Who's got a long commute?

[GLC1968]

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

We just put an offer in on a house that is a bit further away than we had originally planned. If I'm willing to climb the ridge between the house and my job, it'd would be a 16 mile commute with about 1500 to 2000 ft of climbing. If I go around the ridge, it's 19.5 fairly flat miles with only about 5 of those in town/city.

Is that too long to expect to do it every day (once I get conditioned to it)??

[Blueberry]

I drive - but mine is 70 miles round trip

One of the LBS guys lives in Raleigh and works in Durham. His commute is 21 miles, and he does it fairly regularly (i.e. most days).

CA

[Grog]

Hmm, I don't really think so, although you might want to give yourself some slack in the winter.

I am going for a 12-15 km commute. Much shorter than yours, but quite hilly. I go as slow as I can to avoid breaking a sweat.

[Crankin]

My commute is just under 15 miles one way. Not any real hills on the way there, until I am less than half a mile from the school. On the way home I have 2 hills, one being my street, which is a major climb (10-15%). I am thinking of taking another, longer route on the way home that would eliminate the hill before the one on my street, which would make the way home about 17.3 miles.
I do the commute in anywhere from 57 minutes to one hour 3 minutes. I don't try to go fast, especially in the AM. If i go slowly and eat before and after I ride in, it's fine. The ride home never bothers me; I'm going home!

[Geonz]

WHat would be the fallout of being late to work?

My commute's a paltry 7 miles ... but the fact is that if, say, my shoe gets eaten up by my front wheel and I have to stop and make it regurgitate it, I can call in and it's completely no big deal.

How much time does it take? I know lots of people have 1-2 hour commutes in their cars. I know a 20 mile ride is somethign I could do pretty much any old time...
... but unless it's a really really good deal I'd look for a house closer in, honestly.

[GLC1968]

We are definitely not going to find much closer in...we are asking for a lot here (acreage, our price range, etc), so distance is expected.

That said, yes, I could be late. In fact, it rarely matters when I have to be here and if I had an early morning meeting that was important, I suppose I could just drive that day. I would think that either going over the ridge or going around would take about the same amount of time. I'm guessing 1.5 hours? I used to average about 15 mph on my old commute (which was 14 miles and about as hilly as the 19.5 mile route I'm talking about).

If the offer is accepted, DH and I are going to do the ride this weekend just to see. Oh, another benefit is that we'll be riding it together. His job is about 2 miles further down the road than mine.

I have showers at work, he does not. I'm not sure how that will figure into the equation!

[GLC1968]

Ugh - I just found out from another rider that the 'ridge' I'm talking about is one of the (if not THE) steepest climbs in the Portland area. Lovely.

[Blueberry]

Good hill training! Would your company let him stop off and shower? He should be able to go an additional 2 miles without getting sweaty. You could get a tandem

[F8th637]

My commute by bike is a bit longer than 15 miles in one direction mostly along a rail trail. I typically only ride only in one direction and have been averaging about 1 to 2 times a week.

[mimitabby]

you're not talking about GErmantown road are you?
except for that ridge i think 15 miles each way is not bad at all. you could figure on less than 90 minute each way.


i am curious about what hill it is though

[GLC1968]

Yeah, 15 or 16 miles would be fine - but that ridge makes it take much longer (and obviously makes it harder)!

It's Laurelwood Road heading over Bald Peak from the south. I just checked and it's about 900 feet of elevation change in 1 mile. Ick. Coming the other direction, it's 900 feet in about 3 miles - so much more manageable!

Edited to add:
OMG - I did the calculation. 900 ft over 1 mile is an average of a 17% grade!!! No wonder my car was struggling. I think we'll be taking the long way around most of the time.

[Tri Girl]

Well... my commute is 26 miles each way (a total of 52 a day). It's doable, but it's a long time to ride daily. It takes about 4-4.5 hours a day to ride.
If your commute is longer than you'd like- maybe you could just do it a couple times a week. Try it once or twice and see if it's doable and practical.

I think if you have the time, and CAN do it, then for sure do it. Plus, it's really cool that DH would be doing it with you. And THE steepest climb? Yikes! I bow down to you.

[HillSlugger]

Can you drive part and bike part?

Some people will drive to work with the bike on a rack and then bike home. The following day they bike back to work and drive home. Perhaps that's an option?

[mupedalpusher]

My commute is 9 miles but during the school year it's tough to get my daughter on the bus and make it to work in decent time. I'm fortunate that I don't punch a clock so as long as I arrive between 8:00-8:30 I'm fine. In order to still ride, I do a partial commute. I drive the worst part of my route (near my house) and park my van in a safe place then ride the remaining 5 miles. It cuts my commute in half, gets me to work on time and I don't have to leave early in order to pick my daughter up on time. I still get exercise and I cut my gas use in half, it's a win-win.
Maybe you could do the same, on days you just can't take the time to do the full commute, drive the huge hill and park half way to work and ride the rest.

[shootingstar]

Do consider part bike commute at least for 1-2 days per wk. and maybe other weekdays, do the full...if you have time. Maybe you can treat yourself to a nice large lunch.

I do a total of 15 kms., for part of a 40 kms. 1-way work commute. Part it involved cycling to commuter train, then half-way I park bike at a bike locker, then commuter train, then transfer to bus..then walk 15 min. Yea, the segment involving cycling which most of it is homeward...takes up nearly 2 hrs. homeward. But at least I get automatic fitness. This job is contract.

Whole route to work is quite convoluted, involving major road bridge, overpasses, more busy roads, multiple long hills to avoid major expressway that forbids bikes, andlast 10 kms., regular route for many wide transport trucks ...I work in an industrial area.

Other years, depending which employer I worked for, which city I lived in, I've done 26 -32 kms. round trip each day for several consecutive years...even when I lived 1/2 block away from subway station. Cycle-commuted 4-5 times weekly during non-snow,non-ice season...for past 13 years or so.

Point of work commuting is of course utilitarian but to also destress yourself.

I did hear of near unbelievable story of a local guy who commuted daily 40 kms. one way from suburb (different one) to downtown in about 1 hr. And his route has got to include several hills.

From car-free shootingstar.. carless, it's a way of life. Like cycling.