Commuting Distance?

[kfergos]

I have a question for all you intrepid bike commuters: How far do you commute one way on a normal day?

I've talked to lots of other bike commuters, all men, and some view riding more than about 3 miles as outrageous; others take a 17-mile one-way ride in stride; one told me that 10 miles was about perfect. Clearly it varies all over, depending on athletic inclination, but I'm just curious what other women do.

My first year of commuting I rode one route (http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ma/marlborough/524978963): 6 miles one way, twice a day, every day, up and down a nasty, high-traffic road. That ride dropped me at a train station, which carried me the majority of the way to my work. No alternative routes possible, unless I wanted to ride for miles and miles around some reservoirs. Now I've extended my ride to 10 miles (http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ma/westborough/664361916), with a goal of riding the full 20 miles (http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ma/worcester/677226370) one way (I'm tired of wasting time waiting for a train that's late 80% of the time!), and I'm wondering what's "normal" for commuters.

P.S. - If anybody rides on those roads, let me know -- I'd love to team up!

[RoadRaven]

My commute is 24km each way (about 15 miles).
My house is 300metres above sea level so the ride down is much quicker, than the uphill climb home.

I don't commute every day, as I have two teenagers that have to be taken in to high school.

On days where I can work from home (like marking assignments) I take the boys in, leave the car and bike home, then bike back down to pick them up after school.

Some days my partner takes them to school and I bike to work. He leaves the car and goes for his ride, and I bring my bike and the boys home after work.

I think you'll find that commuting distances vary greatly with the girls here, and depend very much on things like the time of day and commuting terrain (I am lucky in that I have no interesctions/lights - I live in the country and my job is on the edge of town).

For example, when it is summer and I have no morning class, I take a rounabout route to work of 37km instead of the quickest way of 24km.

You are setting yourself very good steady and achievable goals. I really enjoy commuting :)

[oxysback]

My commute is a whopping 2 miles each way. LOL!

I usually take the direct route to work and a very scenic one home, but now that I have panniers, I'm thinking about taking a longer route to work, also.

I live in a very small town (pop. 25,000) so traffic is hardly ever a problem.

[Dianyla]

I can't give an exact one-way distance because I often make a loop or several segments between home, school, and work. Depending on where I'm sleeping (my place or BF's) and my work/class schedule, my daily roundtrip total mileage is anywhere from 11-25. Lately I've been getting more creative with multi-mode commuting - for example I have a weekly morning commitment that is in another part of town so I just take my bike on the light rail to make that leg of the trip faster. Also, one of my dreaded long hills is all along a major bus line, so I give myself permission to hop on the bus at any time if I'm feeling poopy. :D

[Mel_bikes]

My commute is 7.5 miles each way (it will be 10 soon, construction). I think the it is perfect as it is the length where time saved driving starts to become mute. My husband commutes once a week doing 30 each way. After meeting me at work, he was amazed at how convenient my commute really is and now motivates me on the days I have trouble getting out of bed. He is very jealous.:D

[makbike]

My commute is also pretty short just 2 miles each way. The morning ride is slightly uphill and the afternoon ride treats me to a slight downhill. I'm very excited about commuting this year for the road department just repaved the main road I take to work and it is smooth sailing both ways now. I'm so excited that I will no longer have to dodge pop holes and broken pavement.

I start commuting again on Monday!

[7rider]

My commute is 7.2 miles (11.6 km) each way. I try to ride 2 or 3 x's a week.
I live in the 'burbs around a city and there are 3 major road crossings with which I must contend, regardless of the route I choose: Fortunately, I can do them all at traffic lights.
Most of the other bike commuters I know in my office have rides that are actually shorter than mine. Some as short as a mile, if they take the most direct route. When I was in Massachusetts, I knew a guy who commute 4 days/week for 23 miles each way! He was an animal!

[RoseC]

I started bike commuting about a month and a half ago. My commute is 12.5 miles each way, so a nice round 25. With the lights and all, it usually takes me between 50 and 55 minutes each way, unless I'm really pushing it.

I've yet to make five days in a week, but I usually manage three or four.

[crazycanuck]

I commute but I prefer to call it training as i don't carry a thing when i ride to work 3x's a week (swim on the other 2 days).

