For more than 540 days straight -- since before the Republicans picked a presumptive nominee, before the Times Square ball dropped to start 2007 -- Mark "Silverhand" McMillen of Saxonburg has been posting gas prices and contributing to discussions on a Web site devoted to the topic.

Wendy "Rivers" Mellinger in Smithton hasn't missed for more than 240 days. Brian "Coach61" Eshbaugh, whose streak is up above 280, has a goal. "I'm trying to go for a year," said the Lower Burrell resident who has been a gas spotter for about three years now.

It's dedication fired by a different kind of road rage.

The continuing climb of gas prices has battered budgets and shaken the economy. But it also has fed virtual communities like these: volunteers with a passion for saving money on gas and hanging out on the Web chatting about outrageous oil company profits or yanking each other's chains over the proper way to identify a BP station in Ross.

It's about service. It's about helping out the neighbors.

"It's just fun to see what he'll come up with next," said Mr. Eshbaugh, gesturing toward Edward "Scoutmaster" Mori, a spotter from Dormont who has been serving as a de facto group leader and who helped organize a gathering that brought five spotters over the weekend to an Applebee's restaurant at Pittsburgh Mills shopping center in Frazer.

The group, which tries to get together once every season, has built offline bonds that put faces to some of the names they see regularly on the www.GasBuddy.com Pittsburgh site, one of a number of Internet sites devoted to tracking constantly changing prices at the nation's pumps.

They aren't the only ones turning gas prices into an excuse to get together. Last Saturday, contributors to the Pennsylvania GasBuddy site covering territories outside four urban areas held a gathering at a restaurant in Lancaster.

Meetings also have been held in Minneapolis, Toronto and San Diego, according to Dustin Coupal, a co-founder of the site based in Minneapolis. Chicago members have had 37 meetings so far.

"All meetings are initiated and organized by our local members without any impetus from us," he said. "Some have even printed their own T-shirts or other paraphernalia for the meetings."

Without these hobbyists, drivers who look to services such as GasBuddy.com or GasPriceWatch.com to find the best price for a trip to West Virginia or McKeesport might be out of luck. GasBuddy has seen traffic to its site rise 400 percent since January, exceeding 4 million hits per day, Mr. Coupal said.

Nationally, he said there are 757,000 registered members, although people don't need to register to check prices. In the Pittsburgh area last month, 43,500 unique users came on the site. Around the country, spotters report more than 100,000 prices each day, Mr. Coupal said.

"We're all trying to give everybody as much information as we can," said Mr. Mori, who became a spotter five years ago and has posted more than 26,000 messages on GasBuddy over the years.

Several of those who crowded into a big corner booth Sunday had attended past Pittsburgh gatherings. Some of them even post on more than one gas-spotting site. At this GasBuddy meeting the nicknames used were those they use on the site when arguing about tax policies or filing their latest finds.

Everyone was waiting to see if Coach61 actually showed up. There were jokes he might not really exist because he'd never come to a meeting before. When a man in a blue polo shirt walked up to the table, the digital cameras came out. "I can afford to come here," he said with a grin. "I only live 5 minutes from here."

The seasonal meetings, launched here about three years ago by one of the site's earliest Pittsburgh-area volunteers, have moved around the region. It's an investment in friendships formed online, even if it does require using precious fuel.

Of course, they try to keep gas use down. On her way from Smithton, Ms. Mellinger picked up Bob "Bobmcl2006'' Hauger at a meeting place in New Stanton. He lives in Greensburg. Meanwhile, Mr. Mori rides the subway to work. Mr. Eshbaugh just bought a scooter.

As a waitress brought colas and beer, the spotters shared anecdotes showing they take this seriously, even though they do have jobs and other lives. Mr. Eshbaugh recalled the days his first posts weren't up to the agreed-upon standards. What did he do wrong? "I used 'Route'," he said with mock horror.

Early on, the Pittsburgh spotters came up with standards to avoid listing the same gas station multiple times. If one person used "Rt." and another "Route," the entries would show up as different locations.

But then, the national organizer asked them to bring the list in line with its system, which meant adding information such as street numbers. "We rebuilt Pittsburgh," said Ms. Mellinger. The database holds more than 500 area stations so it took awhile.

Still, they swear that helping out is easy. "This can take anywhere from 5 minutes a day to one and half hours," said Mr. Hauger. Getting immersed in a forum discussion probably uses up the most time.

Postings earn points, bragging rights and even changes in a member's onscreen symbol. "It's not about the points," said Ms. Mellinger. "It's more about camaraderie."

Barring time spent out of cell phone or laptop range, most of these active members try to contribute something every day. They all have their own tools for recording prices. "I've started carrying a notepad," said Mr. McMillen. Mr. Hauger uses the voice recorder on his cell phone while Mr. Mori sometimes sends text messages to himself with the information.

As for the summer gas tax holiday that John McCain and Hillary Clinton are backing to give consumers' relief and that Barack Obama rejects as a political ploy, well ... "They better not do it," asserted Ms. Mellinger, firmly.

"I think it's worth a try," Mr. McMillen weighed in.

Ms. Mellinger wasn't budging. "I think the oil companies will look at that and say, 'Woo, hoo, now we can charge $6 a gallon.'"

The spotters also have concerns about ethanol, don't think boycotts work and are convinced that prices will just keep rising.

No matter what anyone's particular political leanings, the spotters said they see their hobby as one of those things that brings people together. "We're all out there pumping gas," said Mr. Mori.

And no matter how long someone has been buying the stuff, there's no thrill quite like that of finding a deal. On a recent trip to Ohio, he paid $3.19 a gallon at one station and was glad to find it. "It's really sad," he said. "We think $3.19 is a good price."