10 minutes is the difference between heaven and hell.

When I started my longer, 17 mile commute, I pretty quickly settled in at an average ride time of about an hour and ten minutes. To achieve that, I was busy.... pushing up the hills, maximizing the speed on the other side, pushing on the flats. Not fast as such, but never totally letting up, either.

Last week I got caught in the rain. It was warm, so I figured I would just enjoy it. And I did... enjoy the relaxed pace. So I'm using that kind of pace now and guess what? I don't feel whooped when I get to the other end of the commute. Kicking back and relaxing costs me about 10 minutes, so now it takes me 1:20 to do the trip. I can live with that. The heck with trying to beat the one hour mark.

At least for now.

I found it much more enjoyable and a stress release when I actually DON'T push it. I'm not so tense with my time limitation that it causes me to get stressed!

I always believed in slowing down and smell the roses along the way".

The best is when you relax on the ride and when you get to your destination you realize that you have actually gone faster than when you are hammering it. Its weird but its happened to me at least twice.

But then again it could've been the tailwind.

F*@k That !

I hammer all the way !

Unless I don't feel like it. Then I go slower.

In the summer, I have to slow down to avoid having to wring the sweat out of my shirt. I like it for a while, but once it's 50 degrees again and I can mash my 3-mile commute, I'll enjoy that as well.

There's something to be said for the slow-paced commute, definitely (like not having to wipe yourself down on the otherside.)
Unfortunately every once in awhile you get up late and get going at a snail's pace. Those are the fun days. The "oh man am I going to make it on time, I better go way too fast today" days.

I love both ways, depending on my mood, and the length of the ride. As a consultant, I'm at a different place most days. The last 3 days, I've been at a place in Central London that gives me only 1.5 miles ride to the station, and I've been on my fast single speed roadie. I have absolutely sprinted the whole way, taken every other rider on the road as a challenge (and passed pretty much every one), and arrived at the station feeling sweaty and exhilarated! I have clients who are 10 miles from the station though, and I often take that at a more relaxed pace (there are far fewer other commuters, which is a thing that makes me ride faster, for a start!). I set my PB for that ride with a badly dragging fender, because my train was late, and I hammered all the way just to get in on time. I got in looking and smelling like a weasel who's been chased by a pack of dogs, and had only 5 mins to make myself presentable, but I felt good! (and shaky!)

I don't ever much worry about how fast I'm going or how long it takes. I just go at a comfortable speed. I'm doing this because I enjoy it; why try to beat the clock and make it painful again?

Going slower to keep from sweating saves me time in the long run because it doesn't take so long to cool off, and it's easier to get ready for work when I get there.

Going slower doesn't keep me from sweating. I sweat even when taking it easy and it's below freezing out. It's just what my body does when I have any exertion at all. If I try to take it easy, I sweat anyway and wind up getting cold. So I ride a little harder to stay warm.

Sounds like you're getting a little older and a bit wiser.

Life's to enjoy.

I ride 15 miles each way and the time difference between my morning and afternoon run is around 10 mins too... sometimes longer.
Once I get on the bike path I like to take off my helmet in the morning and get the breeze so I take it slow. But on my return trip
I keep my helmet on with a average +5mph on my way home.

Occasionally I would run into someone on my way to work and follow their pace but thats if I'm in the mood.

That's a mighty slippery slope yer on matey!

Keep it up and you'll arrive at work just in time to be leavin.

when i hammer it in the morning to make sure i don't miss my bus it takes 40 minutes or less. lately the same ride home in the evening is taking between 60 and 90 minutes, and i couldn't care less

throw your watch away!

Thanks! I'll have to try that...

My commute is broken up by a train ride; so my early morning NJ ride to catch the train should be lovely, but I worry about missing my train, so I can't relax then. And the Manhattan part of my ride is down a busy section of 5th Ave, or up a busy section of 8th Ave; no relaxing there either. I do try to relax in the afternoon stretch in NJ, from the station home. But even then... I have to force myself to kick back a bit. Surprisingly hard to do.

Some days I hammer, some days I loaf. On my 8 mile (each way) commute, the difference between them is 2-3 minutes.

Then again, I like to ride FAST, so most days I end up hammering anyway, just for the sheer enjoyment of it!

I can't imagine commuting at anything but full-on effort. I love the feeling of arriving at work completely wasted and then having a shower and a cup of tea restore me.

Probably because it's a short ride (8-11 miles each way). On my long weekend rides I take it easier, although I still feel just as knackered at the end.

I am sort of curious about doing a slow commute.

Edited to say that although as I say I can't imagine it, I still am kind of curious about it...

The faster I ride, the more "near misses" I have. I still ride fast down long lonely stretches of road, but I slow it way down once I get to the city.

My ride into work is just about 10 miles and though it's almost impossible for me to do it (traffic lights etc.) I sometimes aim for the golden 1/2 hour commute. I usually give myself 45 minutes to do the ride but sometimes considerably less and then I have to hammer. I wish I could say I loved doing that every time but I don't.

Sometimes I'll give myself an hour to do the ride and that's when it really is enjoyable. I've stopped and sat along the river, maybe take a picture, watch the geese- it's restful. And if I want to go fast I get to work all that much earlier, which I'll need since I find I need the time to recover a bit from the fast rides.