Average age of commuter?
#77
Warning: I suck.
I'm 36, out of shape and was living a fairly stagnant lifestyle for a long while. Besides local hikes and walks, I wasn't doing much. I joined the gym, went twice, still hate it as much as I did in my 20s. Bought a bike, cancelled the gym. I've only had my bike about 2 months now and don't ride daily. Though, I have been riding more and although I haven't tried a 20 mile ride, I know I can do meandering type rides for a while. Last week we did 11.5 with a small group.
My commute will be (I teach and school is still in summer) 1.5 miles only. Super easy, even an overweight out of shape girl can do it
. Luckily going to work is all on a slight downhill grade. Which means coming home, even though so close, almost kicks my butt! Yesterday I sampled the ride with two panniers filled and man it was actually hard getting home. We had a meeting so I loaded up to try it out: 2 panniers, U lock, cable, heavy laptop, power cord, binder, note pad, calendar, book, file folder, purse, water bottle, and my coffee mug on the bike. Needless to say, I couldn't lift the back of the bike with it loaded.
So...that long shpiel is simply to say, YOU'RE DOING GREAT SIR!
I'm 36, out of shape and was living a fairly stagnant lifestyle for a long while. Besides local hikes and walks, I wasn't doing much. I joined the gym, went twice, still hate it as much as I did in my 20s. Bought a bike, cancelled the gym. I've only had my bike about 2 months now and don't ride daily. Though, I have been riding more and although I haven't tried a 20 mile ride, I know I can do meandering type rides for a while. Last week we did 11.5 with a small group.
My commute will be (I teach and school is still in summer) 1.5 miles only. Super easy, even an overweight out of shape girl can do it
. Luckily going to work is all on a slight downhill grade. Which means coming home, even though so close, almost kicks my butt! Yesterday I sampled the ride with two panniers filled and man it was actually hard getting home. We had a meeting so I loaded up to try it out: 2 panniers, U lock, cable, heavy laptop, power cord, binder, note pad, calendar, book, file folder, purse, water bottle, and my coffee mug on the bike. Needless to say, I couldn't lift the back of the bike with it loaded. So...that long shpiel is simply to say, YOU'RE DOING GREAT SIR!
#78
Mirror slap survivor
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,297
Likes: 0
From: Sunny Florida
Bikes: Gunnar Sport, Surly Pacer, Access MTB, Ibex Corrida, one day a Simple City
I'm 39 and I do a 44 mile RT twice a week. I've done it every day but that gets OLD really quickly. I lift at the gym 3x/week now and then a long ride on Saturday. Sometimes in the summer I'll take a longer route home. But doing 80 miles a day is very impressive. I wouldn't want to do it.
#79
I'm 46 and my most direct commute would be 24 miles r/t (i do that in the cold weather). In nice weather I make it around 30 r/t. I know 2 other bike commuters from my church and they are younger and I think they have shorter commutes. I also ride some on the weekends and run 3 times a week. My goal is to bike commute everyday, only heavy morning rain, snow or icy roads keep me off the bike.
#80
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,599
Likes: 158
From: Santa Fe, NM
Bikes: Vassago Moosknuckle Ti 29+ XTR, 90's Merckx Corsa-01 9sp Record, PROJECT: 1954 Frejus SuperCorsa
43, recovering lost fitness after 4 years off.
23 mi RT is the most direct route, I am now riding every day (4-5 days per week, I have been taking some 3-day weekends lately), and intend to ride all winter.
Make this a poll!
40 each way would be a stretch for a daily commute, IMO - perhaps 2-3 days a week.
23 mi RT is the most direct route, I am now riding every day (4-5 days per week, I have been taking some 3-day weekends lately), and intend to ride all winter.
Make this a poll!
40 each way would be a stretch for a daily commute, IMO - perhaps 2-3 days a week.
#82
#83
S'toon trail rider!
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 450
Likes: 0
From: Saskatoon, SK
Bikes: 2011 Norco Mountaineer(XC/Trails), 2011 Jamis Commuter1(commuter)
im 23, i dont do no 25mile commute on the daily, but to work and back i can beat public transit, and sometimes (ok most of the time) i can beat different parts of traffic.
bout 25mins to work and from work so i get an hour of biking everyday usually, more on the weekends...havent done a huge trek yet but id willingly try
bout 25mins to work and from work so i get an hour of biking everyday usually, more on the weekends...havent done a huge trek yet but id willingly try
#84
Ridin for the sweat
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
From: College Point
Bikes: Giordano Libero
42 and my R/T to work is about 18.5 miles I do it mostly on Mondays, when i'm the early guy or I'll do it if I'm the late guy. The hardest part of my commute is the Brooklyn Bridge, more so coming from Manhattan to Bklyn. Just been doing the commute thing just for a few months.
#86
Senior Member


Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,446
Likes: 4,535
From: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0
50 yrs old this spring. 26 miles round trip. I only commute in the spring and summer and rarely make a full week. This year it was two weeks. With commuting and joy riding I've racked up almost 2,000 miles this season with 4 bikes and I just another. I actually wore one out and it's in the shop for a new chain; rear cog and loose crank service.
#87
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,663
Likes: 1
From: baltimore
Bikes: Pake Track; Bianchi XL EV2 El Reparto Corse, Kona Jake the Snake
I am 33 and having been a bike commuter since the mid 90's when I moved to the city and started college. Currently, I always bike to the part time job which is 12 miles RT. I bike to the full time job 2-3 time a week depending on how tired I am from the part time job the night before. The full time job commute is 21 miles RT.
#88
Palmer

Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 9,151
Likes: 2,261
From: Parts Unknown
Bikes: Mike Melton custom, Alex Moulton AM, Dahon Curl
The over whelming majority of bike commuters in my town, and in fact everywhere I've ever lived in the USA, are between 8 and 14 years old and from late August to early June make a daily commute from their homes to their neighborhood schools, sometimes in appalling weather.
tcs
tcs
#89
Señior Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 13,748
Likes: 10
From: Michigan
Bikes: Windsor Fens, Giant Seek 0 (2014, Alfine 8 + discs)
45 and 21 miles/day here. I've never really ridden for pleasure, other than maybe a mile at a time. Back in college I did a bit I guess. Back when I had time for recreation.
__________________
Work: the 8 hours that separates bike rides.
Work: the 8 hours that separates bike rides.
#92
F.A.I.C.G
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
From: Saint Paul, MN
Bikes: 1974ish John Deere black men's road bike, Aluminum MTB for Winter
44, 15 mile rt, cut back from 5 days a week to 3 since I've started climbing a ladder to scrape and paint the house. The bad knees can't take both the cycling and the ladder all week.
#94
Newbie
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
I'm 20 and only started commuting with bike recently.
Most direct route there is 4 miles one way, so 8 miles each day unless I wander off. Going to school is a similar distance (3.5-4 miles) and I can usually get there as fast as public transportation due to the idle waiting I skip out on. The weekends allow me to go explore the streets a bit more so I usually get in 15-30 miles whenever I go out then.
Most direct route there is 4 miles one way, so 8 miles each day unless I wander off. Going to school is a similar distance (3.5-4 miles) and I can usually get there as fast as public transportation due to the idle waiting I skip out on. The weekends allow me to go explore the streets a bit more so I usually get in 15-30 miles whenever I go out then.
#100
Senior Member

Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,299
Likes: 16
It's funny, but the older I get, the longer my commute gets. In grade school, I used to ride my bike 0.5 miles each way. In junior high, it was 1 mile. I used to walk to high school since it was so close, but in college I rode again about 2 miles to class. My first job had a 4 mile bike commute. My second job was 8 miles each way. Now I'm 40 and biking 14 miles each way. In two weeks, we'll be moving into a new house where my commute will be 21 miles each way. I'm not sure how long this trend will continue, but if my commute gets much longer, I'm going to have to start working fewer hours.





