Ekdog

Living in a walkable, cyclable town with good mass transit options means I only travel long distance because I want to. It's not an imposition as it is in more car-centric cities.

Machka 

It's sort of funny ... we watch TV shows which are set in various parts of world, and as scenes appear, we say to each other ... "We've been there."

surreal

If you can get from Cali to Tibet using a few trains and a bike, in under 3 hours, then I'd say you don't have a max...

350htrr

EDIT; Now that I have my E-Assist bike back to working order... The Maximum distance has increased to, Oh, an easy 20 miles to 30 miles... The threat of rain no longer really concerns me for anything less than about 10 miles...

bikemig 

That's Europe for you . . . geez

Artkansas 

I'm going to be pushing it this weekend. There is an event 32 miles away and I don't really see any other way to get there than cycling. I blew my car-rental budget today driving for a talk about 185 miles away.

The event begins at 8am. So I figure on leaving about 4am. The long ride will be the return.

Juha

My car-free zone is more limited by a) having to haul large or heavy items, b) transporting group of people or c) time constraints. In any of those cases it's usually taxi or rental car. The more I need to rent, the closer I am to actually buying the car. Currently I'm not even close to where car ownership would make sense financially.

We don't have many rental services close by that are open during weekends. Any weekend trips requiring rental car should therefore be planned at least couple of days in advance. That can be annoying at times.

--J

krobinson103

We actually have both a car and a 50cc scooter. I'll sometimes use the scooter if there really is no time, but the car is an ornament unless my wife drives it. Even if it rains I still won't use something with an engine unless I have a super limited time frame.

chewybrian 

The limits are more a question of time and responsibilities, and less a question of how far. I've gone 300 miles in a day, 400 in 2 days, 600 in 3 days, etc. Those rides take some effort, but touring 75 miles a day or so can go on indefinitely. I'll go anywhere in the U.S., if I've got the time and desire, and most fit people could do the same.

However, I used to commute 15 miles each way, and this was a realistic every day limit, leaving time for other activities.

ro-monster

That would be awesome! But sadly no, it was the teacher who traveled from Tibet to California...

surreal

Well, we need to find out that teacher's secret....

Astrozombie

Because you live in Des Moines, I was just thinking of taking the Metrolink with the $10 day pass down to San Clemente or Oceanside on the weekend (About 40 miles away) for the scenic route along the coast. The only real limitation is going up to Six Flags, the last train back to LA is at 6PM and there really isn't any bus service, but a Zip car can be used.

I'm lucky that they expanded the light rail from Pasadena to my neck of the woods, you can be there in 40 minutes (10 Miles) and have lots of shops/dining/theaters available. Of course you can always get your groceries delivered (though I've never tried it)

I just noticed that "Megabus" the infamous $1 luxury bus, can take you to SF, but not SD (Which is where i would have liked to go see the Dodgers) Otherwise it's a ~$40 round trip with Greyhound.

I don't think I'll ever do it, but i have fantasized about coming back from Six Flags on my bike (about 40Mi)though it's a pretty dark desolate area at night i think it would be really fun flying through the San Fernando Valley on empty streets I'm not even sure if they have bike parking over there as i'm sure they don't expect anyone to bike there...maybe i should get a motorcycle as another option.

t x

I don't think I have a maximum, more dependent on time constraints and what I need to bring with me. The farthest I've gone only by bike for a specific appointment is about 10 miles, although the vast majority of my trips are < 3mi. I'm fortunate to live near a transportation hub here in LA so the subway/Metro increases my reach significantly (technically downtown or hollywood is just over a mile of actual riding for me if I take the subway.)

t x

Taking The Old Road down from Valencia through to the NoHo Red Line station has been on my list for a while.

Isaiahc72

This is very true. And 300 miles in a day? That's amazing. However, I guess I should've added that I don't plan on working any further than 30-miles from home.

Machka 

For the 300 miles in a day ... look up randonneuring and 24-hour racing.

