being creative with a short commute
 

so my new commute is between 3 & 4 miles and takes less than 15 minutes. since its the morning and cuz of the heat I still need a shower when I get here. I'm trying to find ways to use the short distance such as treating the 12-15 minute as a sprint / time trial by hitting it hard and taking all the modest hills out of the saddle. also it occurred to me that I can bike home for lunch but I'll need a 2nd shower when I get back - and doing that mid-day will take some getting used to. I picked up a nite job to pay for the new bachelor pad and it's just a couple miles away, closer than the apt. I'm not convinced I want to bike there but if I keep my car at work overnite I can drive to and from job# 2 and use the bike to commute to job# 1. if I bike home for lunch I'll get back up to where I used to be 26 rnd trp

anyway that's my ramble - anyone else do creative things to maximize short commutes?

of course the other thing I can do is just go for a big ride in the morning then shower and drive to work! duh

I'm fortunate that I have all sorts of ways I can get to work and back.

My commute is 4.65 flat miles by the most direct and safe route. All city streets, it's loaded with stoplights and stop signs, so it's great for sprints, and the lights make natural intervals.

My preferred route is 9.85 miles. I call it the hills, parks, trails and cemetery route. Rolling hills through three parks, a cemetery, the University of Rochester campus, and a couple of cool-down flat miles on the MUP.

My second-favorite route is the 16.5 mile long loop, which begins by riding six miles in the wrong direction. Then there's almost ten miles of non-stop flat MUP to stretch out and crank. Going to work, the long MUP section is dead into the wind which makes for great down-in-the-drops headwinds training.

Each of those three routes has several variations.

Just lengthen your Job # 1 commute to whatever length you want. As tsl noted, there is no requirement to take the shortest route. Find a route or routes that total 23 miles to get to work then ride straight home after work and you'll get 26 miles a day and won't need a mid-day shower.

I'm in the same predicament as you are and I hate it. I have a 3.25 mile commute and I wish I had a longer one so I could get some decent rides in.

My goal is to get to work in under 10 minutes on my Trek 7.3 FX with knobby all-terrain tires and lite traffic. I've accomplish this once.

I also have short commute (about 4 miles). Like others have said, you could just take an unnecessarily long route on your way in. It's hard for me to do that though. I tend to leave at the last minute no matter how much I try.

I would find ways to lengthen your commute rather than hammering it. The quickest way to get injured, for me, is to ride hard without warming up sufficiently. Hammering it on a 3-5 mile route sounds like a sure way to injury.

My commute, using the most efficient route, is only 4 miles. In the morning I take a route that is 5 miles and take it pretty easy - it's the ride home where I do my hammering and wander anywhere from 2-50 extra miles from my morning route. ;)

What has worked for me is that I have a leaving time set for each route.

12:15 for the long loop
12:45 for the hills, parks, trails and cemetery route, and
13:15 for the direct route.

I pick a route, then schedule myself according to that route's leaving time.

And don't forget, you can take the long route home too. There's no problem with leaving time then.

My commute is short, but I take it easy going in, just about walking pace. That way I don't need a shower and can even wear office clothes on the way if it's not too warm a morning.
I wait until I'm on the way home to chase people down or add extra miles on in the form of a 5k loop course near home. For this I keep cycling clothes in my pannier and change into them after work.

My commute wins at 1.5 miles! The sad thing is I bought my bike over a year ago because driving is silly when I live so close and the goal was to become a commuter. BUT, being a teacher I leave early, carry papers, computer, etc with me, and therefore always make excuses for driving. Pathetic, insert BOOS now. Oh, my other favorite excuse? I can't carry my bike downstairs if the panniers are filled which means I carry bike down, go up, gather what goes in panniers, and go down again. LAME :)

I'm making a purchase of more functional panniers next month because I get so little exercise as it is that even that short commute is better than nothing. Heading to work is almost all slightly downhill. Coming home, although only 11 or 12 minutes always has my heart racing. Out of shape and asthmatic means the slightest inclines anger me :)

OP: Well, if your goal is to increase mileage start using the bike for things you ordinarily use the car for. So you can lengthen the commute by doing errands you would ordinarily do by car with the bicycle instead. For some things you may need to get a utility bike or a trailer to accomplish this. Look at the utility biking forum and you can see how easy this is. Your commute is so short ridding a Surly Big Dummy to work instead of your road bike will be no big deal. How many miles do you put on the car a year in addition to the commute you are now biking? A little thought and many of those miles could be converted to bicycling miles. If you want some encouragement in this area look at the living car free forum.

My current commute is a measly 2 km but I have to carry a pile of stuff in my panniers so the the extra weight is a bit of an extra workout. On days that don't need me dragging lots of gear, I continue south on the way home and ride circles in the cemetery. Or pick up groceries or some other errand.

Me too, in the morning I take the shortest, most efficient route, unless I get up really early and it's not too hot. Although my route is 8 miles so it's a decent ride in the morning anyway. On the way back I often improvise and detour. However, if your route is only 4 miles and you really want to ride longer, there's got to be a longer way around :D Finding it would be part of the fun! I like looking at Google Maps and searching for other routes. I like to go check out new bicycle lanes, etc. I find it easy to add extra miles to my afternoon commute.

Also, running errands is usually not possible in the morning since most places are closed, so that's also something for the afternoon ride too. And yes, both my wife and I started using bikes for grocery runs instead of driving. We often ride together to split the load since she's not a very strong rider (yet, I hope). We still drive to BJs (a "shopping club" like Costco), although I hope to get a Big Dummy some time later this year or next year and try that too :) Our car has 47k miles after 6 years :) I haven't driven to the Post Office in couple of years!

lost my clutch last night and needed a tow. got home ok though. biked to work in some drizzle but it was quick. I may be biking for a few days while they fix the car so at least I'll get my miles in ...

I vary most in the morning. Basically, my route (to start with) follows the Metro train line, so I can make it a 1/2 mile leg up to a 4.5 mile leg. The rest is train/bus and a short 1 mile leg to the office, which again I can make a little longer if time permits and I want to hit the grocery store.

Evenings I usually take a shortish route to save some time and get home to my dogs. Oh, and my significant other :)