My current commute to school is 20.2 miles with +612 / -1068 ft. For the commute home, I take a slightly different route, which is 21.2 miles with +1090 / -634 ft. To school takes about 1hr, 20mins to 1hr, 30mins including stops. Going back home, it takes about 1hr, 45mins to 2 hrs including stops.

1. How many times per week do you ride into/from work?

Right now I cycle commute 4 days and take 1 rest/drive day.

2. Were you a recreational rider before you started commuting?

No and yes. Before I started commuting, the longest ride was 5 miles. All my riding then was short trips to church, stores, friend's house, etc. The thing that really helped me jump right into it was being in good shape.

3. How long did it take you to complete the entire distance under your own power?

I've always done it under my own power, except the very first day commuting. I rode there and got a ride from my sister home. The next time I did it, I completed both commutes on my own. When I started back in 2009, I could only do it 2-3 times a week. Last semester, I bumped it up to 4 times a week.

4. After your trial and error period, what ended up being your equipment?

I've commuted on everything from a road bike to a hybrid to a CLWB recumbent bike. I am now using a Catrike Trail recumbent tadpole trike full-time. I have a homemade coroplast tailbox with a front fairing and coroplast wheel disks.

For daytime, I run PB 2watt blaze headlight on strob and rear Dinotte light on slow flash. For night/early morning riding, I used a NR headlight, helmet light, and a NR and Cateye rear lights (both set to solid).

For tires, I use 20x2.15 Big Apples all around for comfort, speed, and flat protection.