I can generally do that or pretty close to it on the way in to work during spring and summer. That is with a fresh set of legs, little traffic, and really going at it. On the way home I rarely can get around 20+ mph due to fatigue and traffic. Especially with commuting, where things are different every day, I think its hard for most to get a consistent workout every day they ride.

My take away from commuting is at the end of the day, I should be having fun doing it.

lol! So far this thread seems to comprise of 2 types of responses -
1. Of course it's possible!...but I don't do it.
2. I actually commute, and I never or almost never can do 20mph average, even though I'm in great shape, bike regularly, and really push it some days.

At least for replies that are talking about "average" speed is "the entire average speed from the time you leave to the time you arrive at work, including time spent sitting stopped at the stoplights, slowing down for obstacles, etc etc".

Well Paul... I didn't want to brag, but...
All I have to do is mount my GPS next to my wireless bike comp. The electronics go crazy and I can easily post speeds of 70 mph or more..

Seriously.. I'm in the #1 camp in your above post. I'm sure it can be done; just not by me. Besides, I'm not in a big hurry to get to work soaking wet anyway.

Yup. The OP said 10 mile commute in 30 minutes, so waiting time is factored in.

Any time my 8.5mi commute takes 25min or less it is a 20mph+ commute. Of that 25min total commute time the average total wait time at stops is ~2min, typically a full stop every 3/4mi or so, plus turns and slowing for other stuff.

I've done it, but this during a training ride (2x20' intervals) that happened to be on the way home from work. And a bunch of things have to go right. You have to have the right route, you have to hit the lights, you have to have a calm or tailwind day, and you have to have pretty good legs.

Don't we all?

I have recently changed jobs, homes and states, and am not bike commuting currently, though that will change once I get my bikes moved to where I am. Referring to my last setup, I had a very favorable route, i.e. with few impediments other than hills to slow me down.
If we are talking about pedalling time and not including before and after activities concerned with riding gear and luggage, here are my data.

• 1-way distance ~13mi.
• expected/typical morning elapsed time <45min
• expected/typical elapsed time afternoon <40min
• payload ~20lb. consisting of laptop+accessories, work clothes, bike repair supplies, and snacks/lunch
• number of days/week, up to 5. I generally didn't bike in weather that would make biking unpleasant; also, on numerous occasions, my destination was much closer than 13 miles due to off-site meetings and other work activities, so, while I biked, the distance was less than 13 miles, and I wasn't keeping track of the distance or elapsed time.

Unless you are fortunate enough to have a route that makes sense to time trial on, I think you'd be better off finding a good time trial route somewhere and testing yourself there once a week when you're not commuting. Trying to do your commute as fast as possible can lead to poor decision making in heavy traffic. If you are dealing with stoplights and traffic, it's also not a very good test of fitness, as there are too many other things that influence your time.

How did we get from the OP wanting to get his commute time down, to he must be trying to do an all out dangerous time trial?

My average has been up to 23mph....





Over 1.5miles

Avg. speed 20.2 mph, right here.

Why would you want to do your commute in 20mph? You will end up sweaty, and that is absolutely not my goal while commuting. My goal while commuting is getting to work using my favourite kind of transportation in a really enjoyable way!

Everyone's commuting goal is different. For me, a big part of riding into work is the idea that it counts as 30 minutes in the gym. It helps that I have a locker room at work where I can shower and change.

Talking of the gym, isn't there a thing that sensible people do before trying to ride fast called a warm-up? Try to ride fast as possible without doing one and you risk ending up with a injury - maybe not on Day 1, but it isn't just Day 1 that counts.

Reaching a 20mph average on a 10 mile (?) ride gets even harder if you allow for 5 minutes at 15mph to warm up, but you should. Riding at 20mph will take twice the energy of riding at 15mph; it's a bigger physiological difference than it sounds. A commuting 20mph, which might be made up of repeated sprints up to 25mph, needs a warm up even more. I'd really advise the OP not to push harder than he is already doing for those first 5 minutes.

And why do you want to rush your commute?

215' elevation gain. I wish! Even my "flat" old commute had 150' more than that. I'd have to hit the velodrome and stick the blue line to keep a 10 miler under 300' around here.

My round trip commute has over 3000 ft of elevation gain. No wonder I'm so slow.

Please try not to make generalizations based on your own physiology. What are you basing the OP physical limitation on? When I warm up, I am usually pushing into the mid to upper 20's. 17-20 IS my warm up. Plus when it's 6am and 30F, I push the pace as I can to get warmed up. noodling along at a slow pace just doesn't cut it (for me). Mostly I keep it in the small ring and just spin out at 95-100rpm till I warm up. Even so, it's easy on the flats to keep it around 20mph while "warming up".

Oh and I said it is possible--meaning possible for those who are in the right kind of shape.

One can travel fast without being in a rush/hurry.

Why go fast?
Saves time.
Will get hot and sweaty anyway going slower.
Have showers at work.
Get a different type of workout.
Because it will make going fast easier in the long run.
Enjoyable.
etc.

So I can get 4 hard hours a week + 2 easy ones during my commute and be in-transit six hours instead of loosing eight hours to commuting and needing to fit those four hard hours in at other times.

I averaged 19.62 once, but that is with a computer that stops the clock when you are not moving. You still get slowed down from decelerating/accelerating around lights and stopsigns, but time spend not moving doesn't count against you. Normally, I get 15-16mph averages. Thats with only about 400ft of climbing total over 10mi. If you could average 20mph on total time, I think that would be a pretty impressive feat if you have any stop signs or red lights on your commute.

Just go for a 30kph average. Sounds more impressive and won't be as hard.

I can beat that. 59 feet in 43 miles.

I have gotten my 4 mile commute in at 10 minutes before. That means busting ass and drafting every SUV and truck on the way. It's generally downhill (on the way to work). At least half of it is on one street with timed 40 kmph lights which is a big help. There is one intersection that might stop me, and two intersections that are more like T junctions where I can usually squeeze by.