# How far do you commute?



## trek7100 (Jan 1, 2008)

How far do you commute to work/school? What is your route like, heavy traffic, hilly, speed limit, city, rural, etc...?


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## fmbp (Apr 23, 2003)

I've got a pretty short commute. I ride about 6.5 or 7 miles, about half of which is on a MUT, with the other half being on nice wide city streets. This is good news for me as Houston drivers are not the kindest. 

Oh, and it's as flat as a pancake.


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## averen (Jan 1, 2008)

Mine is 7 miles each way. It's in a city, mostly on back roads with little traffic or at least roads with bike lanes. About 1 mile is in fairly heavy traffic with no bike lane. Requires some good pumping to keep up with traffic! Thankfully it's usually light in the morning, so I get a better workout on the way home  

There are some good hills on the commute. On the way to work I have a very long medium-steep hill to climb, and a VERY steep hill to go down (weeeeeeeeeee!) But I have to climb it on the way home, and it's steep, usually takes lots of downshifting and alternating between standing and sitting a couple of times, it seems to level out right before I pop! But I'm still working on getting in better shape...

Jared


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## PdxMark (Feb 3, 2004)

4.5 miles each way in Portland, Oregon. Home is on a ridge about 250' above where work is, with an additional small bit of climb between home and work. I also ride up 4 floors of parking garage to my bike rack. The route to work is on city residential streets, a city arterial with a bike lane, and downtown streets. The route home is usually along downtown streets, a MUT, city arterials with bike lanes and city residential streets. Traffic on the downtown streets and arterials is busy, but quite comfortable. All other streets are lower traffic and comfortable.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

6.7 miles one way in beautiful Madison, WI. My route is about 50% MUT, 49% residential streets and one short sprint on a major thoroughfare. I'd call it mostly flat with some minor hills that only really suck when they're covered with snow. 

At my office, I can store my bike inside, and I've got a locker room with showers. And a sauna. 

Why do you ask?


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## hankbrandenburg (Aug 3, 2007)

18 miles each way in Northern Virginia (DC Suburb). The ride is about 1/3 MUP, 1/3 residential and 1/3 on varying sizes of arterial roads. Some hills on the route make me work a bit.

I usually leave the house before 05:00 so traffic is very light in the morning. The afternoon commute is a different story.


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## godot (Feb 3, 2004)

35 miles - lots of variations, in winter i break out the CX bike and ride the dirt roads for most it.

normally i drive in monday, ride home, ride in tuesday, drive home. repeat thurs/fri

i've ridden both ways in a single day, but that means that work and riding pretty much take up the entire day, so i only do that when the wife is out of town, or has a girls night out planned.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

15 miles each way.


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

I commute from my Campbell, CA home 11-13 miles to work in North San Jose. The terrain is all flat, but thee are lots of short rises for over and under passes. 50% is 2 different winding MUTS, the Los Gatos Creek Trail and the Guadalupe River Trail (GRT). I use city streets to connect the two. Some of the areas are not the finest, so I carry pepper spray. 

GRT skits the west side of Down Town San Jose and was a huge funds expendeture by the city. I rarely see bike commuters, but It is mostly used by homeless because thee are a lot of freeway overpasses to shelter under. The GRT goes all the way north to the bay, but at there airport it turns into gravel and dirt paths. The city's plan is to improve the path all the way to the bay. Recently they paved the Hyw 101 under crossing, which used to be a hike a bike sand and river rock section. Now I can take that instead of city streets.

Currently I ride 2-3 miles of gravel and dirt. The gravel is good on my road bike with 25c Armadillo tires in the wet, but the dirt section gets really muddy in the wet, so I have to detour to city streets if it is wet in that section. The times that I have tried to brave the mud winded up in disaster because the mud caked up so much under the road brakes and the fenders that the front wheel stopped rolling and I fell in the soft mud.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

godot said:


> 35 miles - lots of variations, in winter i break out the CX bike and ride the dirt roads for most it.
> 
> normally i drive in monday, ride home, ride in tuesday, drive home. repeat thurs/fri
> 
> i've ridden both ways in a single day, but that means that work and riding pretty much take up the entire day, so i only do that when the wife is out of town, or has a girls night out planned.


