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How long a commute would you do?

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Commuting Bicycle commuting is easier than you think, before you know it, you'll be hooked. Learn the tips, hints, equipment, safety requirements for safely riding your bike to work.
View Poll Results: given your current life circumstances, How long a commute would you do?
half an hour
6
4.72%
up to an hour, maybe a little more
75
59.06%
1-2 hours
30
23.62%
2-4 hours
8
6.30%
as long as it takes
8
6.30%
Voters: 127. You may not vote on this poll

How long a commute would you do?

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Old 04-11-11 | 06:51 AM
  #26  
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From: Philly
I average 45 minutes each way which is about right. Nice days I can lengthen it out on the way home, but when I have to get in early it's not too big of a drag--plus it's just as fast as the train + walk to work, and I think driving + finding a parking spot would probably take just about as long/longer, I passed a motorcycle near the house this morning and he didn't catch up to me until I was 3/4 of the way to work.....

I don't think I'd ever go much more than 15 miles each way (it's 11-12 depending on the route now), but that's largely because I don't want to live way out in the 'burbs and I'd rather sacrifice some housing space for proximity to job/entertainment/fun.
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Old 04-11-11 | 08:19 AM
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Ha! Carlotta, my biking cap is off to you! 11 miles in 45 minutes? yikes! my 6 mile commute takes me 40 minutes!
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Old 04-11-11 | 09:01 AM
  #28  
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When I just started out riding, I was doing a 13 mile (26 mile) commute to post. On my mountain bike that was taking about an hour, to an hour and 15. Nowadays - many, many years later: I'd say I could push out a 25 mile one way in an hour and a half. Depending on the ride home, I could still find an excuse to add another 15 and still keep it easily under 3 hours

SO I went with whatever it takes, but I think my maximum daily range I would consider is about 50 miles away.
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Old 04-11-11 | 09:10 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by rando
Ha! Carlotta, my biking cap is off to you! 11 miles in 45 minutes? yikes! my 6 mile commute takes me 40 minutes!
I like to go fast

Most of it is MUP, so as long as I leave the house early enough to avoid runners/trail congestion, it's smooth sailing, if I had to deal with traffic/lights/etc it'd take quite a bit longer.
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Old 04-11-11 | 09:42 AM
  #30  
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my current commute is around 45-50 minutes each way. and that's about as much time as i like to dedicate every day to commuting. i suppose an hour or a little bit more would be my max one-way commute time.
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Old 04-11-11 | 09:58 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by carlotta
I like to go fast

Most of it is MUP, so as long as I leave the house early enough to avoid runners/trail congestion, it's smooth sailing, if I had to deal with traffic/lights/etc it'd take quite a bit longer.
I go about the same. 11 miles to work in about 40-45min. School is about 14 miles away and it takes me about an hour. Girlfriend is 20 miles away and that's about 1hr 30min. I ride roads exclusively (only one MUP here really). I used to be a lot slower though. It took me about 1hr 30min to get 13-14 miles to school given hills, etc. I upgraded to a CX road bike, slick kevlar tires, and cycling clothing now that it's hot. I commute with gear though. 9lb laptop gear and 15-20lb pannier books. With gear it slows me down by about 10min. And these times are not from the cyclocomputer. they are from timing myself from point A to point B
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Old 04-11-11 | 09:59 AM
  #32  
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I checked 1-2 hours because that's what my one-way time is currently. When it was about 40 minutes (7 miles) each way I commuted most of the time. At about 1:15 (17 miles) for my new office, a couple times a week is good these days. This morning took 1:40 due to a flooded river crossing. Still beats driving.

Part of the problem is that in January we became empty nesters. We have dogs, though, and if my wife is working late I feel like I need to get home ASAP to attend to them at the end of the day. (When my son was still home, he could take care of them.) With that, it's been tough to commute as often as I'd like. The distance isn't the killer, it's the extra time in the afternoon.
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Old 04-11-11 | 10:40 AM
  #33  
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2 hours total time is about my limit. That translates to 30 miles each way max on just the bike, or a multi-modal commute of over 30 miles.
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Old 04-11-11 | 10:51 AM
  #34  
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I picked an hour but that is pushing it. My winter commute is about 45 minutes which is longer than I like. The rest of the year it's 30 or less but on the way home I'll take a longer route a couple of times a week. I don't mind a longer ride on most days but it's more time than I want to commit to getting to and from work.

On a good day I can get to work in 25 minutes, so about 50 minutes on the bike per day with the option to go longer. I think that's about perfect. It's long enough that I feel like I've earned my snickers bar and short enough that I feel I'm not giving up any time over not choosing to drive.

Last edited by tjspiel; 04-11-11 at 10:56 AM.
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Old 04-11-11 | 10:55 AM
  #35  
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anymore than an hour a day by any mode of transportation and I'm moving closer to work. right now it is at the most 30 minutes and that makes me very happy.
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Old 04-11-11 | 11:20 AM
  #36  
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My route is 20 miles each way, and can't forsee doing it much longer, as it takes too long.
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Old 04-11-11 | 11:41 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by tjspiel
It's long enough that I feel like I've earned my snickers bar and short enough that I feel I'm not giving up any time over not choosing to drive.
what's funny about that is here in chicago, rush hour traffic is so craptacular that even if i owned a car and chose to drive my work commute instead of biking it, it wouldn't save me a great deal of time at all.

bike: 45-50 minutes one way
train: 50-55 minutes one way
car: 35-60 minutes one way (bigger time window because traffic on LSD is so predictably unpredictable)
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Old 04-11-11 | 11:56 AM
  #38  
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If my one-way bike commute were to exceed 30-40 minutes, there would be fewer days of the week that I could spare the time compared to motoring. Currently my bike commute is 25 minutes but I take the long way home some days if I have time.

