5/6 the size of an Imperial Gallon , why I don't know.

I remember driving from Seattle to Alaska by myself, and to keep my mind busy I tried to convert the price of gas in the interior of Canada along the AlCan from Canadian Dollars and liters to US Dollars and gallons. It kept me busy, and the medications nowadays seems to handle the damage it did to the few brain cells I've got.

Steve

I remember driving from Seattle to Alaska by myself, and to keep my mind busy I tried to convert the price of gas in the interior of Canada along the AlCan from Canadian Dollars and liters to US Dollars and gallons. It kept me busy, and the medications nowadays seems to handle the damage it did to the few brain cells I've got.

Steve

that's probably because you tried to use traditional mathematics. If you had used bistromathematics (http://uzweb.uz.ac.zw/science/maths/zimaths/bistro.htm) you could have saved yourself a lot of heartache (and brain cells).

pushing $3.00 for 87 in the Washington, DC area :( My ((totally awsome)) hyundai accent gets roughly 30mpg. I don't drive it much anymore, but I'm about to relegate it to a weekend only vehicle . . . Looks like I'm going to have to do some reading up on the Commuter/Living Car Free/Winter Riding forums :D

Gas hit $2.87 a gallon here today (from about $2.50 yesterday). My car is small and gets good gas mileage, too, but I'm with you on using it weekends only. Gas prices may be rising, but my paycheck sure isn't!

Forget about the gluttenous dino burners, our efforts should be to make a network
of bike paths that are not exposed to exhaust of the road and are useful for basic
transportation.


CE
Most places already have a great network of bike usable paths that are useful for basic transportation. They call them roads however. All they need to do is prohibit motor vehicles from using them and voila instant bike paths.

I think the real solution to it all is alternative energy.
Perhaps there will come a day when we live in a cleaner world because gas is 20 dollars a gallon

Gasoline prices high or is it just me? Gas is like cocaine.

Gasoline prices high or is it just me? Gas is like cocaine.

Cocaine is a beautiful drug . . .
To be honest though, it's fairly underpriced when you think about it. I bet it could get up to . . . perhaps $5 before the average person would seriously consider alternative methods of transportation. I'm not even kidding. I see it all the time on local TV news interviews. People griping about the cost, but still driving around in a <17mpg tank. They say things like, "it's rediculous how expensive it is". They don't say it, but to me that indicates that either they believe that there's really no alternative, or they're unwilling to consider the alternatives. No ****, people are cutting other things out of their lives, like gym memberships, or going to the movies, to pay for their gasoline. This in itself is rediculous because really what they are doing is saving money so it can be figuratively burned. What's worse, is people are more willing to trade in hours off their life in the form of over-time work in order to throw money at the gas companies.

On the brighter side of things, I hear reports from various sources that GM, ford and co. aren't selling as many SUVs, which is really their big money makers, so there seems to be some reversal of this trend. SUVs are BS anyways. They save money by essentially building a machine that is big enough to circumvent emission standards for smaller vehicles. Amongst other things, the SUV boom of the mid 90s can be considered a contributing factor to the situation we're in now. Economically, a good move on their part, although it essentially sold out our well being in the short term. It was cheaper for them to build larger versions of their current vehichles than to spend on R&D to get future vehicles to meet emissions requirements. This is evident in that many SUVs are based on a producers smaller cars (i.e., the Hyundai Santa Fe is based on the Hyundai Sonata).

$1.30 per litre here in Australia and the paper states that $1.60 is on the way

OOUCH

On the brighter side of things, I hear reports from various sources that GM, ford and co. aren't selling as many SUVs, which is really their big money makers, so there seems to be some reversal of this trend. SUVs are BS anyways. They save money by essentially building a machine that is big enough to circumvent emission standards for smaller vehicles. Amongst other things, the SUV boom of the mid 90s can be considered a contributing factor to the situation we're in now. Economically, a good move on their part, although it essentially sold out our well being in the short term. It was cheaper for them to build larger versions of their current vehichles than to spend on R&D to get future vehicles to meet emissions requirements. This is evident in that many SUVs are based on a producers smaller cars (i.e., the Hyundai Santa Fe is based on the Hyundai Sonata).

Thank God finally these SUV's are not selling which i hate so much. Hate it when your behind one of these boxes in traffic can't see in front of them like normal cars.
In the 70's people bought cube vans and painted mirrols on the outside with lounge chairs inside which people thought were cool. Now these SUV's people bought so they could see above everyone else in traffic. My thought or rule is never ever let one of these SUV's cut in front of you in traffic or yield to one as courtesy for any reason. I would allow ten other cars cut in front of me then one SUV keep them off the road when I'm driving.

Anyone heard of bio-diesel i here some guys drive for free. They get there corn oil from restaurants and get good miliage something like 1000km on a tank of oil. Can you image everyone changed there vehicles to bio-diesel what a smell would bicyclist breath or smell like after riding in traffic all day. Probably like urine.

Cocaine is a beautiful drug . . .
To quote Robin Williams, "Cocaine is God's way of telling you that you have too much money." Maybe we have too much $ to spend on gas these days?

...
Anyone heard of bio-diesel i here some guys drive for free. They get there corn oil from restaurants and get good miliage something like 1000km on a tank of oil. Can you image everyone changed there vehicles to bio-diesel what a smell would bicyclist breath or smell like after riding in traffic all day. Probably like urine.


http://www.greasecar.com/

Drive around smelling like donuts. ;p

Remember that the US gallon is 5/6 the size of an Imperial Gallon , why I don't know.

Probably for the same reason your Canuckistan "dollar" is only worth 3/4 of a real Dollar. ;)

On the brighter side of things, I hear reports from various sources that GM, ford and co. aren't selling as many SUVs, which is really their big money makers, so there seems to be some reversal of this trend. SUVs are BS anyways. They save money by essentially building a machine that is big enough to circumvent emission standards for smaller vehicles. Amongst other things, the SUV boom of the mid 90s can be considered a contributing factor to the situation we're in now. Economically, a good move on their part, although it essentially sold out our well being in the short term. It was cheaper for them to build larger versions of their current vehichles than to spend on R&D to get future vehicles to meet emissions requirements. This is evident in that many SUVs are based on a producers smaller cars (i.e., the Hyundai Santa Fe is based on the Hyundai Sonata).
Hopefully the market keeps demanding the smaller vehicles. IF customers keep buying large SUVs, the manufacturers will keep building them. If customers start demanding more fuel efficient, sensibly-sized vehicles, they'll build those.

GM Holden in Australia has been developing a new global rear-drive vehicle platform, Zeta. GM USA had said they were going to adopt it, but a couple of months back they pulled the plug at the last minute leaving GM-H a bit high and dry on the development costs, saying instead that they would be concentrating on more SUVs since that's what the US customers were buying. A couple of weeks ago they came back to GM Australia saying they were dropping some of the new SUV development and would be buying the new Zeta platform afterall...