The short way in is 22km & I do that direction once a week (am & then perhaps the PM) with my dearie poo. :) I'm not fond of this route as there's traffic and a pub. I do however like it as it follows one of the main train lines..

The long way is 30km but I normally add 20km onto that as a nice training ride (in the am) twice a week. I like to take the 30km route home as it's a nice quiet ride along a purpose built path and I only have to cross three intersections. :)

I can't wait until summer to see daylight whilst riding!

C

[farrellcollie]

My commute is between 4-5 miles each way - dependig upon the route. I take the longer route if it is light outside and the shorter one when my commute home is at night.

[Sheesh]

My commute is 13 miles each way. Interestingly enough, it takes me an hour to drive to work, an hour to bike to work, and an hour to take the train to work. At least when I bike to work, I don't have to sit in traffic, so that's what motivates me to get up and on the bike 3-4 days a week. On the days when I need to drive for whatever reason, I leave earlier in the morning to hit the gym, thus avoiding traffic. But, the traffic on the way home never fails to make me wish I was on my bike.

[KnottedYet]

My old commute was 4 miles each way.

My new commute is about 18-24 miles each way, depending on route. Haven't done it as a round trip yet, just as a ride home. (I can bring my bike on the bus to work in the morning.)

[northstar]

I've commuted a few times and intend to do more this school year - it's 17 miles each way. People at work think I am insane. It's actually nice to get a decent ride in before work. :)

[tjf9]

4 miles each way for me. Lots of lights, but a nice wide bike lane for most of it. Took me about 25 min before clipless pedals. Down to about 20 now, because I can ride fast enough to make it through 2 lights I used to end up stopping at before.

[suzieqtwa]

I commute 6 miles each way in bad traffic. Ive been doing it for 3 months now.

[LBTC]

My commute is 2.5km (1.5km) each way, mostly downhill on the way there, and mostly uphill home. It takes around 8 minutes to ride to work, and about 25 to walk, so a lot of the time I walk as it seems to be better exercise, and I don't need the extra time to get changed. Parking is a nightmare, so I have yet to drive to work, but I did catch a ride with DH a lot when I was ill. I'm so happy to be well enough to walk or ride now! YAY!

H&B
~T~

[divingbiker]

7.1 miles each way for me, with lots of lights and stop signs. It would cost me $12 a day to park, so driving is out, and biking is just as fast as the bus/metro/walk option, and much less annoying. I've been commuting by bike every day for about a year and a half, except for days when it's lower than 20F or there's snow or ice on the roads.

Occasionally on Fridays I take the long way home, 17 miles mostly on a bike path, but I wouldn't have the time to do that every day. As it is, I leave the house at 6:30 am and get home around 6:15pm. That's a long enough day for me.

[Ebet]

10 miles each way....

[bouncybouncy]

15 miles each way here on a very, very hilly route!!! takes about 1 1/2 hour by bike...20 minutes by car. Makes for a long day but I am really trying to do it more often...I don't get to spend as much time with hubby on my bike commute days! On great days my hubby will ride into my work and we take the long route home on the Blue Ridge Parkway which makes for a really long day but a great training ride!

I am preparing for a century soon and don't have much other time to ride so planning on making it a habit for the next few weeks....

[kfergos]

Wow, I'm amazed at the variety of distances people ride! Way to go all of you -- I love knowing that other women commute by bike too!

For those of you who ride longer distances, what do you prefer to wear? Do you get all decked out in jersey, fancy shorts, clipless shoes, etc? Or do you just go T-shirt and shorts? Or even wear work clothes?

[GLC1968]

My commute is 13.5 - 14 miles each way. It takes me 55 minutes, no matter how fast I ride, because there are enough traffic lights that I just cannot avoid. I also go in early and go home late to avoid the worst of the traffic, so I only do it between 1 and 3 times a week (it makes for a LONG work day). It's really hard to be motivated to ride when I'm super busy because I can drive the same distance in less than 20 minutes (highway).

