10 miles is actually a nice commute. It's long enough that you actually get some exercise, not so long that it's really starting to eat into your day. My 13 mile commute takes about 45 minutes on a bike, about 20 minutes in a car, so I figure I'm getting 90 minutes of exercise but it's only "costing" me about 50 minutes (90 - 40 minutes). It's a chance to turn the otherwise worse-than-wasted commute time into something valuable. I also get a lot of audiobooks and podcasts listened to in that time.

Well guys, thanks again for all the great help. I look forward to participating more in this section of the forum.

I'd been planning on riding in today to test the ride and see how it was. It was a beautiful morning for it. The ride itself wasn't too bad. There were a few sections that caught me off guard with their steepness, but nothing horrible. Overall it turned out to be a great ride. Strava shows 18.6 miles with a moving time of 1:16:01.

Strava is showing a bit different than what my Sigma computer is showing, but it's close. They are both even close on calories even though the Sigma has a heart rate monitor and Strava doesn't. I have ordered the docking station for the computer so I can get better information on my rides. I can't wait for the ride home!!!

Wow, better than me. It can sometimes take me 1:16 or more to go 15.5 miles in the morning.

I started out like you, wondering how I could do 14-15 miles each way and still have time for family. I started doing the split commute, drive to work, then ride home, and vice versa. I did that Tues-Fri. On days I rode home I would come in earlier and leave earlier. Other days I would leave the house earlier and then leave the office at the normal time. However it got to the point where I had to leave the hitch bike rack on the car (which I hate, massive heavy thing) all the time, which made it problematic parking in my garage.

After about a year or so I decided to try doing the commutes all in one day, but only 2 days a week (still a total of 4 rides a week). That way the car could stay home, and I didn't have to fuss with the bike rack. I rarely use it at all now. I also had to get a rack and trunk bag for clothes, as it's just easier taking the clothes for that same day, and I didn't want stuff on my back. I just leave the house at 6 AM, get to work before 7:30, work through lunch, then leave the office about 4:30 to get home before 6 PM. On days I drive I get home around 5:30 so it's usually only about a 30 minute difference in how much time I'm with my family.

Last fall my wife's schedule changed and then I started commuting 3 days a week. I still strive for that but sometimes it doesn't happen and I only get 2 commutes in.

A nice side effect is that today has been 3 weeks since I last put gas in my car.

Great job! Almost 15mph average, on a route including surprisingly steep hills! So this gets closer to 2 hours/day than 3-4, and that would be much more doable I think. Still, ease in, figure out a sustainable bike-commuting plan so you don't burn out.

Wow, you're quite an athlete with that average speed, in the Colorado hills, no less.

You don't have to bike commute every day, or you could shorten the ride by driving part of the way or taking public transportation.

My normal commute is about 31 miles round trip on hilly roads. Lately I've been taking the long way home some days on the local greenways, which extends my commute to about 45 miles round trip. I usually only take the long route once a week, but last week I rode it twice. My afternoon commute ends up taking about two hours when I go home the long way. So far, I have only done that on days when my wife had book club meetings or other evening engagements, because I wouldn't want to take up so much of our after-work time together.

Taking the long route extends my one-way commute to about 2 hours, compared to about 1:10 hour normally. So I end up with about 3 hours riding on those days, counting the morning and afternoon commutes. That is a lot of riding for a weekday and working a full-time job, and once a week is enough for me generally -- unless I've missed a lot of rides due to bad weather or other reasons. I'm also pretty hungry and worn out by the time I get home.

this

Give us the link to the Fly By that Strava puts out these days I wanna see some hills! This is a cool feature

I've been riding 40 miles RT daily for the last 1.5 years. About 1300 feet of cumulative ascent RT. Before that at my previous job I rode 36 miles RT daily with 2000 feet of RT ascent for five years.

It's totally doable but it's a commitment and you should work up to it. Start with 2-3 days/week and let your body adjust. With that much riding (if you stick with it) you'll be amazed at how much stronger/faster you'll become. A 1.5 hour or 2 hour ride will turn into an hour and change ride in no time at all.

I've been doing it for so long that now I cannot imagine not doing it (but due to a job change it looks like I may not be doing it for much longer!). It's a commitment and will take support from your family if you are going to do it on a regular basis. Good luck.

There's no reason it has to be all or nothing. I tend to have more commute miles than rec miles since the commute is long and twice a day, but I'm far from an everyday commuter. There's plenty of work and personal conflicts. Sometimes I'm able to 3 times a week, sometimes 2, often 1, sometimes none. Even though the commute home is in your range time wise; getting home, cleaning up, eating, ready for time with wife is earlier than driving home eating and going for much shorter ride when it's a work conflict.

Commuting by bicycle takes less time away from your family than being dead. And if you are healthy, the time spent with your family will be better quality than if you are not.

Here's the flyby for my morning ride: https://labs.strava.com/flyby/viewer/...ader#328604529

Here's the flyby for the afternoon ride: https://labs.strava.com/flyby/viewer/...ader#328868678