Originally Posted by
41mi_a_day
So i'm just seeking some general community feedback. What kind of regular commuting riding do you do? How many miles and how many hours? On what kind of bike? (more towards comfort, or more towards racing efficiency... since i'm not sure I could tolerate a racing tuck for an hour each way anyways. I did my 13mi/day on a mountain bike!) For what type of shape are you in? (i'm not in good shape at all right now still recovering from the injuries that made me stop biking, resuming biking will help some of that but i'm not going to be a slender cyclist anytime soon) Any other notes on conditions? I figure i'd get a general feel for what people would consider light, medium, and heavy to be (perhaps on different types of bikes - i'm sure a fat tired cruiser would have to go notably slower than a triathlon bike, but would the comfort of it let you do as many miles just slower?) which will then give me some benchmarks to compare myself against when I start trying to work biking more into my daily life. (under the 1-2 year preparation process before I have to do it for college which may... never even happen if it's too grueling in reality)
I bike commute 17.1 miles each way so 34.2 miles every workday...171 miles every week but who's counting?
I found bike commuting to be life changing on many levels. Prior to 2010 I hadn't ridden a bike since I got my drivers license in 1980 (I'm 49). I started slowly by riding about 5 miles to catch a carpool...after a couple months of that and a winter layoff, I decided to try the ride to work (17.1 miles). I haven't regretted it. Granted my commute is pretty sweet....mostly all rural roads with very few stops required...Many days I start pedaling at home and don't put my foot down till I am at work. The 17.1 miles takes me about an hour +/- 10 minutes depending on the wind. I'm down about 15 lbs. from my pre-bike commuting days. The bike commute clears my head and strengthens my heart...not bad for an activity that also gets me to work without spewing pollution into the air or using gasoline. I recommend it to anyone and often do. I ride a schwinn dbx super sport that I bought used off Craig's list. It's a cross bike with 23c tires, drop bars, a rack, and fenders. I added clipless pedals. Biking to work has allowed me to slow down and realize the speed with which we move ourselves in this age of fossil fueled extravagance. Whatever you do start slowly and pace yourself...drive part-way ride part-way can be an effective way to work up to the full distance over time. Good Luck!