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I would bike, and I have biked to where I can get grocieries and things, but it just takes too long.
a 25 mile trip there and back during the summer is just not worth it where I live. And I can't do anything about moving to a better location that's closer to the conveniences right now. You can say all you want, but in my current situation, biking isn't a feasible option. Getting meat or milk, then biking 12 or 13 miles back isn't gonna cut it.
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Same here, as much as I would like to bike, it is just not feasible here. 25 miles one way up and down a lot of pretty fierce hills. Moving is not an option because Michigan is saturated with foreclosed houses and nobody is buying here unless you're a wealthy CEO or retiree looking for a fancy vacation house on the lake. I could get a deal on another house but can't afford two mortgages. And changing jobs is not an option, jobs are pretty thin pickins here anymore and I am thankful to still have a job with the company I have been with for over 10 years. When I was a kid I used to bike to town all the time with the same fierce hills (from glaciers) that make up this part of the state, but that was 5 miles away and was still something that I had to work up to.
So I do try to minimize trips and make my time between fillups go as far as I can. If I have to go to the store, I will go on the way home from work, which reduces my overall mpg but saves having to drive 20 miles round trip to the store from home.
I prefer the local roads over the freeways whenever I can, I get better mpg due to slower speeds and less wind. And at least here, the local roads make the trip a bit shorter because they were here first and are more direct. The freeway snakes all over the place to miss what was here to start with.