Folks, I searched the forum and didn't find a poll that we can use to provide statistics on the average commute length. Or at least a recent poll.

So here we are.

Please respond with your average weekly commuting distance.

It's possible I might slip under 100 miles a week if you averaged it over an entire year, including weeks off for holidays, vacations, injuries, and freezing rain, but I commute 4-5 days out of 5 otherwise, 26 miles a day.

RichC

Im 4 1/2 days a week 20 miles round trip. Great thing - I have shower to myself at the city hall. A workout facility was built - however no machines were put in the budget. So the shower room and bathroom is all mine!

Weekly commute is a great question.

I don't work every day of the week. In fact, I work an average of 3 days per week. I have 12 miles multiplied by 6 one way trips for 72 miles total.

A mere mortal by some standards. My coworkers think I am a superhero.

4 days a week, usually, with a minimum of 16 miles round trip per day. Sometimes I go on longer, alternate routes, though, or work an extra day.

Wow. So far we have four 100-milers. That's impressive. Although at times I may peak over 100 miles in a week, my average over time is probably in the upper 80s. For me, this is probably the most I can eek out, given other commitments, etc., through the work week.

I thought I was maybe in the top 5% of commuters. Now you've completely demoralized me.

You 100-milers. Please chime in with more details. This is really an impressive thing, going 100 miles or more on average -- just commuting.

How long have you been doing this? Is it year round (the average)? What are your ages and what line of work are you in? What type of bike do you ride? How long did it take to build up to this level?

I commute 4.5 days a week average, 48 weeks of the year. My round trip is 18 to 25 miles so my weekly average is 80 to 112 miles.

I´ve got 7,1 km single way multiplied by 10 (5 days X 2 ways) gives 71 km=44,3 miles. When nice weather I wish for a longer commute, in bad weather the opposite.

Anders K
Sweden

It doesn't seem like a big deal now, although it did when I started 3 years ago.

With a 13-mile round trip, riding 4 days is 104 miles, 5 days is 130. Basically, as I work a regular 5-day week, I just consider that the bike is how I normally travel. If I have to make an exception, it's just that; an exception.

The weather patterns here in Philadelphia have changed and really don't prohibit year-round cycling. It rarely snows any more, so you just have to be equipped to ride in cold temperatures. I personally will give myself a pass if it's raining in the morning and the temperatures are under about 45F, but you'd be surprised how rare that is.

So doing 5 day weeks is easy enough in Spring/Summer/Fall; and this year, with the drought, winter didn't really get in the way. The only significant time I've lost from commuting has been due to injury, vacations, or the occasional business trip. (I spent much of last week in Vegas at a conference, for example, but since I was off the bike due to a rib injury anyway it worked out.)

As to your other questions: I'm 50; I'm the AV manager of a major urban museum; I ride a touring bike (Novara Randonee)and a light-touring bike (Airborne Carpe Diem) depending on the weather and the load; and once I started commuting in '99 it took no time at all to realize that I could do it every day.

Like a lot of older people I started out doing this for my health, after years of neglect and the onset of a suite of illnesses related to bad habits. But I grew up on two wheels, and never even got a driver's license until I was 25 and moved to the suburbs, so returning to cycling was a natural response to the need to recover my fitness.

My bike commute consumes little more time than driving/parking/walking, and takes about as long as the train. It's the ultimate multitasking, turning the most wasteful and frustrating part of the day into the most productive and beneficial. There's no downside.

RichC

My commute is about 14 miles, 28 round-trip, a bit hilly.

Seems to me this is due to the road design catering to automobile commuting. I would have chosen an 8 - 10 mile distance with roads designed a little more like railroad tracks: less hilly.

I guess adversity builds character, though! (I still only commute by bike about 3 days out of every week. I hope to build up to 5 days, for the same reasons people climb Mt. Everest: "...because it's there.")

I average 70 - 90 miles per week. (Not bad for a 42 year-old...that's over 6 hours of moderate-to-heavy exercise per week, over six times the minimum recommendation of 20 min. three times per week.)

I asked you all to provide details but forgot to provide my own !!

I'm 41. I've been bike-commuting for over five years now. My first year was actually during an El Nino cycle. But I stuck it out through the ferocious rains and stuck with it year round. The next year (La Nina) cemented my resolve.

I then moved farther away from work, increasing from a 7 mile one-way trip to about 20 miles. I wasn't ready to take that leap at first so I piggybacked on the "bus" -- my wife driving my kids to school. There I unpacked the bike and headed the 12 or so miles to work.

