That's true. I work in the middle of Fort Worth and live in Crowley, and when anyone asks where I ride from, they are always stunned when I tell them. I don't know if they think it's a lot further than the 12 miles it actually is, or if a 12 mile ride amazes them that much.

Probably this.

At present, my default commute is 8 miles each way. I live in a 1920's urban "trolley" neighborhood and ride the first 2 miles on quiet neighborhood streets, then through a park, which puts me onto more urban roads, all of which (on my chosen route) have designated bicycle lanes. I'll go out of my way to ride on more bike-compatible roads.

3 Season hill climb variation - 19.5 miles, 1600 feet net elevation change - I started doing this one morning a week once the Summer kicked in, and will try to continue (I need lights now). It's about 20 miles, and ascends "City Creek canyon", which has designated "car free" days in the Summer months. Here's a mapmyride link:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/40433338

Yeah, intellectually I know this, and yet my homelife ends up being an impediment to getting out of the house until the last possible moment, so at about 7:13 I'm stumbling down the stairs with my bike on my shoulder getting ready for the AM Time Trial. On the way home I'm relieving our childcare provider so most days I'm heading straight home.

When I lived 15 miles from work, the last possible minute was about 55 minutes prior to the start of my day, and the 2 mile 6-10% climb made a great workout at the end of my commute in. The downside is, I did need to drive on some days in the winter when near freezing temperatures made the steep descent way too dangerous for cycling, not to mention it was less than enthralling to ride to and from work in the cold and dark. But Spring/Summer/Fall, I was in great cycling condition. I hated the job, but I loved the commute.

My ride is 5 miles Starts crossing a truck route. Then I get on the bike trail. Thought a park under a busy 4 lane road. Up a hill 1 of 3. On bike path parked cars on the right and passing car on the left. For 7 or 8 blocks. Stop at a stop light no light to press. Then on to newly built bike path. The only think bad about it is the curbs are raised. Makes no sence cuz you ethier have to bunny hop it or ride down it. Makes me made yesterday on my way to work I bunny hopped it to fast and it popped my back tire. I was mad!!!!!!!!!! Cont' on path along the path I have to stop 4 times. Then a right turn and another 4 way stop sign. Cont to next stop light. then on to 4 way stop sign. Left. Stop sign Then up a hill.. Then stop light. Cont. on stright road and thoght reds. Then Stop lights Left turn Then right into lowes parking lot (shortcut) stop sign the cut thoght another parking lot then another stop sign. left then stop lights at a highway. Then left turn into a parking lot over a little bit of grass and thats it. I stop over 15 times..

I have a 10 mile commute from Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan. I start out on quiet Brooklyn streets through blocks w/ Victorian houses, into Prospect Park for about a mile and a half, down through a brownstone area, across the Manhattan Bridge into Chinatown, then up Allen St to 1st Avenue to 42nd St. I'm on bike lanes almost the entire way so I'm not in NYC traffic really. I do the 10 miles in just under an hour, with all the stops and starts thrown in. The only hills are in Prospect Park and then the Manhattan Bridge, neither are steep and my mantra is "Steady, not sweaty". I ride an 18 year old Trek 8000 mtb which I put slicks onto. Since I have protected indoor parking, I've been thinking about trying to do it on my expensive road bike, but I'm not sure it'll be any faster as the deciding factor is traffic lights, not raw speed. It's pretty typical for me to catch up to the guys blowing by me on their fixies at the next major intersection. And while they may have the young hipster attitude about riding, I don't and just wait for the lights.

My commute is 41.2 miles rt w/a 500 ft elevation difference. My street is asphalt(it used to be gravel...'there goes the neighborhood' :p) And it's .6 mi to an unmarked entrance to the Natchez Trace Parkway(a 450 mile national park w/a 40 mph speed limit). I portage the bike over the 'stacked wood' fence and ride down a small hill on to the NTP surface. It's asphalt like my street. From there I pass MP 423 after about .1 mi and ride the NTP to the 1st exit @ MP 429. Rolling hills. Turn east on Pinewood Road. About .75 mi to Leiper's Creek Rd. Left about 1.5 miles to Southall Road then right.

Southall is very busy as it's the main rural artery into town. Fortunately it's got a nice, wide shoulder so I can ride the length of it to the right of the fog line. Left onto Carter's Creek Pike. Right on Natchez Street. From Southall Rd. in to work it's moderate/heavy urban traffic w/more rolling hils. The rest of the ride is through town(Franklin, TN...lots of lights and stop signs :notamused:) in heavy urban traffic to my work place.

The commute home is the reverse w/a 500 ft climb on the 6 miles of the NTP. It takes me just about as long to do those last six miles as the rest of the commute because of 4 moderate climbs. There're deceptive. I thought they were 2/3%. Turns out they're 6-8% when I tracked each one separate on Map My Ride. My fg commuter is 79.1 GI(48x16t)so those hills are tough...but worth it. :thumb:

All in all it's a relatively unencumbered, pleasant commute w/just enough urban rat-race traffic in town to keep my skills sharp.

