# Commuting Distances



## lextek (Apr 1, 2004)

Wondering how long your commutes are? How many times a week do you commute by bike?


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## kjdhawkhill (Jan 29, 2011)

21 miles the direct route / between 25 and 30 the indirect options. I tend to ride home once or twice a week (ride in to work from wife). Today was actually the first time I've gone both directions.


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

I ride to work every workday. Last missed one in July 2006.

My minimum safe route is 4.5 miles. In the three-seasons, I frequently ride extended routes. I have one that's 9.5 miles and another that's 16.5. Year 'round I work in errands at least once a week.


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## wiggles (Feb 12, 2008)

18 miles one way, 36 round trip, with 2600' climbing for the entire ride. 
Commuting by bike started 7 years ago, but is now in a more permanent phase since i donated my car last monday 

and i must say the Alfine Dynamo Hub with Schmidt Edelux light is a wonderful commuting light

joe


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## lextek (Apr 1, 2004)

kjdhawkhill said:


> 21 miles the direct route / between 25 and 30 the indirect options. I tend to ride home once or twice a week (ride in to work from wife). Today was actually the first time I've gone both directions.


Sounds about the same distance I'm looking at. I'm shooting for twice a week both ways.


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## BentChainring (Jun 23, 2005)

8 Miles in.

5 Miles back (take the train part way to avoid rush hour)

First real commute today!


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## kjdhawkhill (Jan 29, 2011)

The biggest impediment was no shower at work. Now the office has one. And a laundry machine. The struggle of the day today was 30 degrees F at 5:30 when I left the house and 62 when I left the office at the end of the day. Two entirely different costum- i mean "kits."

I'm trying to ride in at least once a week from now on (until I wimp out with temps).


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## pdh777 (Oct 7, 2005)

16.5 miles each way

Twice a week starting soon - both ways


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

When I was working my commute was 36 milles round trip. I rode 4 days/week.


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

50 mile round trip, average of 4 days a week -- missed 6 days or so due to ice this winter, no ice bike set up yet! Fairly flat, though nearly always a headwind on the way home.

Last year, it was a 64-mile round trip, and I did it 5 days per week. I found the limits of my physical and mental capacity there.


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## UnivegaRVR (Dec 18, 2009)

26 miles road trip Monday through Friday at first I was pretty tired (I started out obese and out of shape) it is now one of the highlights of my day. I have been sick the last week and can't wait to get back on my bike.


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## coachstevo (Sep 11, 2009)

6 miles each way - 2 days/week
8 miles + 6 miles - 3 days/week (drop daughter off at pre-school)

strangely- it is 12 miles each way when driving

i've got a bunch of regular ride options- making a one way 12, 18, or 25 miles


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## vontress (Jul 19, 2009)

It is 22 round trip. When weather is reasonable, I try to ride every day. It is my favorite time if I'm not rushed. I will seek out different routes and hills depending on my mood. I try to leave it to fun and not turn it into a training session.


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## Scott B (Dec 1, 2004)

5 miles one-way, 5 days a week, year round. 1 non-bike commute in the past 6 months.

My commutes have ranged from 2 miles to 15 miles one-way.


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## TeamCholent (Apr 20, 2005)

*44-70*

Straight shot is 44-46 miles Round trip, but I will do training rides in Central Park NYC which add another 18-24 miles.

Sadly, it is mostly City Streets so I try to do laps once a week now and up it to twice a week.

I skip the ice-snow days as studded tires would be great but I fear for the car and taxi drivers ability to watch out for me and slow down.


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## Richard (Feb 17, 2006)

5 miles each way and I try to do it daily, weather permitting (I do not ride in the rain - last time I went down was in the wet.) A short, steep climb each way, but a 45/18 on the SS handles it OK.


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## weiwentg (Feb 3, 2004)

1.5 miles each way. I commute 3-4 days per week during summer (else I walk). During winter, I mainly walk, although I'll commute over 40 degrees. Not that it's much exercise, but still.


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

19 miles each way. This time of year I'll do 2 days a week. I'll drive in Monday with my bike and change of clothes, bike home, bike back and then drive home Tuesday. I repeat it on Thursday.

Once it warms up I'll do it at least 3 days a wek. 

Len


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## JWRB (Nov 29, 2005)

6-8 miles one way depending on route, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Been doing this for 5 years now and cannot imagine going back to driving.


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## zac (Aug 5, 2005)

Everyday, except when the snow is really bad and dangerous.

