Get out the bikes! Gas $4.09/gal in Seattle.

[Bad JuJu]

The AM Commute went great! We parked our car at a well lit supermarket, with ample parking. The weather was really cool which meant only my hair got sweaty under my skull cap. Ended up being 11.97 miles, I rode hard (so easy to do with a tailwind on my roadie) and only took 40 minutes. We had to get up 40 minutes earlier to ride but I got to spend 7 miles with DH and we met a commuter that rides every day! It was really a fun morning, I am wondering how the afternoon will go. Today is my day to ride all the way home (23 or so miles).

Oh and we had mapped on my commute and done it twice prior to today. I knew where the roads with those road humps were, where to turn and my exact route. That really increased my comfort level. If I keep this up I will really rack up the bike journal miles.

Thanks for the tips! I only have to be on campus two or three days a week, so I just need to decide...to do it!

[Deborajen]

Boy, watching gas prices go up and up I'd love to commute by bike right now. I'm going to wait a few months, though. There is a bridge closed for rebuild on a main road between home and work that's sending lots of crazy rush-hour traffic through my normally quiet neighborhood route. It's scary enough in the car - forget the bike!

Somebody did call the opinion line recently for our local newspaper and made a comment that with high gas prices, now it's time to spend some money to finish and fix up the bike routes "because that'll be the only way some people will be able to afford to get to work anymore." It was probably smart-a$$, but I'll take it!

Deb

[kat_h]

I was thinking about this thread while I was reading the news today. The article I read said that the price of rice doubled in 2007 and has increased by 30% so far in 2008. As much as we all worry about the price of gas most of us have ways to reduce what we use and ultimately can afford it. There must be people sitting around discussing the price of rice, trading tips for how to use a bit less in each meal, comparing what they paid for it, except rice is one of the most fundamental basics in the world and gas is still really a luxury item. The next couple of years could be interesting.

[Grog]

I was thinking about this thread while I was reading the news today. The article I read said that the price of rice doubled in 2007 and has increased by 30% so far in 2008. As much as we all worry about the price of gas most of us have ways to reduce what we use and ultimately can afford it. There must be people sitting around discussing the price of rice, trading tips for how to use a bit less in each meal, comparing what they paid for it, except rice is one of the most fundamental basics in the world and gas is still really a luxury item. The next couple of years could be interesting.

Exactly my thoughts.

Interesting times ahead.

[GLC1968]

Exactly my thoughts.

Interesting times ahead.

Interesting and a bit frightening.

[Grog]

Interesting and a bit frightening.

If you really want to scare yourself (although it will be less scary now that you live in the PNW, to a point), go read
The Long Emergency
by James Howard Kunstler.

He's bringing together global politics, urban studies, climatology, and oil depletion theories in a very skilful way. Frankly it's quite pessimistic but it ends on a positive note. I reread bits of it last night and I find that it's a good mental exercise to see things differently once in a while. It's easy to take our environment for granted...

[GLC1968]

If you really want to scare yourself (although it will be less scary now that you live in the PNW, to a point), go read
The Long Emergency
by James Howard Kunstler.

He's bringing together global politics, urban studies, climatology, and oil depletion theories in a very skilful way. Frankly it's quite pessimistic but it ends on a positive note. I reread bits of it last night and I find that it's a good mental exercise to see things differently once in a while. It's easy to take our environment for granted...

That's funny. I just got his other book (the novel: A World Made by Hand) delivered yesterday. I've read a lot of other things on that same topic, but I've not read his book in particular. I'll have to see if the library has a copy. I can guess what the positive note at the end is...does he see that happening in our lifetime, or do we just get to experience the frightening part?

[redrhodie]

If you really want to scare yourself (although it will be less scary now that you live in the PNW, to a point), go read
The Long Emergency
by James Howard Kunstler.

He's bringing together global politics, urban studies, climatology, and oil depletion theories in a very skilful way. Frankly it's quite pessimistic but it ends on a positive note. I reread bits of it last night and I find that it's a good mental exercise to see things differently once in a while. It's easy to take our environment for granted...

+1. Kunstler's unfortunately hitting the nail right on the head with his predictions. I do hope he's wrong about the ability of someone to find a reliable, renewable, affordable alternative to fossil fuels. I agree it's unlikely to happen soon enough, though.