Going home I would ride to downtown San Jose and then take the light rail home.

Eventually I built up to doing the whole 20-mile trip from home to work and back. Sometimes I'll meet the wife and kids somewhere else. It all depends.

I also do between 70-90 miles per week.

Hi all.

This is an interesting little thread. Since most of you seem to be stateside I thought I would internationalise it a bit. My commute is a 32k round trip through central Tokyo. It is not as bad as it sounds. It takes 45 mins which is the same as the train and actually quite flat. Apart from being a very interesting little trip past lots of tiny shops etc. it also provides an excellent workout. I go even in the winter and find if I arrive at my office with 1/2 hour to cool off I don't even need a shower. Tokyo of course has hellish traffic but also a LOT of people using heavy shopping bycycles. These things I would say are the major hazard, appearing from nowhere in the maze of tiny streets one uses to stay off the main roads and generally giving one palpitations when one is cruising along at 30kph. Buses and taxis are the second most deadly predators. Apart from that though it is a brilliant ride and I would not give it up. I use a hybrid Merida citybike and have changed the tyres to panaracer thinnies and put on toeclips. I have lots of flashing lights to aid my survival stats, a helmet and a cateye bike computer which is invaluable.
Anyone else cycling in Tokyo or Asia?

My commute is 26 miles one way. Only do it once a week. Reason= can only commute midnight shift, which starts at 6:00 pm and last for 12 1/2 hours... So I do that 4 times a month...

I'm down in the 50 - 100 milers.

A round trip commute for me is about 28 miles, but I generally only cycle one way, and some days I only cycle either end of a rail commute. I could do better, but hey I'm still in my first year of cycling

Richard

My commute is 50km (31 miles) round trip and I try to make the trip 3 to 4 time/week.

The route goes from the Yokohama suburbs into central Tokyo. About 30% is flat and the rest is very hilly. There's a 2 wheel traffic lane (that none of the divers respect) for part of the distance.

Bike is a 20 year old Nishiki Professional frame that I got in new condition a few years ago and built up with Suntour Superbe Pro parts just after Suntour went out of business. Look 286 pedals, Flite saddle. Not a bad road bike at all but it makes coming back to my Cinelli on the weekends feel great.

Hi Everyone, My daily commute to work is 19.5 miles each way, 39 miles round trip, I ride every day unless it's under 20 degrees F or raining in the morning when I leave. I live in new england so the winters are tough, I have to carry a lot of clothing with me so I carry panniers most of the year. I also ride on week ends for enjoyment, I like to do a century on Saturday and an easy 40 or 50 mile spin on Sunday, I don't ride weekends in the winter.

This is a good thread it's nice to see how many use the bicycle as a utility vehicle.

my current commute (for the last 13 months since i've moved from the US to Munich) is 10km each way which i do an average of 4.9 times per week, so i have an average weekly of 10 x 2 x 4.9 = 98km = 61 miles

i also ride about 50-100 miles recreationally per week (mostly off-road), plus about 10-20 miles per week local trips like shopping or whatever (i don't have a car), so my total weekly miles is about 120-180 or about 6,000 to 10,000 miles per year which is simliar to my mileage the last 4 years or so.

That, my friend is a LOT of miles. I salute you!

My commute is 15.5 miles of hills each way. I usually drive in, ride home then the next day I ride in, drive home except Friday's where I commute via bike both ways. That puts me at just under 100 MPW of commuting. I do quite a bit of other training too. That's why I don't usually ride to and from work on the same day.

PH

I am located in Phoenix and have a one-way trip to work just over 15 miles. Summer now here it is hitting over 80 in the morning. Afterwork it is hitting 110. Just have to make sure you take enough water.

At the other end of the scale. Mine is under 20. I park my car 2.5 miles from work and ride the rest about 3 times per week. It's low, but you've got to start somewhere.

Two possible plans for the future are to bike 8 miles from home to the bus, or maybe bike the full 15 miles. Just taking it one step at a time.

Can't wait for my bike to be out of the shop.
Kevin S.

Stick with it, you'll make the 15 miles soon enough. My ATL commute is also 15ish miles. It's not so bad once I got used to it.

I was in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago at a conference. Still recovering from cracked ribs, so I didn't ride there. But I did discover that the cliche is totally true: it really isn't the heat; it really is the humidity.

Here in Philadelphia it's in the low 90's with humidity ranging from 50-70%. This is far, far, far more uncomfortable than the 105 degrees with 10% humidity I rather enjoyed in Vegas.

The amazing part was walking into an air-conditioned building and feeling the humidity actually go up!

RichC