As Martin would say, "Damn Gina." How many miles is that a week? Hav eyou been riding with this snow?


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## Masi-Rider (Nov 2, 2006)

17 miles each way in/around Chapel Hill, NC. Been using the single speed the majority of the time for the past several months. The holidays and cold have knocked me off my regular schedule. Looking forward to next week's warm up.


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## Bolo Grubb (Aug 25, 2004)

I have 2 commuting options.

#1 all the way from my home to work. 11.5 miles each way. 
#2 drive most the way and bike 1.5 miles to work.

I work on a university campus and parking is overpriced, hard to find and simply a pain in the ass to use. 

When ever possible I use option #1. When I need to go somewhere after work that requires me to use my car I use option #2.


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## slowrider (Mar 12, 2004)

I commute 31 mile a day. 14 miles in the morning, 17 miles going home. 2 roads I take in the morning are traffic free, but they are two lane roads with no shoulder. Going home I have to take the next road over to avoid getting killed. I got detour going home because of an accident, back to the road I use for my morning commute. Never again, even if it means riding double the distance. 

All things being equal, I wish my commute was 20 miles a day. That's would be far enough to get a good workout, recover faster (I'm over 40), and make weather and non-issue.


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## threesportsinone (Mar 27, 2007)

1 mile real early, 1 mile lunch time, 3.5 miles post-lunch, 3.5 miles post class, 1 mile, 1mile home. 

So 11 miles total, the 1 mile sections are real flat with a bunch of stop lights, and the first 3.5 mile part is all up hill or flat, the second is all down, and the last two sections are the same as the first.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

My usual commute is 22 miles round trip over hilly terrain. The ride to work is 10 miles, and return trip is usually 12 miles, depending on the route I take. Most of my route is on neighborhood streets and lightly traveled suburban roads, with about 10 traffic lights along the way. My roundtrip commute times range from about 80 to 95 minutes, depending on what I feel like on a given day, the weather, the traffic, and how many red lights catch me.


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

trek7100 said:


> How far do you commute to work/school? What is your route like, heavy traffic, hilly, speed limit, city, rural, etc...?


I commute 14.5 miles each way -- I usually ride my bike to work 2-3 times per week. Occasionally, I ride to work and then get driven home by my wife, whose office is across the street from mine and drives to and from work. My route is a combination of rural, urban and downtown streets. There are virtually no shoulders on the rural roads upon which I commute. I usually leave home after the moring rush hour is over and leave the office after the evening rush hour is over. Even so, I have a fair amount of traffic on my commute. I have one large hill on my commute in each direction. The morning commute is more downhill than uphill -- my house is 420 feet above sea level and my office is about 30 feel above sea level; obviously, the evening commute is more uphill than downhill. Also, given the prevailing winds, if it is windy, I have a tailwind for my morning commute and a headwind for my evening commute.


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## eeblack (Dec 16, 2007)

About 25 miles each way - mostly flat and about 1/2 bike path. I could go a more direct route, but traffic is faster and much heavier. There are a few decent hills at the ends.

Haven't had a chance to try it on my new road bike. Averaged about 17MPH on my mountain bike, so I'm looking to improve the times quite a bit.

Am considering a bus pass, which would give me a 5 mile bike ride, a 12 mile express bus ride and another 7 mile ride, but the times of the bus service aren't very frequent or convenient.

Columbus is supposed to be adding dedicated bike lanes to the city streets sometime in the (near?) future. That would be nice.


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

6mi round trip on mostly residential streets and crossing a stream valley. Most days I ride home for lunch as well.


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## lx93 (Jun 14, 2007)

12.18 miles round-trip.


