Cyclists: Commuting by Bike

chivalryder

Just got a quick question I'd like to throw out there. Most for cyclists:

Do you commute to work? If so, how far?

For everyone: How far do you feel is the furthest you would ride to/from work?

chivalryder

bump

Charisma_Black

Yes I would cycle about 3 times a week to work. That would be about 20-25 minutes to and from. The other days I would walk as would go to gym.

scorpio516

I used to. 1.5 miles each way. Now I live in a town that is scary to ride in!

Furthest? Depends. Probably 15 miles each way.

kdeanosu

I will when summer break from school starts. Right now I have to drop my kids off on my way to work. But then I will ride to work and it's 5 miles each way. I would still ride if it was 10 miles but more than that probably not.

k8blujay2

I'm not an efficient cyclist... so I don't cycle to work... but I support those that do... I would rather walk, but I live WAY too far from work for that.

livingsecret

I don't do it any more but last year in the summer I cycled everyday apart from Sundays, travelling 5.6 miles each way. My most would be 10 miles each way, any more and I'd get too sweaty!

Technolero

I used to, but I lived 14 miles from work then. I am now 26 miles away. It would be an awesome daily workout but I don't have the time. Also, my office doesn't have adequate facilities for changing, showering etc. Commuting in Austin in August gets pretty sweaty.

I'd a max of 10 miles would be about right for the amount of time required.

kbags420

Yes, I cycle on weekdays to avoid the terrible car traffic in my city. If I have to go in on weekends, then I drive. I live about 6 miles away and it takes about 30 minutes each way with traffic. Compared to driving, it doesn't cut down that much on time, but I hate driving in traffic, so it's worth it for me. Multitasking with commuting and exercising is also good motivation.

I think the farthest I would bike to get to work would be 9-10 miles, but only if there were still shower facilities at work.

SarahAnna87

I am going to start full-time cycling on May 7 when my summer class at uni starts. Since I also work full-time I need to be able to travel between my home, school and office easily and parking would just cost too much. The round trip between places will be about 20 km per day.

chivalryder

The company I work for is switching to summer hours soon. That means half days on Friday. I'll be riding into work those Fridays, which is about 25km (15 mi) each way.

I want to move closer to make it shorter and more reasonable every day, but rent is expensive. I'm looking to see what other people's experiences are.

chivalryder

Just got a quick question I'd like to throw out there. Most for cyclists:

Do you commute to work? If so, how far?

For everyone: How far do you feel is the furthest you would ride to/from work?

I recently purchased a bike, because... well i didn't have one anymore.
And i use it to cycle to work.

Only 8 km's 1 way (about 5 miles i think) so 16 km's a day.

I used to cycle about 70 km's a day (so 35 one way) to my old job on my old racing bike. Think i would not cycle more then 2 hours per bike, so no more then 55-60 km's 1 way. And i need to be able to use showers when i get there

This is encouraging.

k8blujay2

I just looked up how long it would take me, approximately, to bike to and from work... It's 11 miles to work... and if I were an efficient cyclist, over an hour... but since I live in the city that is the most adversive to any alternative transportation sources outside of the almighty car... I would be afraid to anyway.

lawlorka

I do. Its 7 miles exactly each way. It takes me about 40mins because I take a quieter off road route to avoid being killed by cars

Its quicker than getting the train and I shower when I get here and so am fresh and full of energy by the time I get to my desk.

chivalryder

I do. Its 7 miles exactly each way. It takes me about 40mins because I take a quieter off road route to avoid being killed by cars

Its quicker than getting the train and I shower when I get here and so am fresh and full of energy by the time I get to my desk.

90% of being safe on a bike is picking the route to ride!

UmmSqueaky

I commute when there's no precipitation in the air or on the road (ie rain, snow, ice). This usually limits me to a mid march to mid november commuting season, although we're now at a week straight of rain and I'm going insane from the lack of biking. 7 miles each way, although I have the option of a slightly longer route along the winter if I feel motivated. Usually only feel motivated in the afternoon on a nice day

celtbell3

I would love to commute by cycling. I live out in the country though. It is around 15 miles each way. My concern are drivers - they are so busy nowadays talking on their phones and doing God knows what else that putting my life in their hands is a huge act of faith that I'm not willing to engage in.

cwolfman13

Not often, but I do bring my bike to work with me and generally ride at lunch. I have a 75 mile round trip commute, so that would be a bit much on a regular basis. I have done a partial commute a couple of times where I ride my 37ish miles to work in the morning and then take the train home in the evening but it makes for a very long day...it's just more efficient for me to go knock out a quick 15 miles or so at lunch 4 days per week and then hit a long ride on the weekends.

To boot, about 1/2 of that commute can be done on a nice multi-use trail, but the other half is along a busy highway which can be scary at times.

noelr56

I bike to and from work, my work is about 5 miles round trip so it doesn't take me long at all! I only bike if there is no rain in the forecast, cause biking on a slippery road is not something I would be interested in doing. I think I would probably bike up to 10 miles, but after that, its how long it would take which would discourage me!