Distances vary: 
-most direct ~1.8 miles (one way)
-typical ~7.5 miles (one way) and much longer routes depending on mood and other schedule.


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## seeborough (Feb 3, 2004)

I commute every day and, dropping the little one off at school, I get 3 miles roundtrip to work. Some days, if I don't work late and since the club ride leaves from across the street, I might get a solid 35 before heading home.


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## thehook (Mar 14, 2006)

18.5 each way. Try do do it at least 2 times a week. Sometimes 4 when the weather gets nicer.


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## pigpen (Sep 28, 2005)

3 to 6 miles eash way depending on how I feel in the morning. (direct commute)
or how late I am.
Turn right out of driveway - 6 miles straight up hill.
Turn left- flat for a mile then pretty much all down hill.

I have a 20 mile loop that I ride as part of my commute that I do a few times a week during the summer. 

Right now I commute 3 days a week as I to drop off and pick up the children T and Th.
During the summer I will commute everyday it is not raining.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

My usual route is 22 miles round trip, and I bike commute about 4 days/week on average year-round. Our office is moving later this year and my commute distance will increase to about 30 miles RT. The biggest impediment to a longer commute is the time commitment. Right now, I spend about 90 minutes per day commuting and that will increase to about 2 hours with the longer route. I'm going to try to keep up my commuting at the same rate but might need to cut back if it becomes too time-consuming.


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## saf-t (Sep 24, 2008)

16 mile r/t, but I'll take a longer route home when I can


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## kykr13 (Apr 12, 2008)

8mi each way. So far, up to twice now this year.  

I'll admit I'm a fair weather commuter (cold, rain or wind is OK but just one of those please) but have needed my car for work a lot lately. Not by my choice, but that's why they call it work.


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## carlotta (Jan 12, 2008)

22mi round trip, usually direct but lots of similar distance options coming home to keep it interesting (and going in as well, I suppose, but at 6am I'm pretty single-minded 

I've been going 4 days/week the last month or so since the snow/ice/crap has dissipated. The fifth day usually either has crappy weather (45mph wind or thunder, etc) or I need to take the train to carry something/look nice/run non-bike friendly errands/etc


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## skh (Mar 4, 2011)

20 miles round trip, 3- 4 days a week. I usually give myself a day off during the week. I try to time it with inclement weather.


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## CleavesF (Dec 31, 2007)

12.7 each way. Most of the route is pure bike path but there's this really traffic jam section I hit no matter how early or late I commute. There are always cars. 

Riding like a Xmas Tree 4 sure. You can never have too many LIGHTS!


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## Gunnar75 (Feb 15, 2011)

32 miles round trip. When the light is good I ride 4 days a week. As a pastor weekend service would be weird if I showed up in cycling kit. 

Hey CleavesF, what is your light set up?


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Around 10 and a half or so kilometers each way. I try and do it 5 days a week all year round. Here it is in summer and winter......


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## fontarin (Mar 28, 2009)

6 miles each way. I generally commute 4 days a week, and commute to my home office across the house the other day.

I'll usually put in a 40 mile ride after work one day a week, and try to hit a few hills on the way home on another.


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## thechad66 (Aug 19, 2010)

7 miles each way... I'm a wuss when it's dark & below freezing, though.


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## lextek (Apr 1, 2004)

Keski said:


> Around 10 and a half or so kilometers each way. I try and do it 5 days a week all year round. Here it is in summer and winter......


Awesome snow video. I'm assuming that was on a MTB? Post a picture of your ride.


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## CleavesF (Dec 31, 2007)

Gunnar75 said:


> Hey CleavesF, what is your light set up?


Light and Motion 360 on the helmet turned full bright on steady. 
Cateye up front flashing. Planetbike on the rack flashing.
reflective stickers on fenders and the sides
SPD pedals with the flat inserts with reflectors on one side of my M520's 
Shimano shoes w/wo LG booties with reflectors. Leg reflector straps
Currently riding my Gore Fusion Jacket with... reflectors. 

Reflectors really work once you have enough lighting on your bike. As they should brighten up if shone upon.. I have the cateye mounted to my seatpost pointing downward to the path ahead of me. 

this angle also illuminates the reflectors on my bike (at least on the right side). I'm saving up for a full NiteRider dual HID kit... but 800 bucks is steep even on this "associate" salary of mine.


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## lextek (Apr 1, 2004)

Did my first commute today. 38 miles round trip. I'm think of doing it again tomorrow. Really enjoyed the early morning ride.


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## Cyclist69 (Apr 15, 2011)

First Post!

