Road trip exposes fuel inefficiency.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: SMALL [biz]

I rarely pay attention to fuel prices for the same reason I don't keep track of prices for staples like milk and eggs. What's the point? No matter what they cost, you've still got to buy them.

One notable exception is tourism, because after all, vacationing, while therapeutic, is not considered a life essential (although it probably should be). If motorists decide the price for getting to a vacation spot isn't right, they don't have to pony up.

But rising fuel prices have been in the news so much lately--mainly in regard to truckers' costs for transporting goods but also regarding impacts fuel prices might have on Colorado tourism--that I decided for once to keep track of my own fuel costs during a vacation in early May.

The fact that I was not vacationing in Colorado but traveling east to Missouri would help me to empathize, as far as fuel costs go, with tourists coming from out of state to vacation here this summer. And by extension, I'd get an idea of the impact this could have on Colorado tourism, a $13 billion industry made up of thousands of businesses ranging from tiny gift shops to restaurants to rafting outfitters to luxury hotels.

Anyway, back to my trip. There were two of us. I started charting fuel costs as we began traveling west across the entire state of Missouri, from Clinton, Mo., south of Kansas City, to St. Charles, a history-laden town on the outskirts of St. Louis.

First fuel stop: Sedalia, Mo. We filled up for $46.

Stop No. 2: Boonville: $20

Stop No. 3: Hartsburg: $36

Stop No. 4: Marthasville: $37

Stop No. 5: St. Charles: $30

Stop No. 6: Kirkwood: $40

Our personal fuel bill came to $209. And by that I don't mean what we put in the car's gas tank. I mean our food bill.

We biked 270 miles in 3 1/2 days and the fill-ups included: chicken fried steak, nachos and beer in Sedalia; turkey sandwiches in Boonville; cheese-burgers and beer in Hartsburg; Angus burgers and beer in Marthasville; half-pound burgers and beer in St. Charles; and ribeye steaks and beer in Kirkwood, where we loaded our bikes onto an Amtrak train that took us back to the car in western Missouri.

So, $209 for two guys to go 270 miles. Not great fuel efficiency, but I should point out that the historic Katy Trail, built on the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, is paved with crushed limestone, so the pedaling is slightly harder than on asphalt.

From a fuel efficiency standpoint, I calculated I got 58 miles per pound of food. More impressive was my...