As for the work plans ... you're young yet. You just never know where life will lead. For most of my life, I lived quite near work or school, but there have been times I've had quite a lengthy commute.

chewybrian 

Yes, the 300 was at the Michigan National 24 hour challenge. About 1 in 3 riders got to 300 or more. It is a difficult, but realistic goal for 24 hours, for a regular rando hack like me. A few of the racer boys got to 400.

Roody

In my whole life, I think my longest commute (distance) was about 30 miles to college--about 40 minutes by car on rural highways. A recent work commute was two miles, or 35 minutes whether I walked or took the bus. My all-time favorite commute was four city miles by bike, which took about 20 minutes in traffic but well under 15 minutes coming home from work late at night. My current commute is only a five minute walk.

Machka 

My longest commute was 150 km one way ... 300 km round trip. I know ... the common suggestion is to move when there are commutes that distance. But when I weighed up the cost, it was cheaper to drive than to move. And I had no other options to accomplish what I needed to accomplish those 2 years.

I've also done commutes of 50 km round trip for several years, 70 km round trip for several years, and 130 km round trip for a couple months.

You just never know where life might lead.



Long commutes are actually somewhat common here ... post bushfires, during the recovery period, we lived in the town where we worked, but quite a few people came in from some distance away. A group of them would arrive Monday morning from various locations and stay the week, the return home on Friday afternoon. Others came up from Melbourne (100 km away) every day.

When our recover period was over, people moved on to flood recovery in other shires with similar commutes.

Rural Australia doesn't have a lot of employment, so if you find a job somewhere, you do what you need to do to get there.

Machka 

Rowan and did 287.3 miles (462.4 kms) on our last 24-hour race ... and I'm no speed demon.
Charlene Barach (Machka) - 2006 UMCA 24-hour Time Trial

tandempower

Time is a big factor. I've talked with homeless guys who travel around working as day laborers, sleeping in the woods in a tent, and saving up money to pay for things they really want instead of living hand-to-mouth. Still, even if you work full time, you can look at a friday evening ride as comparable to spending the evening at the gym. If you pack for touring before work, you can leave as soon as you get off and go 50+ miles by bike, spend saturday walking around, and then take your time riding home sunday. You spend a significant proportion of your weekend en route but it keeps you in great shape. Cycling on friday night in the dark can be unsettling but so can driving if you're fated to collide with some drunk fool leaving a bar.

If there were dedicated MUPs between major destinations, you could safely and comfortably cycle well into the night on weekends without concern about drunk and otherwise reckless drivers.

Coluber42

My regularly scheduled weekly activities excluding weekend bike rides are pretty much all within maybe an 8-10 mi radius of home, which includes my new work space, grocery shopping, restaurants, rehearsals, and some regular teaching and freelance gigs. I get to all those places by bike exclusively. From time to time I have gigs or other activities that are farther away, (up to 20 mi maybe) and I still generally ride my bike there. Over the summer I teach at a bunch of weekend workshops, and still get there the car-free way. One is around 60 mi away; one is around 100 mi; one is around 350 mi. I ride my touring bike loaded up with everything I need for the week to the first two, and it's basically a day trip. For the third, I take my touring bike on the train as far as it goes, which is 120 mi of the way, and then I ride the rest of the way over two days and stay in a motel halfway.

But it's only practical to take an entire day to get somewhere if I'm going to be there for long enough to justify the time. If there is a ride or other activity that starts more than maybe 20 or 30 mi from home, we rent a car to get there. If the train is an option we take it, but mostly it's not.

If you count the actual bike ride as opposed to just the trip to the start, then you'd count the brevet series that starts under 15 mi from home. I still ride to and from the 600k, and once I did a 1200k that started close to home too, so I rode to the start of that too. But I don't really count bike rides in the equation because in this case they're the activity, not the transportation TO the activity.

Machka 

I've often ridden through the night on weekends on public roads without much concern at all.

You've got to pick your roads ...

Roody

There are thousands of miles of MUPs in many parts of the country. Search for rail-to-trails, towpaths, and linear parks.

Artkansas 

Well, looks like my car-free zone is now 32 miles. I made it there and back today.