How far do you commute on a bike?

burtonridr · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 03, 2007 Posts: 761

Anyone here commute on a bike? How far do you go?

How far would be to far for you?

My biggest constraint is time, I have to be home by 5:30pm to watch our son so my wife can go to work. I have a flexible job, so I could come in earlier and leave earlier, but I dont know how long it would take to go 16 miles each way. I want to be able to bike to work.... I dont like driving, I dont like buying parts for the car, I dont like the fact it pollutes the air, and oil is on the rise.

I would bike to the bus stop and take the bus, however a lot of time the bus cannot hold another bike. So I would be forced to wait another 30 min to an hour for the next bus
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MrMonkey

I commute roughly 3 miles/day, 1.5 miles to work and 1.5 miles home (of course).

Im 26 years old, and we can get a drivers license at 18 in Denmark, which most do. I've saved around 300000 DKK (63000 US$) because i never got a drivers license and never bought a car in those 8 years.

frankthetank

16 miles would take roughly an hour or less depending on what your biking. If you're making all kinds of stops, then more. If its pretty much a straight shot and you could do it in 50 minutes.

I hear you about not driving the car. Some days i wish i didn't even own one. Stupid society makes it impossible almost to get by without one...
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desultorypawn · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 04, 2008 Posts: 41

I bike 12 miles round trip to and from work and it's pretty easy, takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes each way depending on traffic,wind,energy level, etc.

most i'd want to ride is probably 24 miles round trip.

FishAreBest

For about 2 years, I commuted about 15 miles each way. The exact distance depended on where I parked the car, but it was typically drive 35, cycle 15.

Towards the end, I could average well over 20+mph, but 15 would be more realistic for your averagely fit cyclist.

I'd thoroughly recommend the part-drive, part-cycle approach. If you're short of time one day, drive further. If it's a nice day and you have no time worries, drive less.

I remember that savings in petrol were generally offset by the increased calorific requirements of 2 hours exercise a day Wink

jlw61

If you don't want to end up all sweaty by the time you get to work, buy an Ezip 2008 or other electric bicycle, add a second battery pack and an extra charger (for charging the packs at work). With 2 batteries you'll make the 16 mile trip in style and might have enough juice left to get back home. If you pedal to help save the battery, you should make it. Without the charger at work, I suspect battery wear will start showing up in a few weeks and you won't make it home without sweating.

I just ordered an EZip for the wife (I tip the scales at 200+ so I need a heavier duty solution) and the reviews are definately good if you weight 150 or under. The bike is rated for something like 220 lbs. My wife will be commuting under 3 miles a day, so one battery will do for now. With an added $19.95 for shipping the whole deal came in under $400. While I'm not thrilled about supporting Wally-world it's the only place I've been able to find that will get it to me for under $450 in less than 30 days.

I'll probably have to do something like a conversion kit ($450-$1200) or (shudder) a Schwinn ($1800+).

BTW, you can also find a folding bicycle at Walmart (and elsewhere) for about $650. Perhaps that will solve the bus issue?
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malcomatic_51 · Heavy Crude Joined: Dec 24, 2005 Posts: 185 Location: UK

At the moment I commute only 5 miles round trip. It is so short that sometimes I take a longer route to fill it out to around 12 miles.

In the past I have commuted 16 miles round trip, when I lived in Yorkshire, England. I had a beautiful ride from Scholes to Huddersfield, very hilly, but on a summer morning it was across some of the loveliest countryside you can imagine. I would get up early and be out by 730, roads not too busy. I have to confess that it was not every day, more like 2-3 days per week. The other days I would ride my motorbike (a by today's standards horrid smokey Suzuki GT750 stroker) or drive. In the winter the ride was really good fun, quite an adventure using the limited dynamo lights of 20 years ago. In the deep winter I took the bus!

Today I will happily ride up to 10 miles round trip no problem. Beyond that I am getting into "too much travel time" territory and I would probably move nearer to work.

On the rare occasions I have had to commute by car I have absolutely hated it. You feel unclean after driving to work! Yuch! Funy how it is the preference of the majority. Why? I genuinely do not get it. Mind you, I hate sweet pop drinks too......

catbox

Round trip to work for me is 8 miles. I make up for the low miles with long road rides of 60-80 miles. The wife's commute is 18 miles rt..

When I lived in Seattle, I commuted 24 miles rt m-f. That commute was
very dangerous compared to my jaunt these days.

catbox
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nocar · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 05, 2004 Posts: 675

I am 63 yrs old, woman, poor muscles, bad at all kinds of sport. But I love biking. It gets me in a good mood.

