My minimum round-trip is 8.5 miles, but my commute ranges up to 30ish in the summer. :)

I rarely commute but when I do its about 23 miles round trip.

Before I retired, I would ride 4.5km to work. At work I knew a fellow who would ride 10 km. I also knew a guy who cycled 20 kms before he got struck and ended up with a dislocated shoulder. When he saw me riding in, it encouraged him to take it up again but was trying to find a safe way to ride across the city.

Average Miles Per Commute?

I have previously described my bike-only commute:

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 17496135)

Reverse commute from downtown on four different routes of a minimal one-way distance of 14 miles, each defined by a different hill; can expand to about 30 miles to train. The commuting mileu in order of hill difficulty: gritty (but safe) urban, pleasant suburban, pleasant urban, ritzy suburban.

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I can easily incorporate the Commuter Rail since as an off-peak commuter I can take my bike on the train. The station near my home is about 1.5 miles away, and the station near work is about 0.1 mile away; those distances would be the minimum. A shortcut for the usual distance is to take a different line from the home station to a station about six miles from work. Very often I take the train home in the evening.

During the nice weather, especially when I’m planning for a long, organized ride, I can extend my commute through particularly popular cycling suburbs according to a Century Training Schedule printed years ago in Bicycling magazine. There are two variations called "Easy Century" and "With Strength to Spare" and I try for the latter. It’s very motivating, and not impossible to comply. FYI:

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 7974883)

... My modification of the plan is to make Sunday my rest day, and Saturday is my century day.This won't print on the Forum as a nice table, but I think you can figure it out:

WITH STRENGTH TO SPARE:
Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun. Weekly
Easy Pace* Brisk* Pace Pace Pace Mileage
10 12 14 Off 12 40 15 103
10 13 15 Off 13 44 17 112
10 15 15 Off 15 48 18 123
11 16 19 Off 16 53 20 135
12 18 20 Off 18 59 22 149
13 19 23 Off 19 64 24 162
14 20 25 Off 20 71 27 177
16 20 27 Off 20 75 27 177
17 20 30 Off 20 75 32 194
19 20 30 Off 10 5 Easy Century 184

1,516

[On a recent Commuting Forum thread, Commuting Safely Impacting Recreational Fun?]

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Originally Posted by CliffordK (Post 20183667)

Most of my riding is commuting, so I don't really differentiate "fun rides" from "commutes"

However, I don't see the dichotomy…

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 20185197)

Likewise for me, commuting is recreational, and I even do long rides to work on a weekend [for few hours, at my convenience] so the reverse is true…

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:rolleyes:

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When I started last fall, I was doing about 25 miles R/T. After tweaking my route for more pleasant roads, it's now 30 miles.

27 miles round trip plus some lunch break miles in between

last job 1st location - 34 miles round-trip (typically rode 3 days a week but I did at least one full week, all during good weather only) wash-up was in a not so private bathroom (sink only) in the basement

last job 2nd location - 26 miles round-trip (this felt perfect to me. rode this approx 3 days a week thru an entire year thru rain, wind, sleet & snow) wash-up was in private bathroom w shower

current job - 44 miles round-trip (I only do the round-trip as a joy ride on a weekend. when I commute during a work week, it's during fair weather, summer mostly but a little into the fall I think too. I split it up so I only do one-way 22 miles per day: drive to office Sunday afternoon, ride bike home. then ride bike to work Monday morning & drive bike home. riding home on a Sunday is pretty safe, cuz there isn't much traffic, then riding in Monday morning super early is pretty much OK, cuz the traffic only picks up when I'm close to the office) wash-up is at my nearby gym. throw the bike on the car & drive 1 mile to the gym

Round trip is about 19 to 24 miles, depending on whether I take the most direct route home or a longer, more interesting route on the homeward leg.

12.5 miles each way. I'll sometimes add to one of the trips when weather and daylight permits.

Most people reporting in have long commutes. I don't think it's representative of most bike commuters.

questions like this are why the forum gives us the poll option - we can see the results without having to scroll through everything.

Even a poll isn't all that useful because it is self-selecting, i.e. the set of respondents is the the set of people who choose to respond. People in this forum are not typical bike commuters, and people in this thread are particularly proud of their distances.

I feel like this would make a great signature. May I use it? ;)

3 miles each way. With my last job/city/house, it was .6 mile each way.

'Course, when I buy a house, the first criterion is that it's close to work. Shorter commute leaves more leisure time.

I wish you would.

Thanks! :D

I'm about 11km each way. Works for me and is faster than transit.
I could go shorter, but that would mean using streets instead of a bike path for most of the way which would be more dangerous, more annoying and probably not any faster when you factor in lights, stop signs etc.

Exactly the same for me, except that I have no doubt at all that streets would be slower. The bike path has a few lights but only a few, and they are all for driveways, not streets. The path is next to the river, so no street crosses it. And my commute is also 11 km.

Do people stop for those lights during the day? I've only ever ridden that path at night (after 8 or 9pm), and they are pretty much ignored at that time.


For everyome else: my daily commute is about 5.5 miles, and the vast majority is the evening ride home. I take a ferry in the morning, to avoid being sweaty and whatnot. I tend to push pretty hard on the ride home though, to get the juices flowing.

People stop when there is motor traffic but they don't stop for foot traffic, which ticks me off. But there's nothing I can do. Setting an example doesn't influence anyone.

I have looked at various statistics to get an idea of the median bike commuting distance in the US, and from what I can gather it's about 2.5 miles and the overall elapsed time is (very roughly) around 15 minutes. Plus or minus a bit. It's been a few years so don't ask me for sources, just what I recall.

I think I've read similar numbers.

And there was a National Health Service (UK) study that found those who do short bike commutes like that and not much other physical activity end up being MUCH healthier in old age than people who don't commute by bike.

Mine is 2.5 miles each way and, indeed, it does take around 15 minutes including stop lights.

My commute is 6.2 miles each way, and it takes 23 to 25 minutes. Seems like there's a prevailing headwind along the river on my way, and there's a fairly steep uphill on my way home. There are good bike lanes nearly the whole way. Four stoplights, and five or six stop signs.

32km in 36km home, so 42.5 miles total.... I cycle a round route. Try to do it a couple of times a week, and usually cycle home one day and back in the next. The ride in also involves a ferry across Auckland harbour which is a nice way to start the day, and the ride home has about 500m of elevation gain... which is not as nice as a ferry, but I do enjoy my hills.

mine is around 24ks back and forth

My commute is 18.2 miles (~26km) round trip. It's roughly 1/4 busy suburban road with bike lane, 1/4 bike trail, and 2/4 city (with intermittent bike lanes). With lights it's roughly 38-40 minutes (I'm not particularly fast).

I have the option of an ~12 mile (~19km?) route that I use when it's super cold or rainy/snowy out. But the longer one is the safer/more enjoyable one.

25 miles round trip. 18 would be about ideal.

3 times a week I drive 8 miles to a halfway point then ride 8.5 miles to work. So 17 miles round trip. In the spring I'm planning on doing the full ride once a week so a 32 mile round trip.

6.4 one way.. 40 minutes. Stop lights and trains play a big part on the duration.