Living Car Free - How many miles/kilometers do you ride in a week? Rest days?

If your bicycle is your primary transportation vehicle, you'll probably put on a ton of miles.

I normally do somewhere around 100 miles a week. This week, I'll probably be up near 175, but my normal winter miles are in the 50-80 range.

If I haven't had any bodily problems, I never take a rest day, but I might do a pretty slow pace for 13 - 18 miles for a day. Coasting more than usual.

My current mileage is under 2,000 a year. At my peak when I was living car free it was somewhere around 6,000. With a few notable exceptions I am a low impact rider, I am not normally riding at anywhere near my capacity. Every now and again if I take a short tour or a fast ride I will push it, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

Aaron :)

I probably only do about 5 miles a day. My bike is heavy and I'm hauling a toddler, plus everything I need to do is within a two mile radius. If it's farther than that, I wait until the weekend and use my husband's car. I live in a small town, which for me is bike friendly because I only ever take back roads, but to go beyond the borders on a 4 lane road where the posted speed is 45 is not something I can do safely.

I commute, 40 mile round trip.

Last week I did 226 miles.

I commute 5 days a week and do around 23miles a day. Sat and Sun are my rest days, sometimes I cycle at the weekend but not often. I usually walk to the shops.

Approx 80 miles a week yet I drive about 550. I ride about 5 or 6 days a week.

300-450km a week. 160km on a Sunday, 40km on Saturday, 30km training runs before dawn during the week and about 100km of commuting on top of that. Rest days? Only if I can't turn the pedals. :) My only transport is bike so I've gotten used to it. It hurt to get there though.

My commute is 8 miles each way, so I get 80 miles per week just going to work & back. Other errands add on another 20-40 usually, so I end up at a bit over 100 miles per week.

I commute, 40 mile round trip.

Last week I did 226 miles.


300-450km a week. 160km on a Sunday, 40km on Saturday, 30km training runs before dawn during the week and about 100km of commuting on top of that. Rest days? Only if I can't turn the pedals. :) My only transport is bike so I've gotten used to it. It hurt to get there though.

Pretty long miles. I'd be worn out doing that week in, week out. Do you do this all year long or is it a summer thing?

I don't try to rack up the miles, I just do what I need to do, but even so, it's about 80-100 miles a week. It's amazing how much exercise you can get without even trying if you just decide to leave the car in the driveway.

I have been riding at least 30km a day for quite a while which is less than the 60km a day I was doing some years ago... even if I have no-where to go i make it a point to get out for a daily ride and today rode over 40km for fun.

So... 200 km / 120 miles a week right now.

Pretty long miles. I'd be worn out doing that week in, week out. Do you do this all year long or is it a summer thing?

Some days become a rest day due to my legs telling me that I've pushed them too far. No more than 1-2 days and I only skip the morning ride (no car=bike or not go to work). If I can ride a motorcycle all winter - black ice and all I see no reason why I can't do the same on my bikes. In fact it will be warmer. The lack of light in the morning will become an issue, but thats what good lights are for.

As for tiredness... I was getting tired a few months back, but I seem to be getting used to it. Don't really notice it anymore. :) Well, a fast (for me) 100 miles will have me sore for a few hours, but some food and a bit of rest and I'm good to go.

I usually ride about 125-200 miles 4-5 days a week, I alternate with rest days.

My mileage can vary greatly between 80-175 miles a week. Right now, I'm averaging 122 miles a week.

Wow. I think I've only broken a hundred miles in a week once, on the only week so far that I've ridden every day commuting. That was last summer. I take too many rest days!

Wow. I think I've only broken a hundred miles in a week once, on the only week so far that I've ridden every day commuting. That was last summer. I take too many rest days!

Well... a day off now and again is refreshing. Read a book. Paint the house. Even though bicycling is fun, other things can be fun too. Plus rest days are reported to build muscle mass and generally keep you healthier.

For several years I averaged 96 miles a week, verified on a bike computer. For the past 3 years, due to a series of injuries and a change in location,
my average has been much lower. (I no longer use the computer on every ride, so I don't know the exact number of miles I now ride.)

I ride to my destination and back, when I need to go. Occasionally, I'll go sightseeing.

I took my total milage from last year and divided by 52, (weeks) and came up with 89.39 miles. Except for short trips to the grocery store I keep a fairly accurate log including weather conditions. This year should be higher simply because the weather has been better and I seem to find more reasons to hit the road.