Very impressive, now that's what I call hardcore commuting.

my commute...I'ma closet commuter.I drive my car 40 miles to work and back. I would drive my bike if I could.
now the commute part.as soon as I get home i park the car and do all or most of my errands such as going to the library,getting food, going to the gym and visiting mom for supper.

ALL AND ALL i PUT IN SOMETIMES UP TO 10 MILES IN A DAYS TIME.I GUESS I'M DOING MY PART TO SAVE GAS A ND THE EARTH.

My commute is 5.2 miles each way. Head wind on the way to work in the evening, tail wind or no wind on the way home in the early morning. Mostly smooth country road, one stop sign. The ride to work is sometimes very hard with 15-20 mph wind, worst so far was 27. I still love it. The ride home is nice with little or no traffic and its been cool in the 50-60's at 2:00am.

:cheers:

My commute is a short 9 Mile each way to work from Malden MA to Wakefield MA. I commute on a main street with two way traffic. At first I thought 9 miles was pretty long, but now after two months of doing it is really short.

I love commuting during traffic times because there a 2 mile stretch where there a stop light every like 20 feet or so it seems, and its the most fun part of my commute because I get to do some safe weaving between cars. I also get alot of people looking at me funny, or yelling something to me because they are mad im either waiting at the light or on the bike. I just give them the biggest smile and constantly pass them at each light. There a section where all the cars move close to the right of the road on both sides leaving the middle of the road wide open. This part I love the most because after weaving in and out of traffic for a bit, I get to ride in the middle of the street with cars on on both sides of me going in different directions...its my "safe" approach to NYC messenger riding style.

16 miles one way

all rural as I am headed from one small town to another where I teach. Lots of cattle and cotton fields to look at. Rolling terrain with only a few intersections. In the morning I may see three cars while in the afternoon its a little busier but not bad.

the ride in has a slight gain in elevation the entire way to work while in the afternoons if the wind is right I can just about fly home...

Thanks for the compliment. :) I neglected to add that on Mondays I take in a weeks worth of clothes/food on my multi-geared utility bike w/rack and panniers. Warehouse work doesn't require anything beyond a t-shirt/shorts/undies/socks and shoes. I've got a box where everything's kept such as a toothbrush, Goldbond medicated talcum powder, deo, a towel, etc. along w/my clothes. Shoes are sprayed daily w/a disinfectant a/t end of the work day while changing clothes. There's a fridge on site w/plenty of room for food containers. My work space is loaded w/Clif bars...I buy 2 dozen at a time and may eat 2-3 per day. :p They usually last about 2 weeks before I have to bring in another load.

Then the rest of the week I ride the fg w/a seatpost rack/trunkbag combo. There's just enough room to carry my work clothes and food containers home in the evening. My shoes are left at work.

There's a storage closet on site in which I'm allowed to keep my bike(s), clothes, personal items and change clothes. My commuting mantra is 'Never commute in one's work clothes or work in one's commuting clothes'. The door has a lock on it, so no one will walk in on me at the wrong time. :eek:

Again, in addtion to a nice, long commute I appreciate how blessed I am to have the support of my superiors and co-workers. In fact, the big-boss and one of the salesmen are semi-retired 'tri-guys' that are asking me to help them put commuting rigs together as they each only live 6-8 miles away. One of my co-workers is a 'gym-rat' weightlifter and has expressed interest as well. Converting the world one commuter at a time. :thumb:

Rock Hill
 

My company told me I'd be the first in Chester for building our east coast facility. They offered me a great deal of money to go. I never had a chance to tell them no before they decided to expand in Dallas instead. Good thing too. I love Dixie but no way they would drag me away from here. I was the first in Vegas when we built this plant 7 years ago.
If we did still build in Chester and I somehow ended up there, I would have lived in Rock Hill.

I have one stretch on my commute which is cobble stones - lukcily there is never anyone on the sidewalks there so if possible I do try to ride that bit on the sidewalk to safe rattling every bolt on my bike loose !

My commute is 51 miles rt [usually] on high speed (55mph) roads:

To work: http://connect.garmin.com/player/109030291

From work: http://connect.garmin.com/player/108418319

I've been participating in a Mileage Challenge here: http://www.endomondo.com

Where I'm currently in the top 5: http://www.endomondo.com/challenges/2115480 out of 13,622 participants

For the Endomondo Mileage Challenge--one of my extended routes home: http://connect.garmin.com/player/108773016

Then, I try to do between 100-200 miles of riding on the weekend.

6 miles: flat, down hill, up hill, down hill, up mountain, down mountain, down foothills. 7 years on this route.

