jbman100

I've been commuting to work for the past three months. The ride in started at 59 minutes and has slowly come down to between 47 to 50 minutes. The ride home because it is more uphill than down has been slowly coming down from 1:09 to 1:02. Night before last I did 1:00:41.

LAST NIGHT I DID IT IN 59:34!!!

KLW2

Rock on!

swwhite

Reminds me of when Roger Bannister finally broke the four-minute mile. People thought it might not even be possible. You are in your own battle to break records, to do what no one (in your target population of 1) has done before. Good luck.

Somebody ought to invent a "sports page" for bicycle commuters to report when these various things happen. My trip home usually takes 35-40 minutes. One time, some years ago, there was a vicious wind blowing straight up the road I take for 90% of the route. I got on the bike and pedaled like the devil and got home in 29 minutes. It was glorious, and unreported. I will live on as a legend, but only in my own mind.

JoeyBike

Saweet!

Always nice to see progress.

Don't forget, every now and then, leave the computer home and just enjoy the ride!

Congrats man.

indybiker01

Congrats!

jeffpoulin

My way home is mostly uphill, but there is a steep downhill section at about the halfway point. For the past year, I've been trying to hit 70kmph down that hill. I've hit 67-68 many times, but couldn't quite hit 70. Over the winter, with much more clothing and denser air, I could only hit the low 60s. On Monday this week, the conditions were just right. Warm, no wind, light traffic.... and I finally hit 70! It was a little milestone, but I was quite pleased about it.

onyourback

Another reason I love cycling to work more than driving. I don't remember setting goals and enjoying achieving them in the car, not ever.

old's'cool

I'm always faster riding home (all external variables being held equal).
Is it because:

1. Net uphill gradient going to work?
2. Body is more awake and lively returning home?
3. Work is waiting for me at work; beer is waiting for me at home?

gitarzan

My ride to work is about 40 minutes.
Going home takes about 1.2 hours.

Going to work, I'm on a mission... Get to work and be on time.
Going home, I'm looking around at yards and houses and parked cars, trying new streets, etc. plus I'm tired from working.

Lot's Knife

What's your hurry?

rumrunn6

fun to read, thanks for sharing

AndrewP

My ride to work is around 1 hr 15 and the ride home is around 1 hr 25. There is a small hill to climb on the way home, but I think the difference is more likely due to traffic conditions. If you want to improve your ride home time, ease off a bit on the flats so you can work at 120% on the climbs.

jbman100

I did ease off on the flats. I changed up my style. I still haul ass to work just use smaller gears to get up to speed before changing. On the way home I find a comfortable gear and spin. I have more left for the 2 hills at the end.


Yesterdays ride home was 56:37. I took today off cause the wife and I are driving the course/riding part of it for our next event. I wanna see what I have to ride and get ready for it.

TomT74

The beer waiting works for me. usually though, it's the prevailing Westerly wind that helps me on my way home. My route is almost straight East-West.

kegoguinness

cool thread! My commute involves both train and bus (and biking of curse). I don't use a cyclocomputer, but I do clock time door-to-door. If I can make the trip in 1 hour, that's a GREAT ride/made all my train and bus connections/bus driver didn't dawdle/there was no Metro train track work/platform elevator was there waiting for me...you get the idea

Jonahhobbes

I actually thought this thread was about someone calling you a prostitute. I read it as "You Freaking you get the rest..."

opel70

I definitely know the feelings about setting those personal records. The other day all conditions were aligned and I hit 29mph. I'm riding a 9-speed recumbent trike so to get there I had my cadence up at around 180rpm. Doubt I'll be hitting 30mph on this bike.

tjspiel

My summer commute is only about 25 minutes each way which I think is about right. I'll take a longer way home now and then.

In the winter my commute goes up to anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes depending on the weather. On top of that I have to add in an extra 10 to 15 minutes just getting the winter gear on and off. That's borderline too long for me. It's not that I don't like biking but there's more to life than spending my time at work or getting to and from. So I completely understand somebody who's got a commute that takes an hour or more being happy about trimming it down a bit.

Aside from that he's getting a sense of personal accomplishment out of shortening his commute time. Nothing wrong with that just like there's nothing wrong with relaxing and enjoying the ride.

jhhall

+1

wunderkind

For this reason alone, I do not put a bike computer on my bike. As it already is, I am quite competitive to try and beat my watch time. Imagine I start getting speed, cadence, top speed etc.
No, I rather look up and around my surrounding area not only to be vigilant of ambient traffic, but to enjoy the scenic part of the root.
I'm a numbers sorta guy, so having stats like that would drive me crazy.

atmdad

One of the reasons I like to commute is that it gives me a chance to get some exercise in during the week so I do like to hammer along. It is usually pretty consistent at 42.5 to 44 minutes going in and 43.5-45 coming home over ~12.3 mile route. Primarily because of the prevailing afternoon headwind, not the strong but it is there.

Last Friday I came in just under the 43 minute mark going home which was pretty cool. I attribute this to making my mini-goal of not dropping below 10 mph on a 1 mile stretch that is a pretty uniform 5% grade and a little further on I got on the wheel of a "full kit roadie" and hammered along at 23-24 mph over a 3.5 mile flat stretch.