For years I've averaged about 50 miles a week, based mostly on a daily commute of 3 miles RT, supermarket runs of about 2 miles RT, and recreational rides of 10 miles RT of which half was a straight climb.

Now that I'm nearing retirement I'm seeing my mileage going up. Work does have a way of cutting into one's riding time.

Do you guys realize how astounded average people would be if they read this thread? I've had friends tell me that they couldn't believe I rode 10 miles to get womewhere. Most people have no idea that 10 miles really isn't such a far piece on a decent bike.

Now that I'm nearing retirement I'm seeing my mileage going up.

:thumb: I see quite a few retired people having what seems like a pretty nice lifestyle around riding and enjoying themselves. For example, one of the volunteer mechanics is leaving for San Francisco by train so he can ride across the country. Another has a regular schedule of really early morning (beat the heat!) rides. Thing is he does this year 'round.

Do you guys realize how astounded average people would be if they read this thread? I've had friends tell me that they couldn't believe I rode 10 miles to get womewhere. Most people have no idea that 10 miles really isn't such a far piece on a decent bike.

I get people who are really impressed that I rode 50 miles to work. Of course I have to break it to them that I didn't. I only rode 9 miles and caught buses the rest of the way. Some day I intend to ride all the way home though.

Pretty long miles. I'd be worn out doing that week in, week out. Do you do this all year long or is it a summer thing?

I am a displaced New Yorker living in Houston, Texas. For me, it is actually harder to ride in the summer heat than the winter chill. People around here yawn at 100 degree days. In winter we rarely see it dip below 40 degrees. In the summer I am simmering in my own gravy. In the winter months - when the mercury dips to a mind-numbingly cold temperature of 50 degrees - I manage to escape the misery of continuous torrential sweating and astound the locals with my ability to wander around outside in shirtsleeves while they are bundled up for an arctic expedition.

I think it is harder to do my commute in the summer than it will be in the winter, but I'll withhold a definite answer on that until we suffer the arctic blast of a 50 degree day. ;)

As far as the distance goes, I have only been doing the entire commute (both ways) for two months. It's working out fine. I was pretty tired at first. Currently I can do the commute regularly and not feel terribly tired out at the end of the week. I have noticed that my elapsed time on Friday is generally longer than my elapsed time earlier in the week. I guess that's not surprising.

I am currently looking for a new job. Conditions have recently changed at my place of employment - enough that I find myself disgusted by the people I work for. I figure that if I despise the people who are paying me it is time for a new gig. I am hoping to find work closer to home. I would like to cut my commute down to 25-30 miles round trip - mostly to save time.

My commute is my workout as well, so I don't know if I want to cut it below that distance.

I am not sure if I can hand a longer a commute than the one I have now but I am game to try. I would rather not, though.

Having said all that, you also need to remember that Houston is on a coastal plain. There is only 100 feet of elevation change over the length of my ride. Around here an overpass is a hill. I do not believe that I would be doing a 40 mile round trip commute if I lived in hilly country.

I am hoping to find work closer to home. I would like to cut my commute down to 25-30 miles round trip - mostly to save time.


Any chance you could combine your commute with public transit? So you could do the whole route on training days and then part of it on rest days,

Any chance you could combine your commute with public transit? So you could do the whole route on training days and then part of it on rest days,

I did that at first, before I got into the condition to do the entire commute by bike.

I really don't care for the public transport system in Houston. If you have a bicycle and you rely on the bus to carry you and your bicycle you will far too often find yourself missing the bus you need to catch and end up late because there were already two bikes in the front rack.

Heck, a big part of the reason I started bicycle commuting was because of bad experiences w/ Houston Metro.

I dunno.

I USED to keep track of numbers like that; in fact, at one point, I was so obsessed with the numbers that I 'lost' the joy of the ride. Oddly, a broken wrist from a slow-speed clash with a Corvette hood was the catalyst for getting it back!

There have been a few other injuries along the way, but riding is just 'what I do', a part of who I am. I would be no less a rider if I rode 40 miles a week than if I rode 140. I ride to work, to pay bills, to do errands, with the kids, and just to get out and ride. I ride in the rain, high wind, cold, snow -- after picking up studded tires for the bike last winter, I'm no longer reduced to riding the bus when the surface conditions get too nasty.

I ride, therefore I am.