I found this free app called Strava, which is awesome for tracking routes and measure mph, and such..

Great way to get some functional exercise! Good luck!

EllieB_5

When I was capable of cycling, as long as I could make it within an hour I'd do it.

catneon

Yep I love it I have a road bike and commute 2 to 3 times per week in the summer.
It's about 16km each way and I have shower at work. It's a great feeling to zoom by all the car stuck in hot weather traffic and you know you'll probably get home before they do!

Hellbent_Heidi

I WISH I could do that, but I between the distance and weather (30 miles that includes rural roads and highway and live in Michigan), its not really an option for me.

I would think I'd commute if it was 10 to 15 miles each way

marcjx

Hey

Yes I've been cycling to work for a god few months now its 10/11k each way depending on which way I go.
This is my routine, which I try to stick to most of the time:

Monday: Cycle to works: Go to gym at lunch. Lift home as wife works as same place.
Tuesday: Run to work: Lift home
Wednesday: Lift to work, Gym, Cycle home
Thursday: Cycle to work, 5-8k Run at lunch, or hill HIIT running, Cycle home
Friday: Cycle to work, gym, cycle home
Sat: Park run. 5k
Sun: Rest

I would probably cycle a max of 15k to my workplace, if they have showers. I'm only on a Mountain bike and usually takes me between 28-32 mins to get there.

yogicarl

Tuesday 4 miles total, but in good weather I will deliberately take a longer route and do 24 miles total.
Wednesday 14 miles total
Friday 16 miles total

So - between 34 and 54 miles per week.

scubasuenc

I just bought a bike in April, and my goal is to be able to cycle to work a couple of days per week. I live about 8.5 miles from work, and live in a very bike friendly town. My main commute road it a designated cycling commuter route. My office has shower and locker facilities so I could get clean once I arrive.

However, I still have to work on getting my butt conditioned for the ride time, and getting my legs conditioned for the hills I will have to deal with.

algwynt

im in uk and cycle 30 mile round trip when the wheather allows.i usually average 4 times a week through out the year

ZOOpergal

I bike to work as long as it's not windy. (Theres a lot of high winds where I live) 3 miles each way, takes me 20 minutes to get to work. I don't have to worry about showering because, well, I work at a zoo.

MeanderingMammal

Just got a quick question I'd like to throw out there. Most for cyclists:

Do you commute to work? If so, how far?

For everyone: How far do you feel is the furthest you would ride to/from work?

I used to do about 20 miles each way, but had access to decent showers and space to keep a lot of kit there. Did that on a road bike.

More recently it's been 6 miles to the station, and hour on the train then 3-4 miles at the other end, using a Brompton folding bike. Generaly the approach there is to carry kit, so that I can shower if possible at the other end.

As an atlernative, if I stay in locl to the office to avoid the commute it's 3-6 miles.

MeanderingMammal

apologies, double tapped

bekinator

I ride 8.65 miles each way, takes me 35 minutes in city traffic. After a couple of years, I destroyed a couple of cheap mountain bikes and my thighs! So I found a retro ten-speed Schwinn Le Tour II on Craigslist for $200. I replaced the aluminum rims (city roads tore them up) for cheap but sturdy entry-level racing rims, hard-case tires (took me way too long to figure out that's what would keep me from having to repair so many flats), and took off all the gears (my city is super flat) to make a single speed. It's as light as any fancy pants road bike out there, super speedy, and the love of my life (ok, after my husband).

Still figuring out the layering thing to deal with the negative temperatures in winter, but I'm getting there. The frozen toes thing sucks.

I absolutely recommend it! My "me" time on my bike has become my daily therapy, my time to let my mind wander, philosophize, troubleshoot, set goals, what have you. And listen to good tunage in my headphones.

chivalryder

Just got a quick question I'd like to throw out there. Most for cyclists:

Do you commute to work? If so, how far?

For everyone: How far do you feel is the furthest you would ride to/from work?

I used to do about 20 miles each way, but had access to decent showers and space to keep a lot of kit there. Did that on a road bike.

More recently it's been 6 miles to the station, and hour on the train then 3-4 miles at the other end, using a Brompton folding bike. Generaly the approach there is to carry kit, so that I can shower if possible at the other end.

As an atlernative, if I stay in locl to the office to avoid the commute it's 3-6 miles.

Taking public transit isn't much of an option where I live. It's there, but reducing transportation costs is a primary reason for me to start commuting by bike. Public transportation here costs more than it does to drive my car.

I'm currently looking at moving to a city I lived in not long ago. It's cheap there and I liked it more there than I do here. However, the stretch of highway between that city and work is the worst in the area for rush hour congestion. It's also a 50km bike ride, one-way. Not an easy task by any means.