April through October I usually bike to work on Monday, leave the bike at work and go home by subway-train. It is 22 km (14 miles?) one way to bike, with a number of hills. I bike slowly and make a stop or two for taking off clothes and having a sip of water. It usually takes me an hour and a half, sometimes more.

Tuesday I go to work by train and subway and bike home and so on.

Sometimes I go both ways in one day, or no biking at all, especially if I have an early meeting. I always have rainclothes along and a pump and place for extra clothes.

Nov-March, the Stockholm combination of cold, darkness, and icy roads makes it impossible for me to bike. It is possible to dress properly so one does not feel cold biking, but all those clothes make me too clumsy and awkward to get on and off the bike, especially since extra agility is necessary when it is icy and dark.

nocar

cubes

6 mile round trip. About 20 minutes each way once you factor in traffic lights and junctions.

I'd consider up to 10 miles each way - but realistically the longest I would have to bike would be 8 miles. I live on the edge of the city and and biking to the other side would be less than that.

Takes about the same time to drive this in a car, bus takes more than twice as long with a walk at the end as well.

oxj

Distance 30km (18mi) round trip on a Cannondale 500, 1h6 with a tailwind, 1h25 with a headwind, and the headwinds can be rather strong here on the plains. Mass 105kg (230 lb), with ~5kg pack. Frequency twice weekly.

My problem with this bike is that I have double wide feet and the pegs aren't nearly wide enough. What's with shoes for velo only coming in "narrow" and "splinter"?
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SILENTTODD · Last edited by SILENTTODD on Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:54 pm; edited 2 times in total

Excellent post burtonridr.

This is something I've given a lot of thought in the last 5 years I've been commuting to work by bicycle. After reading most of these posts I realized I'm something of a wuss. I live only 2 miles from my work location. Although that was a deliberate decision I made 10 years ago when I got my current position with my company. I use to drive or take the train almost 40 miles away.

Takes me approx 15 mins each way to and from work, no matter how jammed packed the streets are in Orange County each week day morning. I ride the shoulder of the road, and in some places the sidewalk with my trusty Schwinn Mesa mountain bike. When I have been on an exercise regimen to lose weight and get in better shape I've taken a "long route" that covers 8 miles of flat ground. Waiting for stop lights and going a leisurely pace I can cover this in 45mins no trouble. I'm 53 and have a bad left leg (the biking helps it).

I've made a vow to myself I will never again live further away from my work than I can ride a bike. How far is that? From my own experience here in So Cal, I put that at 8miles. I could probably do farther, but not comfortably every day. So Cal is bicycler paradise most of the year. But I have seen times during our 'monsoon' season the first quarter of the year, it NEVER STOPS RAINING! (Or so it seems!) And I do sympathize with anyone who lives were it snows a lot, you have a whole different perspective than I do.

A suggestion for those of you who cannot move closer to work for now. Consider if you have train transport within riding distance of your home and work getting a folding bicycle. Most commuter train systems allow these to be carried on board (they weigh 25-30lbs). If they can get you within my magic 8 miles your in like flint. It’s possible to commute like this in So Cal from San Bernardino to downtown L.A. (approx 60 road miles) and still be faster than using the crowded buses from the train terminal.
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IanC

I have a 10 mile, round trip commute by bike which I do in any weather except ice which happens occasionally in Portland. We have good infrastructure here, so there is lots of incentive to bike. Not the least of which being the "thank God I bike feeling" I get when I hear traffic updates on the radio.

My commute takes me about 20-25 minutes one way. I'd still bike if it was 45-60 minutes. Beyond that, I'd probably move. I am currently swithching jobs and the biking distance is a major factor in whether or not I take a position.

-Ian

Rage · Tar Sands Joined: May 06, 2008 Posts: 25

I'm going 24 km round trip per day (14 mi). It takes me about an hour all the way up-hill to work fighting traffic through a very un-bike-friendly area in my city.

I need to be very organized if I bike though so I don't get out there everyday. The ride in can be a chore but the down hill ride home is fantastic......

Interesting that taking public transit take me about 1h30m
riding my bike 1h
driving my car 30m to 45m

dorlomin · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Aug 05, 2007 Posts: 1061

Currently doing about 18 mile round trip through the wilderness of London, kinda fun in a if-you-frack-up-your-dead kind of way. But until late last year I was doing 40 miles (round trip) through Southern Oxfordshire. Lovely lovely trip but a wee bit hilly.

My current plan is to go to any music festivals I do that are within 150 miles by bike with all my gear. Done two already this year and its actualy quite a pleasant journey.