I'm just curious. I'm 46 and, fortunately, can still go a good distance every day at a good pace. I hooked up with a guy this morning that looked to be quite a bit older than me in full biking gear on an older Klein road bike. The two of us were moving out pretty good. I got to thinking about it as I was going along. I often wonder how long a person can expect to keep going? I know there are a lot of factors to consider here. I'm an IT guy and I have some friends out west in Silicon Valley who do a commute every day that amounts to about 40+ miles one way. I've always wanted to someday (hopefully soon) move back out there (SF) and do this commute myself. Most of the people doing it are quite a bit younger than me. Pipe dream? I dunno... I'd be interested in knowing the age range of some of you and how far you go? Particularly interested in some of the big distance people...

I am a young pup 31. commute is 40rt. 40+ one way seems huge! Good on them for that but I think at 80 a day I would have to only ride a couple times a week.

I'm 55 and do a 20 mile RT commute daily. I've done a 32 mile RT commute in the past, and I think that 40 miles each way would be just south of insane unless bicycling is your life.

Check this out. sf2g.com. I have friends who do this.

I'm 53 and ride almost 50 miles a day (and ride 5 days a week). I routinely pass a couple of guys that I know are commuting the same range I am as my start time varies and I'll pass them either at the beginning or end of my ride. They're either a lot older than me or they're kids and all that riding makes them look near retirement age

And 40 miles 1 way is nuts. That's like 2 hours at a solid clip each way.

I'm 32 and do an ~2 mile RT "commute" every day. It's almost not even worth getting on the bike for, but it gets me there more quickly.

I've seen a breakdown in a couple of different areas on ages of cycling commuters and was quite surprised that the numbers in each age group was balanced. Generally, there's an equal representation from each age group with the 55-65 age group slightly lower (perhaps because of those taking an early retirement)

I'm 55 and do a 20 mile RT/day for the work week. And with 4 kids still at home (the youngest 5) retirement is the furthest thing from my mind...I can only dream of a time not working and ride the bike to try to stay in shape to live long enough to see it

I'm 26 but I thought I could add a couple of data points.

My father ran for many years and only stopped when he got arthritis in his knees at ~ 60. He was never a cycle commuter but he was certainly in good enough shape to be one.

My Aunt is 66 and still takes solo backpacking trips with 11 miles segments in them. She isn't a cycle commuter either, but not for lack of physical fitness (she is retired).

I just turned 30 recently and I do about 16 miles a day fixed. I try to run a few times a week as well.

I'm 38 and (while not fat), pretty out of shape. My 75 year old father, who is always biking everywhere gives me a run for my money. ;-)

I'm 55 and bike commute about 22 miles round trip 3-4 times a week. My office is moving to a new location in about a year or so, and my RT commute will increase to about 30 miles. I'm looking forward to the extra miles.

BTW, I ride with guys in their 60s who could outride most 30 to 40 year olds.

I'm 45 and have thinking about this sort of stuff lately too, but not in regards to cycling. I know a guy in his 70's with really bad arthritis who commutes. A few years ago he rode from the midwest to the East coast with his daughter. He's had both a knee and a hip replaced.

I have a neighbor in his 60's who also commutes and regularly does long distance rides including some 50 mile races. In the triathlons I participate in there are always guys in their 50's in the top 10% of finishers. I guy around 50 won one of the smaller races I was in a few years ago.

In my case I was concerned about soccer, which I recently started playing again after about a 3 year break. I play with guys in their 20's and 30's and was worried about embarrassing myself.

What I have found is that fitness is not something you lose by aging. You lose it by sitting on your butt. I'm not kidding myself. I'm not as fast or quick as I was 20 years ago but I'm not as slow as I would be if I were carrying 20 extra pounds like some of those kids I play against are.

I'm 54, and do a 20-mile round trip daily, if the weather allows.

That means on Friday I'm a bit tired, but that's all.

I wish it were a 30-mile out-and-back. That'd be about perfect.

39 years old. My commute is 2.7 miles one way through mostly low traffic residential streets and bike paths on a college campus. Life is good.

I also ride 60-100 miles per week on my road bike. I had been averaging 100 miles per week on my commuter with errands thrown in, but I've been racking up fewer utility miles since I bought my road bike.

48. I find most commuters around here (edit: in the burbs, city folk commuters are a lot younger) are over 35, with a peak in the mid 40's to 50's. Exactly the age group that suddenly discovers that if they don't do something about fitness now, it will be too late. I think that a desire for fitness and/or a love of cycling make a commuter. Otherwise, its too damn easy to hop in the car. In my 20's and 30's, I dabbled in cycling commuting but always found an excuse, and had other ways to keep fit. It wasn't until a demanding career collided with having a family that fitness deteriorated, and I had to find a way to work exercise into life. Cycle commuting is great for this, since it converts lost time (driving) into exercise time, and time is a hard thing to come by.

I'm 56 and have a daily round trip commute of 10 miles that I generally turn into 25 - 30 miles. I've been an off and on bike commuter since I was in high school, and have been doing this daily year round (rain/shine/snow) for the past two years. I put in a total of 7800 of commuting and weekend miles for 2008 and 7300 so far this year.

I am 63, ride 23 miles R/T about 200 commutes per year, and have for the last 4 years......usually do a 40-60 mile ride on weekends....
My usual speed is between 20-23 mph in no wind situations. My commute bike with "stuff" weighs in at 36 lbs. I know, I am carrying too much "stuff".

37 with a 20-30 mile round trip commute on my fixed gear. Also do mixed alpine climbing and mountaineering.

I am 38 with different commutes depending on jobs. My commutes tend to be no longer than 26 miles round trip. Although I have chronic fatigue syndrome I am fairly active (running and swimming) and will get out to ride whenever my body allows.

I'm 42 and have a 44 mi RT commute. I only do it 3 days a week because I have two worksites, and the second one is 64 miles from home. I'm in decent shape, but I encounter plenty of guys who are both older and stronger than me.

I don't encounter many cyclists on the roads, but when I do, they inevitably tend to be in the 40+ range, so I think what you're thinking of is doable. I'm not sure I'd want to do 40mi each way every day. I love cycling, but that would just take too long. Given a 40 mile one way commute, I'd probably ride 2 or 3 times a week if roads were decent. It would take discipline in the winter time. Regularly slogging that far in storms would be character building.

46 here do 20 miles a day

Comfortably middle-age chick. 30 mi RT 2-3 times a week in Fla heat. My riding companion is just as comfortably middle-aged and hers is 44 mi RT - she picks me up 7 mi into her route. The noble steeds are mid-80s high-end steel roadie and last year aluminum cyclocross.

Ride Safe

SF

If 39 and in the best shape I've ever been in, literally, including when I was a teenager. I've been riding for two years having started out in the worst physical condition of my life.

I notice that whenever I go out for century rides most of the riders are older than me, some significantly older, so I have confidence that I'll be able to keep riding for quite a while as long as I watch my nutrition.

57 and going strong. 22 mile RT commute daily. should do a poll on this one. (probably already done?)