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## singlecross (Nov 1, 2006)

12-17 miles one way depending on the route with about 1200 vertical elevation gain. Rural two lane with minimal shoulders when there's a shoulder at all and in the non-snow months some sweet gravel roads with no cars allowed thanks to the Rockefeller family and Acadia National Park. 5 days a week spring/ summer/ fall and 2-3 days a week when there's snow on the ground.

singlecross


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

18 miles one way in North Central Ohio


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## djg (Nov 27, 2001)

My basic route is about 8 miles each way, about 75% of that on a MUT. The route takes me by a local park (national, actually) which offers a nice place to add a few miles when there's time. The first few miles are hilly (one short steep rise and two longer down-hills going in, and the reverse on the way back obviously) and the rest is relatively flat. It's an urban/suburban setting, but most of my route is urban parkland.


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## boyd2 (Apr 21, 2003)

My full commute is 33 miles each way from near Baltimore to near Annapolis, but I don't do it very often. It takes alot of time out of my day and this time of year it gaurentees that I will be in the pitch dark both ways. More often I will throw my bike in the truck and drive to a mall that cuts my ride down to 20 miles each way.

This time of year it is all fixed gear riding. The STIs on my road bike don't shift well when it gets below freexing.

The real bummer this time of year is the shower at work. The water is never warm enough this time of year. It is a real drag getting to work on a near freezing day and taking a lukewarm shower.


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## wasfast (Feb 3, 2004)

Mine's probably one of the shortest of the ones mentioned: 3 miles each way. I started commuting full time at the end of last spring. I gave my truck to my son so we now only have one car that stays home with my wife. Thus, I ride to work every day. My only concern is possible ice from time to time in Jan-Feb. I live in Vancouver, Washington.


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## Chase15.5 (Feb 17, 2005)

36 miles round trip . Mostly on MUTs (with maybe 6 miles on any type of road). And those roads are back roads.


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## ritjobbie (Jun 30, 2004)

17 miles roud trip, depending on the route. Usually half MUT along the Erie Canal.


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## TrekJeff (Mar 14, 2007)

16 RT in the summer, 90%MUT and 10% road, 18 RT in the winter consisting of frozen lake, and road, the MUT is blocked off with a wall of plowed snow. I need to find out who I need to talk to about seeing if that can be plowed during the winter.


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## I'mNotGoodAtThis (Oct 4, 2007)

I'm a new commuter and I do 6 miles one way everyday, rain (snow now) or shine. Lots of hills along the way in Flagstaff, AZ. The only bad thing I've found is that with the snow the plows only push the mess to the side of the road and thus defeating the purpose of a bike lane. With no bike lane and a frozen sidewalk I have to ride on the very edge of the right lane and some cars don't like to give me any extra space, which is pretty hair raising.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

South Carolina was 40 round trip, flat, with a tailwind for 17 miles in the afternoon. 

Virginia was 43 round trip, flat with one high overpass and heavy traffic in the afternoon.

Hawaii was 26 round trip, rolling hills, crystal meth junkies, monsoons, random fish on the MUT, and 80 degree weather year round. 

Washington State is 42 miles round trip, several short climbs, wet cold rain, short days in the winter (headlight in both directions), frequent snows that keep the shoulders covered in gravel, and best of all - the road from my house to the main road has two 18% grades. Feels good when you are cold if you can keep the front wheel down.


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## trek7100 (Jan 1, 2008)

WOW bigbill - you sure are an experienced commuter. 

I've decided to commute this year - when our Michigan weather permits(spring, summer, fall). If I stay at my current job it will be a 36 mile RT - with a few heavy traffic roads, without bike lanes. I'm thinking about changing jobs to one in my town - which would be 12 miles RT. Right now I spend about $30 a week on gas.


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

24 miles round trip I will make it longer as it stays light longer.


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

bigbill said:


> South Carolina was 40 round trip, flat, with a tailwind for 17 miles in the afternoon.
> 
> Virginia was 43 round trip, flat with one high overpass and heavy traffic in the afternoon.
> 
> ...



