My ride is about 18 miles each way with about 1300 feet of climbing on the way in and 1100 on the way home (hills). I start and end in cities (not the same one) and ride mostly city streets between. There are two sections of trail, accounting for about 4 miles or so. I've been doing this route 4 or 5 days/week since I started here in October of last year.

My bike is a Bacchetta Giro 20 Short Wheel Base Recumbent, set up as a commuting bike. That means that it has lots of lights and a fairing, mostly.

I carry something called an AeroTrunk, which hangs off my seat. Inside that I have a complete change of clothes (sometimes more than one), lunch, book, tools, spare tubes, etc. I try to be pretty self-sufficient on my ride, even if it means extra weight. I have a special little bag on the bars that carries my cell phone and badge, and usually carry my keys in my pocket. Once advantage to a recumbent is that I can wear just about anything I want. This time of year I'm wearing sweats when its cool and regular old shorts when its nicer out.

It takes me between 1:50 and 2 hours in and between 1:20 and 1:35 on the way home, depending on how I feel, the weather, if it's dark, etc. My average speed on the flats is usually 15-18, but the climbing really slows me down. Recumbents aren't known for their climbing ability.