Originally Posted by
Majahonke
A bicycle commute for me would be a little over 17 mi one way.
I had that same commute for 18 months. 17 miles - 10 on MUP, 7 on streets. I used all of my bikes over the course of those 18 months - road bike, ATB, folding, touring, and fatbike - no problems. That is...no problem making those miles. I grew tired of the extra hour both ends of my workday.
I had a job that was VERY forgiving if the weather was ridiculous i.e., lightning, street flooding (10 miles on that MUP was very exposed to lightning). I could show up very early (I had keys and alarm codes) or show up at lunch. I could even blow off a whole day, although I think this happened only once. I could look at the radar, pick a gap in the weather, and leave work early if need be. So the only stress regarding my commute was physical and time. Never had to stress about being late for work. This made a huge difference for my success and I assume would be the same for most people too.
Given you have a vehicle I assume you could bail out on miserable days and drive or Park-and-Ride? Just start out riding the nicer days to get a feel for it? I wouldn't ditch the truck just yet for sure.
I solved my problem by moving closer to Downtown. Otherwise I think I would have opted for a job closer to home. I got really tired of 2 hours mandatory riding every day. When I was younger I had an 8 mile commute that STILL took most of an hour to cover due to a trillion stop signs and large highway crossings (waiting for traffic signals). I managed that for 8 years, but I had a car and a motorcycle as backup for hateful weather or oversleeping. That job required promptness at a very early hour so I had to leave extra early to have time to repair a flat if need be and still get there on time.
Hope this helps.