Bigbill, how many days out of the week would you commute?


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Killroy said:


> Bigbill, how many days out of the week would you commute?


Every workday in Hawaii. We only had one car and it was actually better to ride to work instead of dealing with the Oahu traffic. It did suck during the 44 days of rain, flu season, stitches in my hand, stitches in my head, and a broken finger. You just learn to slow down. 

Virginia was 2-3 times a week. We had two cars and if I had to drive I would take the 36 mpg civic. I tried commuting daily for a while, but it really wore me down. It is ten 21 mile rides, not five 42 mile round trips. 

South Carolina was two days a week during race season, Wednesday and Friday. I was a hardcore racer with hard rides on Tues/Thurs and races on the weekend. If I didn't race, I went long on Sundays so Monday was always a rest day. Commuting is a good way to build your base fitness in the late Winter/ early Spring.


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## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

7 miles one way, 100% city street, no real bike lane on anything but the last mile which is for busses and bikes only. but the streets are wide and cars and metro in seattle are usually pretty bike friendly. 600 feet of gain. i go in to work ~3 pm and fight in the jungle, when i come home ~12 am its a ghost town. we have a large basement at work with a bike rack but no shower facilities.


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## orlin03 (Dec 11, 2007)

My commute gives me two options: a rolling, hilly rural ride that's 9 miles one way, where I can average 22 mph, or a super steep 7.5 mile trek that takes a few more minutes, going through some nice back roads. I love the second route, but stick to the hilly one all winter, because I I hate the idea of overheating going up the hills and freezing on the way down them. On nice days, though, I leave early and explore a bit. I ride to work 4 days a week.


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## Bianchiguy (Sep 8, 2005)

30 mile round trip in the Monterey Bay area. Posted a review of the ride here during this past summer. http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=97468&highlight=monterey+bay+commute


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## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*about 25 km*

Each way, but I usually take rapid transit (I can take my bike on the train) most of the way to work in the morning, riding about 8 km then ride all the way home. Mostly on lightly trafficked bike routes (not MUT), with one ugly stretch on the [fortunately wide] shoulder of a major commuter route.


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## I'mNotGoodAtThis (Oct 4, 2007)

I'mNotGoodAtThis said:


> I'm a new commuter and I do 6 miles one way everyday, rain (snow now) or shine.


Yeah so, I lied a little bit about that. We got at least 2.5 feet of snow overnight (in Arizona btw) and it doesn't look like I will be riding anywhere anytime soon. In fact, I have to go shovel the driveway now or else I wont be able to get the car out of the garage to go to work.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

10.5 miles each way in NoVA. 7 miles of MUT and 3.5 miles of surface streets. Lots of traffic lights and 1/4 to 1/2 mile sprints while on streets. I do it on a single speed 46/16. There are a few small grade changes, but not really hills.


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## rellimreeb (Jul 29, 2007)

haven't commuted in a while, but my roundtrip is 60 miles.

need to wait for the time change. riding home in the dark is too scary.


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## Tobby4 (Sep 26, 2007)

I will start commuting when I move in April, it will be around a 20 mile round trip ride, I will drive in Monday a.m and ride home that night..... and continue the rotation. It will be all city streets in and around Downtown Atlanta.

I am excited....


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

millerinva said:


> haven't commuted in a while, but my roundtrip is 60 miles.
> 
> need to wait for the time change. riding home in the dark is too scary.



Ever consider moving closer to work? 

Positives: 
Less time in a car
more time on the bike
lowers transportation cost
Lower carbon footprint/ pollution
lower gas demand


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## s0crates (Dec 5, 2007)

15 miles total through the zigzagiest route you had ever seen in a Miami, FL suburb. I recently began commuting and I used to ride on rather congested roads but decided to take a less heavy route through residential streets. The frequent turning is rather annoying, but the pay off is nice since if not I have to consistently sprint on the road with a 2 lane both way via suffused with cars that seem to react to a bike on the road as they would to a UFO. Anyways, yes also on a single speed factory cannondale capo 08'.


