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beige_alertI managed to spend $76 on gasoline last month. Previous month: $12.55. Something of a shock to suddenly spend so much time in the car.
Much of that was the 1512 kilometer round trip to OVFF, taking 21 hours and burning 15.8 gallons costing $42.71. (Yes, 4 liters/100km. Helps not to be in a hurry. Obeying the speed laws helps, too.) It always feels very wasteful burning a month's supply of fuel in one long weekend, even if the fuel cost is pretty much negligible compared to the other trip expenses.
Given enough time to not be in a hurry, the driving isn't actually all that bad, as annoying as driving usually is. It is strange, though, traveling so much yet seeing so little. You really can't see anything from inside a car. It always feels weird to drive again after being away from the car for a week. You can't enjoy the trip, you have to pay too much attention to safe movement. Even making good speed on a bicycle you can wave and say hello to the people you pass by. Not in a car. Can barely see people at all, can hardly be seen by people in there. The drive to Columbus passes through what seem to be scenic areas, but it's hard to tell.
What is it like to pass over a river in a car on the interstate? You see the sign with the name of the river. If you glance to the side, you see, for a few seconds, the concrete wall at the side of the bridge. Up above that treetops can be seen. There is a gap in the trees in the middle, which presumably is where the river is, though the actual water is usually invisible, hidden by the concrete of the bridge. In fall the trees are all yellows and reds. I bet it would be pretty if only you could see it.
I noticed a while back that while cycling I see the faces of the people driving the cars that are stopped at the cross streets, yielding to the traffic on the road I'm on. Yet when I'm in my car, I never see the people. Either way I'm looking at them evaluating whether they are indeed stopped or if they are headed out into my path. What is the difference? On the bicycle I'm looking at them as I'm about to pass at 20 or 30 km/hr, to see if they are going to pull out and smash me. I see them up close. In the car I'm traveling at 50 or 60 km/hr and I've looked at them from a couple hundred meters back, too far away to see the faces. By the time I'm close enough to see the people, it's too late for me to do anything at the speed I'm traveling anyway, and I'm looking hundreds of meters ahead at the next threat. Never see the person. Just an anonymous metal box. Notice how we say things like, "be careful, that car over there might turn left." Well, most likely it won't on its own. The human driving it might decide to turn left, though. But you can't even see him. On rare occasions there are loose nuts in the steering mechanism, but usually the loose nut is the one behind the steering wheel.
Much of that was the 1512 kilometer round trip to OVFF, taking 21 hours and burning 15.8 gallons costing $42.71. (Yes, 4 liters/100km. Helps not to be in a hurry. Obeying the speed laws helps, too.) It always feels very wasteful burning a month's supply of fuel in one long weekend, even if the fuel cost is pretty much negligible compared to the other trip expenses.
Given enough time to not be in a hurry, the driving isn't actually all that bad, as annoying as driving usually is. It is strange, though, traveling so much yet seeing so little. You really can't see anything from inside a car. It always feels weird to drive again after being away from the car for a week. You can't enjoy the trip, you have to pay too much attention to safe movement. Even making good speed on a bicycle you can wave and say hello to the people you pass by. Not in a car. Can barely see people at all, can hardly be seen by people in there. The drive to Columbus passes through what seem to be scenic areas, but it's hard to tell.
What is it like to pass over a river in a car on the interstate? You see the sign with the name of the river. If you glance to the side, you see, for a few seconds, the concrete wall at the side of the bridge. Up above that treetops can be seen. There is a gap in the trees in the middle, which presumably is where the river is, though the actual water is usually invisible, hidden by the concrete of the bridge. In fall the trees are all yellows and reds. I bet it would be pretty if only you could see it.
I noticed a while back that while cycling I see the faces of the people driving the cars that are stopped at the cross streets, yielding to the traffic on the road I'm on. Yet when I'm in my car, I never see the people. Either way I'm looking at them evaluating whether they are indeed stopped or if they are headed out into my path. What is the difference? On the bicycle I'm looking at them as I'm about to pass at 20 or 30 km/hr, to see if they are going to pull out and smash me. I see them up close. In the car I'm traveling at 50 or 60 km/hr and I've looked at them from a couple hundred meters back, too far away to see the faces. By the time I'm close enough to see the people, it's too late for me to do anything at the speed I'm traveling anyway, and I'm looking hundreds of meters ahead at the next threat. Never see the person. Just an anonymous metal box. Notice how we say things like, "be careful, that car over there might turn left." Well, most likely it won't on its own. The human driving it might decide to turn left, though. But you can't even see him. On rare occasions there are loose nuts in the steering mechanism, but usually the loose nut is the one behind the steering wheel.
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 08:24 am (UTC)I personally find people in cars difficult to see well enough to matter even when the cars are stationary and I am, too, unless I'm standing really close. Even slow movement worsens that, but certainly seeing anything while passing at high speeds can only be a glimpse.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 08:56 am (UTC)Wonderful!
I suspect though as far as enjoyment is concerned that you don't drive enough if you are constantly worrying about safe movement. I'd be the same on a bicycle. Oh, there are of course times when you have to think about it (even more on a bike, I suspect), but on a long trip I'm largely driving on automatic and so have plenty of time to see scenery, I only go back to "thinking about driving" at intersections and for navigation. Even in town driving I do a lot of it (especially on routes I know well, like going to work) thinking about other things.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 04:55 pm (UTC)I do spend lots of time as the person on foot or on the bicycle who could be smashed flat and killed by someone who'd come out of it uninjured and worrying primarily about his insurance deductible. Some number of crashes are unavoidable, but besides not wanting to be the one mashed flat, I really don't want to be the one doing the killing, either.
Not to exaggerate though, certainly there are times on big wide straight road with nothing much around that there's time for some looking around at the scenery. There was plenty of that while boring on through Indiana and Ohio. It's still nothing like cycling though. Cycling down a wide straight road intended for 90km/hr at 28km/hr and with minimal other traffic you've got lots of time for daydreaming and enjoying the view. In a car you just go faster until the wide straight road starts to need attention (the Germans famously take that to the logical extreme.) And if you find yourself thinking, "wow, look at that," while on the bicycle, you can just stop nearly anytime and go ahead and look at it. Can't really do that on the highway in a car.