I wear bike clothes because it's too hot not to. In the winter, I wear bike clothes because it's too cold not to! I guess in the fall, I could get away with wearing non-biking clothes, but my bike clothes are more comfy than my regular clothes, so it'll probably never happen. Plus, I've spent more money on my bike wardrobe over the past 2 years than I have on my regular clothes, so I look better when I bike anyway! :p

[onimity]

I commute 10.5-13 miles each way. If I'm not in a hurry or carrying my laptop home I'll take a longer route which makes it singletrack about half the way. That takes 1hr 15 min, but by road it is about 45 mins. I haven't driven to work since March but I do work from home a couple days a week.

I almost always wear bike clothes because I generally work up a good sweat. I have some steep hills on the route in both directions, so I won't wear work clothes unless I am taking the bus most of the way.

I agree that it is great to see so many women commuting by bike. :D

Anne

[Dianyla]

I wear bike clothes because it's too hot not to. In the winter, I wear bike clothes because it's too cold not to! I guess in the fall, I could get away with wearing non-biking clothes, but my bike clothes are more comfy than my regular clothes, so it'll probably never happen. Plus, I've spent more money on my bike wardrobe over the past 2 years than I have on my regular clothes, so I look better when I bike anyway! :p
Yes. Ditto everything she said. :D

[tjf9]

For those of you who ride longer distances, what do you prefer to wear? Do you get all decked out in jersey, fancy shorts, clipless shoes, etc? Or do you just go T-shirt and shorts? Or even wear work clothes?

I only ride 8 miles round trip, but I wear bike shorts (because I'm a wuss and like the padding) and either a jersey or workout type top. When winter comes, well, I haven't figured that out yet. I really need to search the archives for everyone's recommendation on that. Since it rains from September to May around here, I'd better figure this out pretty soon!

[KnottedYet]

I wear a bike skort. Cars are nicer to me when I wear a skort.

My ride home takes a bit more than 2 hrs, so I haven't even considered riding in my work clothes. They'd probably be painful, and I sweat so badly that I'd probably look like I'd had an "accident."

[Torrilin]

Average distance: 2 miles (grocery store, drugstore, library, farmer's market and cheese shop are all about 2 miles away)

Usually tho, I ride a 6 mile loop that lets me hit many/all possible errand locations. I can pretty easily end up needing to do 2 trips in a day from hitting weight or volume limit. Max load is around 45 lbs.

[Melalvai]

3.3 miles each way. But, I do errands & such, so I average 14 miles a day.
My recreational riding per week doubles the number of miles I ride (~100 miles/week total). But that tends to be longer rides, less often. 100 miles/week is a lot and I am getting a lot of flack for it both at home and at work, so I suspect & hope that number will drop with the temperature.

[coyote]

I've been trying to increase my distance so the shortest route is 3 miles and the longest is 12. I like to commute in bike cloths when its hot or wet or too cold and regular cloths the rest of the time. But that may change to since I'm trying to get more miles in.

[Ebet]

I wear work clothes. Commuting has made me modify the work clothes so they are as comfortable as possible, which is nice at work too.

[susiej]

My commute is 1 to 3.5 miles one way, depending on the train station I ride to, which depends on how late I'm running. It takes as long to bike to the closest station as it does to drive. I wear work clothes, because I don't sweat very much in the morning, and my office is pretty casual. A co-worker bikes about 6 miles each way to the office, a second about 9 (he's a triathlete).

The "vision" (as one of our project managers says, I usually say "fantasy") is for both my husband and I to bike one way to the train station and both to drive one way to the day care (near the station 3.5 miles from us). I'd bike in the morning, he'd drive and drop off our son; we'd reverse on the way home. Drivers are too angry to make using the bike trailer safe.

I love my commute. It's early enough that the traffic is pretty thin, and I feel energized when I get to the station. :)

[northstar]

I wear bike clothes. It's just more comfortable for me.

[RoseC]

My commute is too long for it to make sense to wear anything but bike clothes. Not to mention that I pretty much *always* manage to give myself a chain ring tattoo when I ride, no matter how hard I try to prevent it...

[Voodoo Sally]

I ride about 8 miles to work each way.

I don't push it, so I don't work up a big sweat. I wear casual clothes, which I then wear at work. It's just easier to not have to change clothes. If they're somewhat sweaty, they dry soon enough.

