Who's got a long commute?

[shootingstar]

Here's the article of a 46-yr old bike commuter beating a car commuter.

http://www.vanmag.com/articles/07jun/Greatrace.shtml



My partner is somewhere quoted in that article, but he is NOT the whizz-bang commuter featured in article.

[patel_shital]

my commute is 16 miles one way with one very deep hill to the work. i still have to take break on that hill to be able to finish. but usually it takes me around 1 hour 20 minutes to finish 16 miles. while going back home its all traffic roads with lots of signals so takes around 1 hour 30 minutes. i am doing this 2 days a week but will do 3 times a week soon.

just one question ? my average speed is around 13-15 MPH. is it too slow for women ? i ride with my husband (we work at same place ). and he rides too fast. he need to be slow down just to keep up with me . how do i improve my speed ?

someone has some jet engine for bikes ...

[bounceswoosh]

I have about 11 miles each way, nothing super steep. I hope to average once a week now through fall, but I suspect I won't quite make it.

[GLC1968]

Oh man!!! Our offer was accepted!

My commute is about to change from 1.5 miles to 19.5 miles. Ugh.

[patel_shital]

good luck for commute and congratulation for new home

[sgtiger]

Oh man!!! Our offer was accepted!

My commute is about to change from 1.5 miles to 19.5 miles. Ugh.

You were saying how you wish your commute were longer so it would be worth taking the bike out on. Looks like you got your wish. Look at it this way: averaging ~40 miles/day is going to make you a bike goddess.

[Tri Girl]

Awesome! Congrats on the house and here's to more time in the saddle.

[Xrayted]

Hey congrats on the house. That is quite a road to ride. I would be eyeing up an easier one myself, but then again, I kinda hate hills.

I ride about 9-10 miles one way to work. It's an slow uphill grade most of the way in until I get closer to the hospital and then it turns into rollers with a nice, steep, nasty smasher of a hill on campus. That thing kills me everytime.

[KnottedYet]

Congratulations on the house!

My commute is 42 miles total, with some juicy hills. I do half of it by bus and half on the bike. It would just take me tooo darn long if I rode the whole thing.

Driving halfway and biking the rest might be a very good option for you if you hit a time crunch.

[uk elephant]

I did commute 15 miles each way last week when I was at a course. Took me an hour in the morning and 90minutes at night, but I actually enjoyed it. My normal commute would be 40miles each way, but I take the train for most of it. I use the trip home for training rides and cycle half or all of it when I have time.

[RoadRaven]

Its really interesting reading about other's commutes - I am particularly interested in distances...
Some of you sure go a long way - either in terms of distance, or altitude, or both!!!

I live in the country and have to get two of my children into town to school, so most days I drive. However, whenever I can I make it work so I can bike (eg, in school holidays, I do not take the car to work).

Our house is 600' above sea level, and their school/my work is about 20-30 feet above sea level.
It is 24.5km each way.
The commute home is almost always much harder... not only am I tired and I have to climb to get home, but the prevailing wind, a westerly, makes it a headwind home as I slog up the hills.

[jayjay]

How long is it and how often do you do it?

My commute, from home to town is 10 miles and 2000 feet climb. If I park even 3 miles down, and ride from there, I've shaved off the most difficult part, probably about 1000 ft of climb. If I park 6 miles down, I've shaved off most of the climb and only 4 miles into town, which is great for a day when I am not up for the time & energy consuming climb. If I just want to stay in the habit of riding, and keep my car out of the congestion of traffic, I park at a church right on the edge of town. I love the Park~n~Ride or "PartWay" philosophy, because you're staying in maximum use of your bicycle commuting, reducing traffic, reducing petroleum use, and yet *still* meeting your comfort level of any given day. As for me, I'm only starting the habit and feel that *any* a person rides, they're not driving, so it's all good.

Can you do this PartWay idea, part-time if not full-time?

[HillSlugger]

My commute is a little short of 10 miles each way. The way in trends downhill, meaning the ride home trends uphill. So, I have the harder ride in the afternoon when I'm more tired.

I just started looking at the option of taking a bus for the last three miles homeward. Some time soon there's going to be a construction project that will effect only the ride home. To detour around it will add 2 miles. Add that to the extra climbing on the way home and it's starting to sound a bit like misery. The bus option would carry me the last 3 miles and bypass the construction detour. It's also starting to sound like a good option for those days when the homeward commute feels like too much.

[bluebug32]

After thinking that my commute (11 miles with little to no shoulders and 1200 ft of elevation) was too much, I'm now considering driving halfway and riding the last 5 miles or so. The only trouble is that I live in the country and have to cross the Hudson River (ie: 3/4 mile long bridge that you can only access as a cyclist from a different road and via a sidewalk) and ride through the city to my job. I'm excited to save on tolls and gas, but fearful of riding through the city at rush hour. Maybe I'll be brave and give it a try one of these days.

[smilingcat]

Finally found a reasonable way to commute via bus and bike.

Between my house and my work is a wasteland, never never land sort of like Mordor in the middle earth. Its an industrial ghetto with no bike path. no homes. just big refineries, and a big staging point for the container shipping. Lots of semis few cars..

Then right next to it is "on the right side, we have the Mexican gang land/turf and on the left side is, we have the Vietnamese gang land/turf." ugh. I don't want to ride my bike through by myself. I'm old, unattractive, overweight but gangs have no taste so its a fair game. I don't like being the game of the hunt.

Solution is to take the municipal bus through both area so I can get to the safe area on the other side. Then I can bike to work. just over 30 miles each way. I plan on getting something like stoke monkey to help me out

cost $2.50 roundtrip and extra 3 hours roundtrip but I get my training ride out of the way. save $16.00 on gas per trip. yes I burn 4 gallons a day for my ungodly commute.

smilingcat