It takes me the same time to go the same distance with only 3 stop signs. In my case it's because of a bad headwind (almost always - prevailing winds hit me every trip home), 4 miles of gravel road (QUITE bad this time of year - several stretches have turned to mud and are so potholed that in a car I have to slow down to about 5 MPH) and hills.
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Work: the 8 hours that separates bike rides.