[Melalvai]

Not to mention that I pretty much *always* manage to give myself a chain ring tattoo when I ride, no matter how hard I try to prevent it...
You know, I was having a terrible time with chainring tattoos, and I was trying to be so careful. Suddenly they just stopped and I don't know why. I don't know what I'm doing differently. I thought maybe I was keeping my bike cleaner, but tonight I had a little oops getting on & off, and got a nice tattoo, so I think it's that I finally got more graceful or something. It took months.

[onimity]

The same thing happened to me with the chainring tattoos too. (Though I call them turkey tracks. :)) They just stopped happening...mostly.

My worst was in the crotch of my favorite jeans. I was to play host to a guy coming in to train a bunch of our engineers and debated whether I should bring nice clothes in or wear jeans. So of course I put on the jeans and a nice blouse, and packed heels. I took my bike on the bus and as I was lifting it on to the front rack lost my grip and got a huge greasy chainring mark right in the crotch of my jeans. The impact didn't feel too good either. :eek:

At least my guest had a good sense of humor. Turns out he commutes by bike too.

[RoseC]

Ouch, Onimity! :eek:

I just always seem to get my right leg at some point. I never notice it happen! I try to keep my chain and bike clean, and try to walk the bike from the opposite side if I need to walk it...but every day when I get to work, there's that chain ring tattoo, clear as anything. It's *almost* kinda cool...but it doesn't quite fit with my work attire...

[KnottedYet]

I like my constant chainring tattoos so much that I'm considering getting a real tattoo of a chainring on my right calf!

[RoseC]

I'm not really the tattoo type...but I kinda like that idea!

:D

[Melalvai]

I was pretty proud of my chainring tattoos but I was even prouder of not having them.

My biking friend made fun of me because I always had one, and one day I showed up covered in them, because I'd had a hard time getting my bike on and off the bike rack on the car. He sure laughed then! (I laughed too.)

Baby oil gets them off the legs just fine, but they do stick to the clothes.

[RoadRaven]

For those of you who ride longer distances, what do you prefer to wear? Do you get all decked out in jersey, fancy shorts, clipless shoes, etc? Or do you just go T-shirt and shorts? Or even wear work clothes?

I always wear bike shorts and jersey... as my distance is over 20kms each way and I commute on my race bike there is no way "normal" shorts would be comfortable for sitting.

I leave work clothes at work, as well as towels, shampoo, soap and deodourant.

[crumpincommuter]

The name pretty much implies the connection to this thread..... The commute varies between 30+- 40+, depending on weather and route. I've got the distinct pleasure of having the majority of the ride parelleling some of the most picturesque landscape in Ct, so on beautiful days the longer the better.

Last year was really the first year, doing it on my road bike; but combination of back pack and road bike posture was too much. Not to mention the first "ding" from some boob at the bike rack, sent me over the edge! So invested a few bucks in a nice commuter bike (Specialized Globe City) with racks and self generating lights. It's already paid for itself; rather than paying for gas, parking.

Spread the good word- CT (and Hartford area) slowly becoming a bike friendly community-YEAH!

[marybee]

I commute 18 miles one way, then I take the bus home, but that's another 4 miles from my job, so grand total of 22 miles. Ride in takes about 1.5 hours, because of traffic lights, stop signs, and hills. I do this 2 or 3 times a week in season (not when it gets cold or the days are short, since I hate biking in the semi-dark...) I love love love the ride in, much of it in the countryside with little traffic-- I've seen deer, pheasants, grouse, and all manner of small wildlife on my commute, I listen to the birds, I used to listen to my iPod but I sort of got away from that, just like to think & enjoy the ride. I wear bike clothes because I get all sweaty but fortunately there's a shower at my workplace.
I plan to take early retirement next year and work at home. The only downside to that, I see, is that I won't be able to commute to work!
:p

[Aggie_Ama]

My idea of Hybrid commuting (drive to bus station, ride from drop off to work) was squashed when I found the bus going my way was not equipped with a bike rack. We noticed they are about open the extension of the best road to both mine and my husband's work. It will be about 20 miles but I may be able to do it with DH, an added plus. We go in early, so traffic is not a big issue. It will be nice when the days are shorter to have a guaranteed work out. We are looking into joining the gym near my work so I can shower and have a rainy day/cold weather workout option. He works outside so no one will notice a little extra sweat, must be nice!