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## rellimreeb (Jul 29, 2007)

Killroy said:


> Ever consider moving closer to work?
> 
> Positives:
> Less time in a car
> ...


closer to work = out of reach housing prices AND/OR sub-par school schools AND/OR high levels of violent crimes against persons. I currently need a combination of affordable housing, low crime, and good schools. 

frankly - I enjoy the wind-down time after work when I'm driving.

Once the kids are in college, I'll move and settle for the sub-par school system, high crime and pack a weapon .

Besides, that will put me w/in walking distance of many bars, so that's the other plus

not a big believer in the carbon footprint propaganda - sorry. 

The sooner we use up all the oil, the sooner we'll shake our dependency on the middle east . SARCASM


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## Michelin Bicycle Tech (Nov 14, 2007)

I commute the great distance of 1.5 miles each way during the winter . To make my day a little more exciting, I do the 1.5 to work, 1.5 home for lunch, 1.5 back to work then 1.5 home again during the winter as there is too much snow on the ground (about 2.5 feet here in NH). 

In the summer when I can actually get out and ride more I take a detour and do all single track which is about 25 minutes each way (no idea on mileage as I don't have a computer on the bike). Also in the summer, when work is done for the day, I go ride for 3ish hours then do the commute home. 

Winter time is city streets and summer time is as much singlet rack as I can get in before I end up being late.


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

millerinva said:


> closer to work = out of reach housing prices AND/OR sub-par school schools AND/OR high levels of violent crimes against persons. I currently need a combination of affordable housing, low crime, and good schools.



I guess some of our cities are in bad shape if there is not a nice place to live withing 15 miles of work.


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## rellimreeb (Jul 29, 2007)

Killroy said:


> I guess some of our cities are in bad shape if there is not a nice place to live withing 15 miles of work.


For me, w/ a family it's the trifecta you want, schools, housing, low crime. Lots of nice areas w/in 15 miles of work, but usually miss one leg. When I lived in LA my commute was 50 miles (never biked that one). 

If I would have chosen a different road for a career, I would have unlimited funds, and could afford to send my kids to private school, but that ship has sailed.

I may have a long (to some) commute, but if I occasionally forget to close my garage, my bike is still there in the AM, which is nice.


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## funknuggets (Feb 4, 2004)

When I get to commute 20.1 miles each way.


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## scottyperkins (Jun 18, 2007)

15.5 or 18 each way, depending on which route I take. One's safer but longer.


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## ukiahb (Jan 26, 2003)

one mile one way to downtown Santa Rosa, CA.....sometimes I walk instead


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## bkranich (May 7, 2004)

One mile in eastern PA. Quick and easy.


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## RandB (Mar 12, 2007)

Eight miles round-trip to work, side-streets and bikelane all the way. A bit hilly but it is getting easier as legs get stronger. Half of commute is almost always at night. Eight miles round-trip to down-town.


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## Muaythaibike (Oct 26, 2007)

I have even a shorter commute. 3 miles round trip. The way to work is almost all downhill. Thakes about 5:30. The ride home is all uphill but for the distance.. CAKE... 

I actually commute to the commuter rail. If I would drive to work it would be about 23 miles each way. In Boston morning traffic this would be crazy...

The great thing is that I get to my station faster then a car and I save $2:00 dollars each day. I spent approximately $200 for a used road bike and have made all the money up in parking savings... WHAT A COUNTRY......I"M NEVER GOING BACK....


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## RandB (Mar 12, 2007)

Muaythaibike said:


> 3 miles round trip. The way to work is almost all downhill. Thakes about 5:30. The ride home is all uphill but for the distance.. CAKE...


Downhill to work & uphill getting home is the best. For a lot of people (me) the motivation to either go to work or to pedal uphill is low, and pedaling uphill to get to work early in the morning just seems so wrong. With a downhill pedal it is so easy that I am there before I realize it. At the end of the day I have all the motivation needed for the climb. No problem.


