The Santa Fe New Mexican is telling us that gas is at an all time high price. Well, not quite, actually. If corrected for inflation, we have a few cents to go to top the 2008 shock. But still, if one is on a limited budget, $4.09 a gallon translates into trading several pictures of Andrew Jackson to fill a tank. Not good if you are on a limited budget.
But if you live in town, there is an alternative to consider as a cost/benefit. Ride a bike. At 20 mpg city driving, a ten mile trip will cost about half a gallon of gas, or a little over two bucks right now. At fifty calories per mile for an average American on a bicycle, one can ask how expensive food is to cover that same distance.
It all depends on what you eat, but right now, Trader Joe's Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese sells for about three bucks and has about 520 calories per box. So about three bucks for that ten mile trip. That calorie intake is also about one and a half peanut butter sandwiches, so one can go far more frugal. See below.
Of course, there is a lot more than energy content that goes into the discussion. My car needs insurance, a place to park, a lot of up front money to purchase, and more expensive maintenance. But at some point, the fuel in the tummy vs. the fuel in the tank break even and cross over and frankly, we are there. And then there is the fun factor. Which is why bicycle infrastructure that gets you where you need to go rather than built as a purely park resource matters.
Getting back to that peanut butter sandwich, the 500 calorie goal can be hit for under a dollar, or half the price of gas. Mind you, these are 2014 numbers so increase them by 20% to correct for inflation.
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| Source, Business Insider |
So fasten on the fenders and panniers and go get 'em, tiger. The groceries, that is.
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| The Surly Long Haul Trucker in urban utility dress |
With a tip of the hat to Patrick O'Grady at Maddogmedia.com for getting me thinking about this. And speaking of 409....with a tip of the hat to my old man, who worked for a while in the Tonawanda Chevrolet Engine Plant, where they made those bad boys, before transferring to the Gear and Axle plant, where he had more seniority.
Somewhat related, over at Strong Towns:
High Gas Prices Are Just One Symptom of a Much Greater Problem
2 comments:
I vote for the PB&J. Sourdough bread, Scudder’s Smooth natural peanut butter, and Smucker’s Simply Fruit strawberry jam if you please.
If you're in a fair fight, you're in the wrong fight. Pretty much every drill sergeant in the Army has said this at some point. But there's a meaning much deeper than combative. It's a mindset that reframing the question is often the best way to see a hidden but eventually obvious solution.
So in this moment of national gas price anxiety, it's worth remind folks how freaking awesome bikes are. Steve Jobs, for one, sure knew it.
https://medium.learningbyshipping.com/bicycle-121262546097
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