Originally Posted by
Barrettscv
The attractiveness of training while commuting is that it allows me to train and travel to and from work at the same time. A car is faster but takes too much time to allow as much time for training as I want.
I think that this and the prior comment from csmo are correct in that some riding is better than just sitting in the car, waiting in traffic; and I don't think any of us are saying, "don't bike commute." ( god forbid, any of us would encourage one to ride less
) Just, from my point of view, commuting
by itself isn't always a sufficient form of training for endurance cycling. I think the route that you describe is a good foundation for a commuting + brevets/weekend century training program, but shorter or more urban commutes would, I think, require something else to supplement them.
Similarly, I think homeyba's point is also worth considering that if you're going to think of commuting as training, you should think of it as
training. But, that goes for all traiining ... it's not just a matter of getting a raw number of miles into the distance log, but how those miles are earned does matter.