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

I commute 56+ miles round trip, but less than once a week. Over the past two years, I think I've averaged more than 30 commutes per year but definitely less than 40. Ideally, I would like to average once per week for a year or even better would be finding a job close enough to ride to work more often.

It's an interesting combination of a state/national park , MUTs, and very busy roads. I leave very early in the morning, but from the second half of my morning ride through all of my evening ride there is a lot of traffic -- cars, cyclists, and pedestrians depending on which part of the ride.


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

11 miles each way. I usually do 3 times a week when I get in the groove.


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## dclements0 (Mar 2, 2007)

3.8 miles one way. My morning commute is almost all uphill. About 3 blocks from my house, the road turns upward for approx. 2 miles. I gain about 1500 feet in elevation. It's killer in the morning but a breeze to get home.


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## elmaco (Jan 18, 2008)

25 miles RT, up and down, and up, and down, and up, and down...


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## Big Baby Jesus (Sep 28, 2007)

22 miles round trip mostly rural through the Catskill mountains. 
The challenge is getting up early enough to make it happen, I have to be on my bike by 5:45 am to get to work and change on time.
Yesterday when I got on my bike it was 13 degrees outside and half way through the ride it started to snow. It was absolutely beautiful! The ride home it was a balmy 26 degrees outside.


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## TrekJeff (Mar 14, 2007)

BBJ....Sounds great..post some pics of that scenery


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## Big Baby Jesus (Sep 28, 2007)

Jeff,
I will have to take my camera with me one of these days. Most of the pictures I take are in the woods.
Which Surly are you commuting on?


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## bikerneil (Nov 3, 2007)

*my commute*

My ride is 24 miles each way. Now riding 3 out of 4 days each week (Friday's off). With my new bike (just got it a week ago) I hope to get up to every day each week.

Nice thing is my commute is mostly the Coast Highway along beaches of Northern San Diego. There are worse places I could be riding.....

Interesting thread.


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## Bianchiguy (Sep 8, 2005)

That's a pretty nice commute. I used to live down there about 30 years ago and used to commute the same road. Pretty flat compared to here along the central coast but beautiful scenery for sure.


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## craigd (Apr 3, 2007)

49km return run for me pretty good when the wind is playing nice, very very bad when its not


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## Zero Signal (Feb 8, 2008)

17.5-18 miles each way, 3-4 times per week, 800 or so feet of total climbing (evening only). To the office it's a 600ft elevation drop from my house, so it's a quick trip to work and a push ALL the way back. 

I know the thread is sinking, but I just joined so I thought I'd chime in.


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## turk0017 (Jul 18, 2007)

About 55 miles round trip, which I haven't done yet. Last season I had my wife drop me off in the morning and biked home 3-4 days a week. This season it will be the full deal on Mondays and Fridays since we would each need to drive, and I will bike home on Wed.

The ride is all road and about 20 miles of it are on scenic state highway 61 on the north shore of Lake Superior in Northern MN. Mostly flat except for the big hill in Duluth which is the end of the ride in the AM (I could hop a bus for this....but hopefully won't)

I reference seasons because despite the fact that I know I "could" do it, there is no reason to ride in temps below 20. I would if it were once in a while, but it is pretty much all Dec., Jan., Feb. here...yesterday was -26 when I would have been riding, -4 on the ride home.


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## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

34 miles round trip. Santa Cruz>Watsonville>Santa Cruz


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## 2cflyr (Apr 9, 2002)

4.2 miles one way. 95% MUT. nearly dead flat- only grade changes are on the MUT underpasses along the storm drainage, of which there are 6.

the nice part is that if I ride at a casual pace, I'm at work in 15 minutes and I'm at work in about 10 minutes if I end the Sunday stroll mode. 

I admire the gumption some of you guys have, riding in near/below freezing temps. It was a chilly/blustery 45 degrees on the commute this morning.


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