My commute (i don't bike to work yet) is 9.9 miles. It takes me an average of 40 minutes in the car to cover those 9.9 miles. I think it is absurd but the problem is that the rides to work are WAY too stressful as there are no bike lanes and people are out to kill you. I think the only sensible way to commute in Atlanta is by helicopter.

Cambridge, MA, 3 miles. Only skip riding when it's icy. Or the last week or so.

7 miles is the shortest distance between the 2 places, of course it's easy to extend that depending on my time, my mood, the weather etc. I'm in Minneapolis, MN.

8 miles one way, Louisville, KY

Hi rr6,

I recall you live in Maynard. I agree that 13-14 miles is an ideal distance for commuting to work, to balance time and effort, especially for the purpose of fitness. IMO less than 10 miles is “insufficient” for training.

I ride 14 miles one-way from Kenmore Square to Norwood on my year-round near-ideal commute, and increase mileage in the nice weather. If I may ask, where are your destinations as mentioned above? I likely have ridden similar routes on my training rides. I remember you were going to Natick for a while.

Jim

9 miles in, 10 miles home. Chandler, Az. :)

2.5 miles one-way in Raleigh, NC.

8.2 miles one way, Whittier, CA to Los Angeles w/11 mi. Metro train ride in the middle.

Rick / OCRR

9 blissful miles each way, Burbank to Pasadena CA. Longer if I detour through the Rose Bowl and the nearby mountains on the way home.

Rick, we're practically neighbors. Any local rides you like?

Yes f4rrest, I do lots of local rides. Doing Glendora Mountain Road to Glendora Ridge Road to Mt. Baldy Village this Sat. I often ride up Hwy 2 from La Canada to Newcomb's Ranch and sometimes all the way to Dawson Saddle, then return via Hwy 39. Will send you a private message with details on the GMR/GRR ride since this is a commuting thread and I don't want to derail it.

Rick / OCRR

8 miles one way. 2 miles through forest and farmland, about 1.5 miles on the road and the other 4.5 miles on bike path.
It's a pretty stress free commute.
Location is southeast of Munich.
http://www.strava.com/activities/93130572

15 miles by car… approx 21 by bike (side and back road add distance) Pleasanton---Fremont

Six miles, Dover, Delaware

I tip my hat to you if you have the stones to do Niles Canyon in the commute direction. ;) I don't think I ever will.

7 km each way (about 4.5 miles)
Jerusalem, Israel. :)

9 miles in (cause I want to get in quickly), 13-15 miles on the way home since I take a little longer route and add more climbing. Here in wet, cold, Seattle, WA!

Tucson, AZ - 13.5 miles to work and combo bus/4.5 mile ride home.

13 miles into work and 15-20 miles home. I like to try different routes on the way home and take my time. Harrodsburg, Ky

Mine is almost 3 miles each way. I live in NYC and the people, cabs and pot holes slow me down big time! I commute from West 20th street to the 50's on Park avenue.

Would you mind sharing your route from Norwood to Kenmore Square? I grew up in Walpole and never dreamed of biking into Boston.

I'll put this on the thread in case any other local riders are interested. I’m more flexible riding from Kenmore to Norwood and have many roundabout routes depending on my intended mileage, so there are also many nice routes from Norwood to Kenmore. I have basically four straight, direct routes from Kenmore to Norwood, each about 14 miles long. I usually encounter more traffic from Norwood to Kenmore, and I use the same, but sometimes slightly different routes.

These most direct routes from Norwood start on Rte 1A (Washington Street) into Dedham. Rte 1A is wide and not too heavily traveled. There is a fork in Dedham just past the Rte 128 overpass. Most often I take Court St. to Rte 109 (High St) then to the VFW Parkway. The VFW, though busy has a good bike lane, and one can take that to Centre St by the Faulkner Hospital, and then to the Jamaica Pond Bike Path. However I usually cut off at Independence Drive to Newton St and then to Goddard on towards Jamaica Pond, or Clyde to Lee to Walnut into Brookline and the Muddy River Bike Path almost all the way to Kenmore.

Or you can take Rte 109 across the VFW to Centre St (a commercial route through West Roxbury) eventually to Jamaica Pond. Another alternative is to stay on Washington St at that fork in Dedham and continue through Roslindale to Jamaica Plain (also a commercial thoroughfare), and then to the Southwest Corridor Bike Path. Ultimately, the Jamaica Pond Bike Path can lead to the Muddy River Path to Kenmore, and the Southwest Corridor Path to the Fenway, adjacent to Kenmore Square.

Choice of a route will depend how confident you are in riding in suburban and urban traffic, and how well you know the routes. On any route there will be at least one major hill (for this region), and a few smaller ones. My above directions are somewhat general, and there are a few various options for connecting the major streets which are kind of intricate to describe in an E-mail. In particular, I have a somewhat complicated route on mostly pleasant residential streets through West Roxbury. Feel free to send a PM to further discuss.

I describe the environments of my four major direct routes as pleasant urban, gritty (but safe) urban, pleasant suburban, and ritzy suburban, all parallel and within about two miles of each other. They offer enough variation that I never get bored, even after almost three decades of cycle commuting.

PS: Sorry I don't have a GPS to give you well-defined routes. I did however once ride a route from Norwood to Jamaica Pond with a fellow BF subscriber, mtalinm and he mapped it out:

One way - 7 miles, El Paso Texas

Thanks Jim! I kind of figured it had something to do with the Jamaica Way. My family would drive that way to Boston sometimes if they didn't want to take the highway. Seems like a really smart route. Maybe someday when I'm home I'll convince my dad or brother-in-law to trek into the city with me. I like city cycling. I work in Springfield, which isn't massive or anything, but I've also had a chance to ride around NYC and Los Angeles when visiting friends and really enjoyed myself.

wow, good memory. you want just the destinations?
- Maynard to West Newton
- Maynard to Naticik
- Maynard to Tewksbury

routes would be a more complex reply ...

Kenmore Sq - Norwoord looks cool - nice straight shot!