Not owning a car, but once in a while renting one, gas is the factor I often forget when planning my bike trips. I recently rode with a friend from Brooklyn to Worcester, MA via Long Island and the Orient Point ferry. Getting home was tricky. We thought about a one-way car rental from Worcester but the gas, and the drop-off fee made it expensive. I started calling bus companies even though I didn't want to put my bike under the bus with everyone's bag -- bike box or not. Finally my Worcester friend came to the rescue and drove us back down to New London, CT, where we caught the ferry and then biked to Greenport and took the LIRR home. I guess a nice folding bike to hop on a train with would be ideal, as long as it performed well enough for 100 miles/day and still folded compactly.