Commuting Distance?

[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!

[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.

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!

Yes. Ditto everything she said.

[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.