Opinions…reasonable commute distance?

[Jolt]

My job was recently moved due to a hospital merger, and I now have a 15-mile commute each way to work and it is on a road with a lot of traffic. (Previously I had a 10-minute walk, so you can imagine I am not happy with now having to drive 25 minutes each way). This is a bit long for a bike commute, particularly on weeks that I work evening shift and even more so this time of year so I have not attempted it at this point (my speed, or more precisely the lack thereof, is also a factor). I am currently renting the place where I live now, and looking to buy something closer to work in the spring (dreading the winter commute this year though). My question to you guys is, what do you consider the outer limit for a reasonable bike commuting distance? I was thinking 10 miles or less, and obviously closer is better but some of the closer neighborhoods seem a little crowded for my preferences (I would rather not be where the houses are practically on top of each other like I am now) so the challenge will be finding the right compromise between my desire for convenience vs. my desire for space/privacy/quiet. I would like to commute by bike as much as possible and not have to spend too much time driving places. I am interested to hear everyone else's opinion on how far is too far.

[Blueberry]

I don't think there's a universal answer. My commute is about 7 miles, but there's a big frigging hill in the middle of it - so I don't ride it as much as I should or would like to. Assuming it's flat, and there isn't extreme weather - I would say 8-10. That goes down for me with extreme weather and/or hills.

How likely is your job to move again if you purchase a house?

[ny biker]

I sympathize regarding the new work location. When my job moved a couple of years ago it was a big upset to my routine, and it took a while for me to settle into a new one.

I've never commuted by bike, even when my office was 4 miles away in a bikeable area. But after my office moved to a building that is 25 miles away, I looked into the possibility of a mixed mass transit/bike commute. I quickly realized that would not be feasible because there is no mass transit serving the new office building and also there are no safe bike routes in the area. The roads are not safe for cycling due to too much traffic and lack of shoulders. There is a rail-trail that I could use but it that has its own safety (crime) issues after dark and it's not the most direct route, so it would add too many miles.

So I agree that terrain plans a role, but there are other factors to consider too. I was able to assess the bike-friendliness (or lack thereof) of the roads using a bike map that is published by the county where my office is located. Hopefully you have access to similar resources. Local bike advocacy groups can also be helpful in identifying good routes for bike commuting.

Good luck!

[Jolt]

I don't think there's a universal answer. My commute is about 7 miles, but there's a big frigging hill in the middle of it - so I don't ride it as much as I should or would like to. Assuming it's flat, and there isn't extreme weather - I would say 8-10. That goes down for me with extreme weather and/or hills.

How likely is your job to move again if you purchase a house?

I'd say not likely…the hospital I was transferred to is big enough and serves a large enough area that I really can't see it going anywhere.

[Crankin]

Jolt, you have been to my current house, so may have some idea of my former commute to Hudson. A hair under 14 miles (13.98), after finding a safe route that didn't involve the rotary. The first route I tried was 17 miles and had a road with 3 hills in the beginning. I axed that, but the 14 mile commute was perfect. I did it twice a week. It was enough for a real ride, so I didn't feel I was doing a lot for nothing. When I first started commuting, it was 6.7 miles, each way, and it was uphill going there, but a nice downhill home. Beautiful, too, through the Delaney Reservation in Stow.
Fast forward to today, where my commute is 5.2 miles. I have tried riding in my regular clothes, but I really don't like it, and more to the point, I don't have a lot of regular work clothes I can ride in. Not the tunic type! I do always feel I get a workout on the way home, because of the hill on my street. But some days, it seems more trouble than it's worth.
When we move to our condo, I will have a couple of months of being 2.6 miles from work. Then, my office is moving away from the hospital campus, to another office/medical building in Concord. I think it is about 2.3 miles. All of this is flat. I think i am going to have to convince myself to ride for 2 miles. I'd rather go out early in the morning and do a 10-15 mile fitness ride.
I think a 15 mile commute is fine. There are never speed expectations when I commute, I just plan accordingly. I don't like to arrive sweaty, as there are no showers, so I use those bath cloths to clean up. I do find, though, that I always ride home faster.

[Trek-chick]

I have commuted 16.5 miles one way to work. I do not do it every day but a few times a week because half was on heavily car infested roads and the other half was on a MUP. The car infested roads can be quite stressful at times. I always had to be on high alert and act like I was invisible to everyone.

[Jolt]

Jolt, you have been to my current house, so may have some idea of my former commute to Hudson. A hair under 14 miles (13.98), after finding a safe route that didn't involve the rotary. The first route I tried was 17 miles and had a road with 3 hills in the beginning. I axed that, but the 14 mile commute was perfect. I did it twice a week. It was enough for a real ride, so I didn't feel I was doing a lot for nothing. When I first started commuting, it was 6.7 miles, each way, and it was uphill going there, but a nice downhill home. Beautiful, too, through the Delaney Reservation in Stow.
Fast forward to today, where my commute is 5.2 miles. I have tried riding in my regular clothes, but I really don't like it, and more to the point, I don't have a lot of regular work clothes I can ride in. Not the tunic type! I do always feel I get a workout on the way home, because of the hill on my street. But some days, it seems more trouble than it's worth.
When we move to our condo, I will have a couple of months of being 2.6 miles from work. Then, my office is moving away from the hospital campus, to another office/medical building in Concord. I think it is about 2.3 miles. All of this is flat. I think i am going to have to convince myself to ride for 2 miles. I'd rather go out early in the morning and do a 10-15 mile fitness ride.
I think a 15 mile commute is fine. There are never speed expectations when I commute, I just plan accordingly. I don't like to arrive sweaty, as there are no showers, so I use those bath cloths to clean up. I do find, though, that I always ride home faster.