I do a combo commute that consist of a two part cycle ride and a train ride. The ride from home to the train station is about 1.25 miles. Then a thirty five mile train ride to my destination and a another 3.5 mile cycle commute to work. I work off peak hours so it’s possible to take my bicycle on the train. The benefits of this are plenty. The cost of my monthly commute has dropped dramatically and i feel great.


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## davelikestoplay (May 27, 2010)

9-18 km each way, depending on the route. I try to go 2-3 times per week when it is nice enough out (> +5 deg celsius). I usually end up doing it 1-2 times per week


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## Dale Brigham (Aug 23, 2002)

7 to 8 km each way -- sounds more impressive than 4 to 5 miles. I commute by bike most weeks of the year (other than snow/ice days) about 4 days/week. I can work from home typically one day per week. When I leave home to go to work, it is almost always by bike. 

Dale


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## Eiron (Sep 9, 2006)

lextek said:


> Wondering how long your commutes are? How many times a week do you commute by bike?


Over the past 20 yrs that I've bike commuted, my lengths have varied from as short as 4 mi r/t to as long as 42 mi r/t (bike portion of a 78 mi total commute), with the bonus of 85 mi bike commute days on Bike To Work Day. I shoot for 5 days/wk, but seem to be lucky to get 4/wk these days.

Right now my bike commute is only 15 mi r/t, so I only rode about 1,700 bike commute miles in the past year. But the good news is that I also put less than 4,000 mi on my car in the past year. When I was bike commuting 3,000+ mi/yr (doing the hybrid commute), I was still forced to put 20,000+ mi/yr on my car.

Also, living closer to work means I can commute all year long here in Northern Colorado. Having to work 80 mi from home may rack up more total bike miles, but I can really only bike that route 6 mos out of each year (due to road & visibility/safety conditions). A close job means I can thread thru back/side streets & pretend I'm safe all year!


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## jfmcgowan (Apr 18, 2011)

38 miles round trip. I started last summer one week when my car was down hard for a week. I did not brave the winter months. 

Looking forward to starting up again this week. Will probably alternate (Car in/bike home, bike in, car home) the first few times to ease back into it.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

My PNW commute is 43 miles round trip. This year has been a challenge due to no facilities (at all) at work. No running water, no place to safely leave my bike, no place to change even with a baby wipe shower. I'm stationed on a carrier in drydock. When we're waterborne, I can commute again. My previous ship up here had a nice setup for my stuff and my bike. We even had a bike room with a stand and park tool box. 

When I was station in Hawaii, it was 26 miles round trip by direct route and I could add a loop or two on the homebound route. We're moving back next year and will likely live in West Oahu again but probably a few miles further away. I would like to have at least 15 miles each way to give me a 50-55 minute commute to work. This time I won't have to be at work by 5:30am. This next job will start around 7:30am so I won't have to ride to work in total darkness everyday. 

The biggest deal with have a commute that is an hour or more in each direction is that it builds up a little fatigue by the end of the week. It's not two hours a day five days a week, it's one hour ten times a week. You have to force yourself into easy days.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

7-8 miles each way, every day. That's about all I could take without adding the bus into the equation).


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## trek7100 (Jan 1, 2008)

I'm going to try to commute a couple of days a week this spring/summer/fall. My only issues are its 36 miles roundtrip and I work 630am-5pm. I'd like some feedback on picking a route. Those of you that have more than one route to take, do you alternate, go for quickest, or ? Also, how fast should I be able to ride to make it feasible? I'm a somewhat newbie. Thank you


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## the sarge (Jan 10, 2011)

29 round trip here wish it was shorter ad the main reason I don't do it as much is I have to leave at 430 in the morning. A half hour off on the start would make me do it everyday


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

trek7100 said:


> I'm going to try to commute a couple of days a week this spring/summer/fall. My only issues are its 36 miles roundtrip and I work 630am-5pm. I'd like some feedback on picking a route. Those of you that have more than one route to take, do you alternate, go for quickest, or ? Also, how fast should I be able to ride to make it feasible? I'm a somewhat newbie. Thank you



You'd likely have to leave before 5am to make it work. Heading to work for me is typically the quickest/shortest route and I'll add miles on the way home if I'm feeling froggy. If you were to only ride the 36 miles a day, that would be a respectable weekly mileage for fitness. As far as speed, what is your fitness, the terrain, traffic (lights), and the route. In Hawaii, I used a bike path for 9 of my 13 miles each way. There was section of path about 3 miles long that was full of joggers and walkers at all hours of the day that caused me to slow way down. With a relatively flat route, I would average around 17-17.5 mph for the day. Every ride can't be a time trial if you expect to commute every day. 