Traffic on mountain is busiest in morning, but light during fall and winter evenings.

My commute is 22 miles each way, largely on bike/running trail along the Santa Ana River. The are two parts that need more attention..crossing the entrance to the freeway on-ramp and crossing one very busy street that has good lights but lots of red light running cars. On the way in, I end by going through the parking lot of South Coast Plaza and then the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Do you do that distance 5 days a week? Impressive if so. That's twice what I ride and I get tired if I do mine several days in a row.

I have done it 5 days a week, depends on my work schedule and where I have to be. At least twice as a minimum, mostly 3-4 time a week. I add a lot of protein and do quite a bit of SMR to help with sore/tired muscles.

I am very impressed with these commutes. I started commuting by bike five weeks ago, and I have significant fitness challenges, clearly. I have a (recurrent) torn medial meniscus in my L knee, and my L thigh strength is pretty horrible as a result.

I only commute TWO miles each way, with some short, maybe 15% grade hills that kick my butt (29.6 gear inches at the low end). My route is mostly hilly city streets (not arterials) and a flat MUP in the middle for about a mile. The harder ride is coming home, thankfully!

Thank you, everyone, for inspiring me to extend my commute when I don't have to rush home for family responsibilities!

i recently started commuting to work. i used to commute to my old job but general laziness kept me from doing it once I started at my current job. It is 6 miles 1 way and almost completely flat.

The only part about it that is even remotely interesting is the roundabout, and that is only interesting because i seem to get hit almost 1 out of every 4 times I go through it. In fact today might have been my last afternoon going this way - i really almost bought the farm.

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/46/roundv.jpg

I approach from the right in the mornings (headed westbound) and from the left (eastbound) in the afternoons. For eastbound/westbound traffic the road splits into two lanes as it approaches the roundabout - a right turn only lane and a single lane that can go 'stright" through the intersection or go 3/4 of the way around to make what amounts to a left turn. North and southbound traffic have two lanes than can go "straight" through the roundabout with the outer lane able to also turn right and the inner lane able to also turn left.

You can see the bikepaths in the photo that head in all directions, but i generally avoid them. They are peppered with driveways about every 100 yards or so and i just don't feel safe using them. I'm generally going 16-19 mph and I'd just rather stay on the road. i'm used to it and I like taking the lane and blah blah blah. Besides that, there's no way i could get across this particular north/south road on the sidewalks without the aid of a stoplight- it is just too busy.

My strategy to go through this roundabout is to take the appropriate lane to go "stright" and ride right down the middle of it. i slow down a lot more than I'd really need to and make an active effort to get eye contact with the people that are oncoming traffic and make sure they see me.

The traffic northbound/southbound on this particular road is EXTREMELY heavy and probably about once every other day somebody pulls right out in front of me and i have to stop in the middle of the roundabout to let them through. Today's contestant was a lady that was at least in her 70s that i don't think ever saw me even though i took a hard turn to the left and almost went into the center curb to avoid her.

I'm thinking I'll start avoiding this intersection in the afternoon, but keep going through it in the mornings. This will be my excuse to start taking an even longer 'scenic route" home! :lol:

Mine is 20.5 each way, if you're in shape for it and have the time, a 44 RT commute could be easily done 5 days a week.

I agree that added protein to the diet (within reason) helps. What has also helped me was adding a couple of little cans of that V8 juice to my lunchbox - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A nice little potassium boost right after the morning ride and right before the afternoon ride. :thumb:

My commute? HOT. So hot, in fact, that I've missed the entire months of July and August. I'm putting plenty of miles on the bike, just not during daylight.

When I do ride, it's kind of like this: I ride through neighborhoods, mostly downhill, until I get to the trail along the Trinity River. I follow the river a few miles, then start ascending the other bank, climbing the rest of the way to work. Again, I stick to neighborhood roads when I can, but eventually I get to a point where I have to ride country 2-lane with no shoulder. That's the part of the commute I dislike most. I rarely have issues there, but I feel more exposed than other parts of the route. My route is about 17 miles total, and because it crosses the river, it's uphill, both ways.... at least the second half of each way. The ride home is usually a little tougher due to the prevailing southerly wind. I can get to work in about 1:10 going in, closer to 1:30 going home.

Sept. 1 or 2 should be the first day of less than 100 degree temps in quite a while; I think I'll start commuting again, at least occasionally. But I must admit I am enjoying my night time rides. Riding more frequently than once or twice a week really isn't too feasible. My wife also works, and someone has to be home to feed the dogs and cook dinner. When I ride, it's tough to get home before 7 pm, and that 5:30-7:30 time slot is "prime time" for spending time with the wife, before she starts grading papers and stuff.

Nice to see the art of written word and story telling again. In this modern age of videos, Garmin satellite graphics, Map My Ride, etc., it can be a pretty soulless way to impart an experience.