I think now we are getting into the speed/time issue…you ride faster than I do and so a 15-mile ride may only take you an hour. I would be looking at closer to an hour and 15 minutes for that distance, and doing that on each end of a 10-hour shift would not leave much time for anything else (although it would eliminate having to find other time for a workout). Also, some weeks I work 1-11 pm so it would make for a late night. The good news as far as being able to clean up on arrival to work is that there are places available to do that, including a shower. On the other hand, I hear you about a 2-mile ride being too short--it's not even enough time to warm up! The commute definitely could not double as a workout then.

[Crankin]

Based on my commute to Hudson, I certainly did not average 15 in the AM! At the time, my average on a longer ride might be between 14.5 and 15.5. That 13.98 mile commute consistantly took me 57-60 minutes, so my average was somewhere about 1-2 mph below normal. No matter what, even when I was younger, I cannot move too fast in the early AM. Despite being a morning person, I need to warm up. Hence, I was riding slowly for me. You just have to factor the extra time in.
As far as the night commute, if you have a good light and don't mind riding in the dark at that time, go for it. I work 9 or 10 to 6 or 7 2/3 days. It's dark when I leave, and use my "big light." When I leave at 6, it's still quite busy out, but if I leave any time after 6:30, it is peaceful. And, it's an impetus to just get the heck out of there... I don't hang around and do anything.

[ny biker]

One of my now-retired friends used to go for a bike ride every morning that ended at her office -- she did not take the most direct route because she wanted to ride more. If your new home ends up close to where you work but you want your commute to also be a workout, you might be able to take a very roundabout route to get more miles in. But you'd still have the convenience of a quick trip in the other direction, which I think would be nice when you're working a ten hour shift which I assume does not involve sitting at a desk all day long.

[Crankin]

I've thought about that, NY, but not sure if it would work with traffic patterns. I usually leave at 9 to be ready for 10 (cleaned up and changed). Now it takes me about 18-20 minutes, door to door, obviously, when I move it will be less. However, leaving earlier than 9 means commuter traffic, but when I move, I could definitely do a 10 mile ride in more sedate areas, and loop back to the office.
I doubt Jolt sits down at all, as a nurse! I, however, sit for 45-50 minutes, stand up to type my notes, do a quick loop around the whole office, and then start again. I try to stretch at lunch, but I sit waaaay too much, compared to when I was teaching. I cannot stand up and do psychotherapy...

[shootingstar]

I did a 30km. round trip commuter route from suburbs into downtown Toronto. That was the outer edge. I didn't cycle in the winter. About 80% of route was on a park greenway path system in ravines, by river or another choice that took me by Lake Ontario waterfront. Some mini hills not terrible. I did this route spring to fall, for 14 years.

I did have bailout system of subway system which I was forced to use going home maybe 2-3 times when I biked to work.

I think it helps enormously to have a bike route where a huge piece of it on a protected path or in very quiet residential streets.

As for where to live...in relation to work, if you end up too close to work, you always have option of lengthening ride,...which I did in Vancouver for 2 jobs (4 yrs.) where I had to quadruple my route which took me through the famous Stanley Park by the ocean ....in pitch dark. My partner wanted to ride with me and would go off further after he left me near my work building.

I live not far from work, but do bike in non-icy weather. ..because I do take the option after work to ride further to shop, or in warmer weather, just go farther for 1-2 hrs. more into the park system. Parts of the system is quite quiet once I get past certain areas. I actually don't understand why people harp about park pathway systems...they have met my needs for 3 diferent major cities where I've lived. It's only certain small pieces where it may be busy.

If you have some later work shifts, then you do want to feel safe/alert on bike.

[Jolt]

One of my now-retired friends used to go for a bike ride every morning that ended at her office -- she did not take the most direct route because she wanted to ride more. If your new home ends up close to where you work but you want your commute to also be a workout, you might be able to take a very roundabout route to get more miles in. But you'd still have the convenience of a quick trip in the other direction, which I think would be nice when you're working a ten hour shift which I assume does not involve sitting at a desk all day long.

That's a good point, especially for the return trip from an evening shift (I do have a good light and am not opposed to riding in the dark, but I am also not a night owl and as such just want to get home and crash after getting out of work at 11). And no, I am certainly not sitting at a desk all day long (although we do spend a significant amount of time on the computer now with electronic health records)…as a nurse practitioner I am not doing a lot of lifting etc. but there is still quite a bit of walking/stair climbing between different parts of the hospital (4 floors).