You could still do this without needing to do it, knowing you've done it once without needing to could make it easier to do it later when you had to.

I'm impressed by this plan, which I would not attempt:

• Would need to speed up the 20+ miles with an e-bike (have the legs, not the time)
• I need showers for anything beyond 7 miles, e-bike would extend that.

Don't forget to plan for a vastly increased appetite. At least, I would need to. The extra food I need for cycling is astonishing. It can get expensive.

yeah, good point! one of my challenges when I stopped regular bike commuting 8 yrs ago (& other massive cross training) was reigning in my extensive nutrition efforts

well, emergency diverted. Wifey & adult kids have developed a transportation plan for the week that doesn't require my car. worked on a cpl bikes Saturday tho. guess I'll just be joy riding after work tonight

but back to the thread essence ... cycling is the easy part, IF you don't have a 2nd physical job that kicks your a*s causing extensive physical soreness head to foot. knowing I did not have to ride today, I imagined riding anyway. either round trip or a "split" driving in yesterday & riding home Sunday evening, then riding in this morning. (which I did a lot about 4 yrs ago) didn't happen because I have a 2nd physical job that kicks my a*s causing extensive physical soreness head to foot. sometimes I feel like I helped build an 1860 railroad ... I love lumber & building materials & the physical work & I helping ppl brain storm solutions. but after getting home, washing up & laying on the carpet, that's it, I'm done. no way I'm packing up my gear driving 25 miles to ride them back home. I could do it if I had to, but I didn't have to ...

thought about your reply all weekend. Ive done the commute one way a bunch of times, also round trip just not on a work day. maybe when the summer hits hard & the office is empty & I can walk around in shorts & sandals, I'll do the week-day round tripper

Ha! I was thinking of you this morning as I was riding in on my new longer 7 mile trip, and how the weather looks good enough to attempt commuting 4 days this week. And how many days of that it would take for 1 day of your commute!
Somebody here described my Hardrock as a tugboat, and that's a pretty good description of me on it. I think a longer commute like that would cause some changes in either the drivetrain or I'd get a second bike.

ooh, maybe a preowned road bike is your future!

Long commutes often don't cost as much time as people think. I had a 40+ mile RT commute for a decade. Even though the bulk of it was along highway, the drive probably only saved 15 min each way actual door to door time because of parking logistics and other advantages the bike offered. There is the cleanup aspect -- I got so I could freshen up in the restroom in a couple minutes and there are a few other things to sort out. But you also don't waste time working out. When you ride that consistently, you'll find the speed comes if you don't already have it.

Got the legs, got the time, but I’d prefer to spend the time typing about how much I’m not riding on the internet.

I agree.

For me walking / riding isn't that different when I stop at lights, watch for traffic, etc...

Getting the bike out of the shed and locking it, etc... also takes time.

I'm within an exclusion zone (I can't park at work as I live too close.) I believe they just increased the exclusion zone to 5 miles one-way or essentially the entire island.

ditto.

back when i was a bachelor, i did 30 miles roundtrip on the bike 5 days a week without even thinking about it.

i had ungodly amounts of free-time because outside of work hours i was responsible for no one else on this planet.

but now that i'm married with children, 2+ hours per day in the saddle is no longer a tenable game plan for me.

as it is, my 16 miles roundtrip on the bike every work day are already pushing the upper limits of saddle time.

We're out of room in the garage, my GF rides about twice a year but has 2 bikes. And since it's her garage.....