The time to change clothes, plus the extra travel time, competes with other family and work needs between dropping off the kids at school and getting home for dinner. I can justify an extra 30-45 minutes a day to "get in my ride" instead of motoring but not much more than that.
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Old 04-11-11 | 12:58 PM
  #39  
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I would do about an hour a day one way. Any longer I would have to buy some more gear.
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Old 04-11-11 | 01:38 PM
  #40  
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45min each way for a total of 1.5hrs commuting per day.
Voted 1hr.
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Old 04-11-11 | 01:40 PM
  #41  
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Part of the reason for my 45min limit is the weather.
It's just not possible to have that much exposure combined with hard physical exercise when it is 115F outside.
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Old 04-11-11 | 02:34 PM
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I'm assuming we're talking one-way. I put a 1/2 hour. Any longer than that and I'm moving or turning the job down. My free time is just too important.

I've done commutes of 45 minutes to an hour, but only for summer jobs while I was in school. I also tended to take the bus far more frequently when I lived that far away.

Last edited by neil; 04-11-11 at 02:38 PM.
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Old 04-12-11 | 11:44 AM
  #43  
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Right now I do about 40 minutes one way (10 miles) but could do a my shortest 3 miler in about 12 mins. I am considering moving which would make my commute more like 20-25 miles. At that point I think I would have to limit the number of days I ride or get my wife to pick me up on her way home from work and just ride one way.
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Old 04-12-11 | 12:02 PM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by rando
Ha! Carlotta, my biking cap is off to you! 11 miles in 45 minutes? yikes! my 6 mile commute takes me 40 minutes!
Don't you just hate red lights? I go 6.2 miles in 25 minutes, most of it on a MUP.

Originally Posted by jdswitters
anymore than an hour a day by any mode of transportation and I'm moving closer to work. right now it is at the most 30 minutes and that makes me very happy.
My dad used to commute to work (in a truck) 90+ minutes twice a day. I swore I would never do that long term.

Originally Posted by exile
I would do about an hour a day one way. Any longer I would have to buy some more gear.
I currently do 30 minutes in the morning and longer in evenings so an hour or so wouldn't be to much of a stretch for me. I'd just need more food, pants and shorts.
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Old 04-12-11 | 12:50 PM
  #45  
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I just started commuting after a 2 year hiatus. I was cycling in Raleigh, NC for 3 years but now I am in Seattle...lots more hills and this, a lot more slow going. I am doing approximately 22 miles one-way from Seattle to Kent. I did my first ride this past Friday and took just over 2 hours. I expect the time to improve as I do it more and because I just switched out my 700x40 tires for some 700x28 Specialized Armadillo's...should improve my efficiency Looking to do this commute 3-4 days per week.
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Old 04-13-11 | 09:49 PM
  #46  
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For a consistent daily commute I like my current distance- 10.2 miles with a shorter 8 mile option when I need it. That gives me a round trip of 20 miles per day. If I were a fair weather commuter with maybe a max of 2 or 3 days a week I could go for a 30 mile each way commute. Since I use my bike as a primary means of local transport that means in addition to my 20 mile round trip commute I'll add on anywhere from another mile or two to ten or more on most days. So adding more miles to just my commute can mean a lot of total miles in a day.
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Old 04-13-11 | 10:41 PM
  #47  
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I'd go for up to 90 minutes or so, but couldn't see the practicality of any longer (I'd move closer). 3 hours a day on the bike is a tall order to maintain 5 days a week. I guess if the commute involved a longish section of rural roads that would make a difference to me.
Realistically, my biggest hurdle would be wake up time. I generally prefer to get 8 hours of sleep - particularly in the Winter, and am not very good at waking up. My deepest sleep tends to occur in the hours before 6AM, so anything earlier than 5:30 or so would be really tough for me to sustain.
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Old 04-14-11 | 02:06 AM
  #48  
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Just started commuting. I was initially going 10.5 miles each way and taking about 50 minutes but added another 2.5 miles for a better route. I'm now at about an hour average, +/- 15 mins depending on conditions and I'm happy with that. However I leave home 1.5 hours before my shift starts to factor in clean up/changing time. Not sure if this poll considers such things as preparation. Either way, the extra time on the bike saves me time otherwise spent on exercising later in the day so I think I come out on top.
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Old 04-14-11 | 02:18 AM
  #49  
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I voted an hour. Hopefully this is correct because I'm about to start a job thats about 15 miles away. Its an awesome job, but physical. Not much rest time once I'm done biking. The amount of time or distance doesn't concern me, its the fatigue.
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Old 04-15-11 | 10:04 AM
  #50  
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Originally Posted by no1mad
I opted for the "as long as it takes". My current job pays better than anything else I might find in the current job market. When I was driving it, it was roughly 1 hour r/t. Now that I've been forced to give up driving due to medical reasons, my multi-modal commute takes me around 4 hours r/t daily, 5 days a week.
nice.
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