Hello! Introduction from a Noob はじめまして！

[Gypsy]

Welcome! Glad you have the bug too.

I can't help you, since I'm not in Ohio, but I do want to welcome you and hope that you get to Columbus and continue cycling, regardless of whether the commuting works out or not.

[Wahine]

Welcome to the forum!

[withm]

20 miles one way commute? Well if you can ride 20 mph that's one hour each way. But if you are only riding 10 mph, then it's 2 hours, or up to 4 hours round trip (allowing for traffic, stops, errands).

That makes for a pretty long day - you have 8-9 hours at work, say 3 more for commuting, and 8 for sleeping (yeah right). That doesn't leave much time for say, showering, getting dressed (and change of clothes at work), planning and preparing meals, cleaning, laundry, paying bills, or any of the million other things we do each day.

If it were me, I'd try to set up a commute of 7-10 miles one way depending on the roads used. If traffic were not an issue, a longer ride is fine, but I think a route fraught with traffic issues might get pretty stressful on a daily basis. You could always add miles in the evening if time and weather permit.

[Pearl]

Hey ladies!
Thank you for all your kind replies, they've been very helpful! I don't know why I've been so afraid to post in the past!
I think you guys are right that 20 miles one way might be a bit too much. I'll be working in New Albany and I'm currently looking at living downtown. I think I'll have a "drive only to work" rule, and with living downtown I should be able to bike/walk everywhere else. I looked up a few bike trails in the area, so I should be able to get some practice with longer distances while I get more familiar with Columbus. Hopefully I can work up the occasional bike commute to work.
Thank you Oakleaf for the links to "consider biking" and "bike league course" and well as the shop recommendations. Looking at them has already made me more comfortable with the idea of riding in Columbus.
Thanks again ladies for your advice, and welcoming me to the community. I'll be sure to update with how things go, especially with my upcoming purchase of a new bike!

[Hartmame]

Check out the Ohio rail trails page, bring up the map and click on the Columbus area. It shows that columbus has several trails that run through the area. I don't live there but my brother does and we rode together down the Olentangy trail we started as far north as it goes and rode south through OSU campus into downtown. It was a really nice trail and seems to give access to neighborhoods along the way. It looked to me like Columbus is trying to build a network of rail trails that will help to make cycling in the area easier.