How long a commute would you do?
 

I was just wondering after reading another thread. In your present situation (family, job, etc) how much time would you be willing to commit to a bike commute?

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.

I voted for the 2-4 hours. I already spend 2.5 hours a day on a bike ( round trip) 5 days per week. If I had to stretch that to 4 hours round trip I could do it. My personal experience with long distance riding is that good nutrition and enough rest is the most important thing, as long as I can balance those two things then I can ride daily without any problem.

wow, you guys are hard core! see, I'm not sure I would do more than about an hour. I do about 40 min as it is. on the other hand, once you're at an hour, what's another half hour, etc., etc.,

Another multi-modal here. If I was driving, it only takes somewhere between 1hr15m to 1hr30m r/t depending on traffic. On my bike to train then train to work and vice versa, the total time r/t is 2.5 hrs. However, I like to extend my ride a little so instead of heading home after work, I go into downtown which is opposite direction of my home and that gives me an additional 1/2 hour of riding. That being said, my total time commuting is over 3 hrs which really does not take away that much of my time considering I would had to use some time for exercise anyway if I were driving.

More than 4 hours? Not sure if I would want to do that yet.

I voted for "an hour maybe a little more". I assumed this was the time each way, not round trip. I also assumed this was just time on the bike, not any extra time associated with bike commuting.

My commute was about 45 minutes each way, but during high wind or snow it could take over an hour. On those days it was cutting into family time too much, although the riding itself was fine.

My commute now is only 3 minutes each way.

Paul

For me it depends on the time of year.

In winter, my 20-25 minute shortest-distance commute is right at the limit of how far I want to push the studded tires in the cold and snow, twice a day, every day. I also use this route in the rain.

In the three-seasons, I can make my commute as long as I want. I have favorite routes that are 40 and 60 minutes. This year I'm considering a 90-minute loop up to the lake, along the lakeshore and back into the city.

The remaining bit of free time I have :).

I say about an hour I'd give it up because at that point winter commuting gets really really tough. Somewhere around a 10-12 mile one way trip the winter ride, on bad days, becomes more than I want to think about.

Mine is 45 minutes one way, but I could easily do an hour or more. I wouldn't want to commute much longer than that.

My summer shop commute is 2 hours and 50 km one way... I do it on a bi-weekly basis due to family commitments and our schedule.

my commute is around an hour- i don't think i can spend more than an hour commuting because i'm short on time to begin with. and not to mention next fall i'll have an 8am class- i cannot imagine waking up before 6am just to bike to class especially in the dead of winter.

As long as I have a wife and kids at home, I try to keep it under an hour. I'm currently doing 35-45 minutes each way, if I went any longer the wife would not be happy.

yes, should have clarified-- I meant the times to be just one-way.

My return route takes about 1.5 hours (going in is about an hour) and I'm thinking that the 1.5 is about the most I'd want to do every day. I'm not sure if it's really a time thing or just the hills getting to me after a while though.

I take that back...
1.5 hours coming home is about all I can do and still be able to pick my son up from school on time. Stupid hills...

I voted 2 - 4 hours but I didn't know that was supposed to be the bicycle time. My bike/bus commute takes about 3 hours each way, about 45 minutes of it are on my bike. If I were fit enough I suppose I could bike the whole 46 miles each way in about the same length of time but I'm not that fit. It's not really even a goal for me.

I rode a commute that was close to 1 hour including changing time (10 miles) for years. Recently, my mileage has increased - having two trips that were ~15 miles each, and it's pushing the limits of what I'm willing to commit to.

I have come to absolutely hate driving, but I can definitely see where the "loss" of personal time would begin to wear on me.

I'm willing to do a one way 2 hour commute once a week, so 4 hours round trip. If my physical shape ever gets better, I'm willing to do that twice a week.

I think 1.5 hours one way is the most I could justify being away from my 3mo old and wife before I felt I was becoming irresponsible/neglectful.

One hour each way is the most I would ever want to commute be it by bike, car, public transit, or a combination. Any longer than that it just eats too much into time for other things like meal prep. Although to be honest, I'd hate having to drive to work every day. It just doesn't feel right; the expense doesn't even bother me.

Get up at 6, shave and get dressed, make breakfast, out the door by 7, at work by 8; Work to 5pm, home by 6:15, dinner from 7 to 7:30 and I have 2-3 hours until it's time to go to bed to repeat it the next day. This is where I'm glad to have started bicycling to work because I'd love to hit the gym M-F but there so little time to do it. Cardio and legs seem to be get a workout, but I can't help but think that my upper body will just atrophy.

My summer commuting gets me into some freakishly good shape and as the season moves forward my 2 hour commute can be done in just over 1.5 hours on a nice day.

It is a 10km to get me out of the city on a reasonably nice route and the next 40 is wide open roads where one can really make some great time... after 25 km of gradual climbing where you can still keep a nice speed you get 20 km of gradual descent which will let you really make up some time as long as there are no headwinds.

For me it about an hour for my commute of 15 miles. Not sure if I could cope with the very early starts if there was anymore than that.

I'm willing to do as much as my current electric scooter/subway commute takes, which is about 1.25 hours each way. Which, coincidentally, is almost exactly the same amount of time covering the same distance by bicycle takes. :)

Only twice a week to start, though. If I feel good about it and I'm not overly tired, I'll move to three times per week.

I voted an hour or so, but I probably could handle a longer commute if I didn't ride as often. My commute now is about 45 minutes each way, and I ride about 4 days/week. It will increase to about 1 hour each way this summer when my office moves farther away, and I should be able to handle the extra distance/time OK. If it were any longer, I probably would still try to commute some but probably only 1-3 days/week.

I chose 1 hour because I assumed it was one way.