You'll get faster on your commute as your fitness builds but you'll eventually find ways to be more efficient and that will be your time saver. I got very good at riding the route between my house and work. I knew where to go harder and where to ease up. I got better at preparing my bike, what works for clothing, and time savers when cleaning up. I commuted daily for almost three years (I drove to work 6 times) and I was continuously figuring out how to do it better.


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## lextek (Apr 1, 2004)

I have to be at work by 7:30 and it's a 19 mile ride. I average about 14 mph on my slick tire MTB commuter. The weather looks pretty, crappy this week with rain and thunderstorms. I don't mind riding home in a little rain, but waking up and heading out in the rain is tough......


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## voodooguy (Aug 18, 2007)

Well, I'm looking at 10 miles one way to the Park and Ride or do the whole way, 23 - 24 miles one way. I did it last year on earth day and it was a kick. Looking into commuter bikes so I can do more.


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## DesertDoc (Apr 23, 2009)

*75 mile Round Trip*

I work at a ski resort, so I commute on and off depending on weather. It's 34 miles to the office from the house, but the return trip is different and longer due to interstate configuration.

Many days I commute 22 miles to an associates house and carpool the rest of the way. I'll ride in any weather - although I questioned my own sanity yesterday while changing a flat at 6am in driving sleet 10 miles from home.

Part of my ride is on an interstate (unavoidable), and therefore I will not ride that way during heavy snow or when there is any risk of chunky ice and debris on the shoulders. Total elevation change is just under 3,000 feet going in. Nice climb to start the day. Most of it is in one continuous stretch - 2,200 gained over 12 miles.

During the summer months I'll do the full loop usually 2x weekly and carpool 3 days. Depends on how much time I have. I leave at 5:15am to make it happen. Takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get there. A little faster to the house .

Firends and Co-workers think I'm nuts, but I've never been in better shape. Ever.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

Mine is 34 miles round trip. I try to do it 3-4 days a week year round. I've got my own private bike locker at work, an office with a big rack for my clothes and a shower one flight up from my office. My boss rides most days and performance evaluations usually turn into conversations about bike parts after 45 seconds. I've never had a better job in terms of a bike friendly place.


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## lextek (Apr 1, 2004)

DesertDoc said:


> I work at a ski resort, so I commute on and off depending on weather. It's 34 miles to the office from the house, but the return trip is different and longer due to interstate configuration.
> 
> Many days I commute 22 miles to an associates house and carpool the rest of the way. I'll ride in any weather - although I questioned my own sanity yesterday while changing a flat at 6am in driving sleet 10 miles from home.
> 
> ...


Hardcore!


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## lextek (Apr 1, 2004)

pmf said:


> Mine is 34 miles round trip. I try to do it 3-4 days a week year round. I've got my own private bike locker at work, an office with a big rack for my clothes and a shower one flight up from my office. My boss rides most days and performance evaluations usually turn into conversations about bike parts after 45 seconds. I've never had a better job in terms of a bike friendly place.


If the pay is good sounds like a dream job!


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## Cyclist69 (Apr 15, 2011)

I dislike rain and that's all it's been doing for some time lately. I have a road bike with no fenders, no rain gear and lots of added time because i incorporate the train in my commute so i'm at the mercy of the Metra schedule. However, i do like the fact that i'm doing something good for the environment and at the same time...myself.

What's a good choice for rain gear?


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## pedalruns (Dec 18, 2002)

I have a 32 mile round trip... I try and do it 2-3 times a week. I also have to stand on my feet the whole time at work and the ride home is usually a slow plod against a head wind with very tired legs. My job is changing in a few weeks so I'll have to see how the new job will be with commuting... but I really like the feeling I get not using the car. (not to mention the money saved!)


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## NUTT (Apr 15, 2008)

60 miles round trip & I did it twice last year (once geared, once SS). I haven't done it yet this year though. My goal is 3 times!


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## skizzle86 (Apr 15, 2010)

28 miles round trip on my SS, only on Fridays because those are casual dress days, it gives me flexibility on my commuter/work attire.


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## defmut (May 4, 2011)

14.5 round trip. I also ride during my lunch hour doing errands and grabbing a bite. Totals 20+miles a day/ 5 times a week.


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## Fogdweller (Mar 26, 2004)

48 miles round trip. I do it twice a week and thrice on a good week.


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