Bicycling wastes gas?

[smaridge01]

I can't help but put my two cents in...

IMHO, I prefer the food usage scenario, even if less efficient than gasoline, for two reasons:

1) I can raise my own food, and so be independent of Big Oil. And no, I don't currently raise my own food... but I could...

2) Food is much more likely to be around 100 years from now, whereas I find it unlikely that gasoline will be.

Thanks!

[VegasDude]

Pretty simple to me: if you bike a few miles a day for any reason, be it out of necessity or recreation, the extra food you eat will more than pay for itself in many ways. You won't be as fat, so:

You burn less gas in you car when you must drive.
You will save a lot in the long term in medical costs.
You live longer, and can earn money longer. You will live longer while eligible for Social Security and the senior discounts on everything.

Also:

Less wear and tear on your car.
Arrive to work in Spandex.

However, not every city is bicycle friendly. I honestly believe that riding a bike on the street (the legal place to ride) in Las Vegas is as dangerous as driving a car if everyone else on the road was too drunk to see. So you can probably count out the living longer argument unless you stick to the trails.

[Tango Charlie]

Food tastes better than gasoline.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Tango Charlie

Food tastes better than gasoline.

I read somewhere that desert oil countries are desalinating sea water to make it drinkable. The process supposedly uses between 9 and 17 liters of oil to make one liter of fresh water. Kinda makes me wonder if drinking oil wouldn't be more economical?

[Grant-53]

If you have lots of oil and no water who wouldn't trade? I have ridden bikes for 50 years and driven all types of vehicles for over 30 years without serious injury. Route planning and a good mirror make riding a bike very agreeable for local trips. A ladies's three speed geared 40/19T with a fairing is tough to beat in stop and go traffic.

[Creeper]

Ok this I find bizar. But like most things in life there are imporvments to make a bike better for the rider. A Light weight aluminum or Carbon Fiber Bike with CF wheals and Titanium linkage. Throw in some ultra light iner tubes inflated to 120psi and a full Racing suite with helmet and you can have one efficent bike that will use all of the riders leg power properly.

The part I can't belive is how this can be less fuel efficent then a car?

[dcb]

In terms of making power, yes a diesel can probably turn a shot of veggie oil into power more efficiently than a human, assuming it is already warmed up like a human.

But if that power requires a 3000lb rolling cage, then the human on a bike is way ahead efficiency wise.

And it isn't really a valid comparison, you would have to factor in your diet in addition to your fuel bill for the car side of the equation whereas it is only diet on the bicycle side of the equation.

[Varn]

Bicycling wastes gas=nut job.

[orange4boy]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I may not have a brain, but I can at least count up to one. Which is the number of wars we're fighting. One war against one enemy, Islam, with combat taking place in many locations.

As for oil interests being any major factor, try a thought experiment. Subtract oil from the equation of the Middle East - say the deposits were under Argentina or Australia instead - and see if the situation changes much at all. Then try a similar experiment, removing Islam.

You thought experiment just makes no sense. There are plenty of f-ed up places we don't invade that have no oil. The Sudan, for instance. People are actually being slaughtered there as we speak. No oily, no invadie.

Removing Islam? Just exactly how is that even a remote possibility even if in some bizarre fox news alternate reality it were the problem? If anything I'm assuming you mean radical islamists which are a tiny minority of the billions of Islamic people in the world. And guess what? All this "county invading", carpet bombing and torture are producing thousands more Jihadists every day. I thought we were fighting "terrorism" I'm all for fighting isms. Damn troublesome those isms. But in reality we are the much more powerful terrorist. Iraq? Estimated innocent civilian deaths from operation "Enduring Freedom"? Approximately 100,000. That's 33+1/2 911s. Just to do some guesome math.

Someone is eating the pablum being fed to them. IRAQ was not an Islamic state. Had nothing to do with 911. It was secular. Now... guess what? It's verging on becoming an Islamic state.

I just so happens that Saddam was making his whole country very rich with oil revenues. That was his big crime. Universal healthcare, Free education. Not the kind of example America wants as a symbol in the region. He was a brutal dictator who was once a friend of the US until he became too powerful, was duped by the US into believing that he would be allowed to invade Kuait un-molested. Remember the babies in incubators killed by Iraqi troops story? It turned out to be a total fabrication.

Then the first war and the following sanctions which were meant to weaken him a destroy his ability to make nukes and such. Guess what it worked. No WMD!!!! But Bush II (the dumberer) invaded anyhow. FOR THE OIL. They admit it themselves now, but you aren't paying attention anymore. Why do you think the oil fields were protected right from day one but the museums were left to be looted.

The US imposed a new economic structure on the country as soon as it could which imposed a flat tax and massively reduced oil revenues for the state. All the oil contracts were auctioned off to the big mutinationals and massive corrupt no bid contracts were handed on a silver platter to the VP's corporation. It was designed as a captialists wet dream nevermind that imposing an economic regime on an occupied country is against the Geneva convention. Good thing America is run by ethics and morality free businessmen and lawyers. Always a loophole.

Where were we? Food? I love good food. Count me in for a falafel.

[Grant-53]

Dear Friend from Lotus Land,
Spare me the socialist diatribes, I have heard it all before. The newsies never got it right about Iraq, that is why the troops could not stand most reporters. Our son was there as an infantryman in an airborne division for two tours to protect Iraqi people from the Ba'athists and the jihadists. I highly recommend the book "Saddam's Secrets" by Georges Sada. No blood for oil!

I build bicycle fairings to save lives also. A normal rider on a well faired upright bike can do 20 mph on 75 watts all day long. It can easily be placed aboard a bus or a train for inter-urban travel. A fairing made with an ABS skin and foam composite adds protection for the rider.