Riding slowly for 5 hours a day is incredibly boring. I know I couldn't do it mentally, even if it would work physically. I'm not even sure it would work physically though. You'd be dealing with pro-levels of ailments: saddle sores, wrist pain, neck pain, inflamed tendons and whatnot.

I don't mean to discourage you, but if you never ride distances like this, then you cannot do it. If you told us you ride 60 miles on saturday and 60 miles on sunday and you feel alright on monday, then you'd have a fighting chance of pulling this off, but if you only ever ride 20 miles a day, suddenly ramping this up to 60 is not possible. You have to slowly build up to it, or you will end up injured.

It is also rather pointless in my humble opinion. Being fit is very nice. But the elite levels of fitness you seem to be aspiring are useless if you don't do competition. The only reason you will need to be so fit is to survive your fitness training. You won't have enough time or energy to do something in the weekend. You won't end up like a great muscular hulk of a man. 300 miles a week will give you a physique not unlike those kenyans who win marathons.

You're building castles in the sky here, and deep down you know that you are. You'd love to be able to say that you ride 60 miles a day, but you're not ready for the reality of that undertaking. It takes a very specific kind of guy to do this, and from the looks of it, you ain't it. And I don't even mean that as an insult.

It's only 30 miles back! It's 60 miles round trip...

The problem is that the OP cycles on an average of 10 mph. That means that its gonna take 3hrs of commute time each way. That's 6hrs of cycling every single day. Then there's the school commitment, after completing a full eight hour work day. That leaves only ten hours to sleep, cook, eat dinner, and complete shool obligations. Therefore, there's practically no time remaining for family or personal recreation.

This just sounds like a perpetual loop of obstacles. A maze that leads to nowhere. An impossible puzzle, that has no piece that connects to another.

I fear that the OP is just setting himself up for failure...

for me, 60 miles round-trip every work day would be insane. i just wouldn't have the time for all of that riding given other responsibilities i have in life.

right now my daily commute is 29 miles round-trip, 5 days per week. that is just about the upper limit i'm willing to tolerate from a time standpoint. i could physically ride further, but i don't have the time.

but if you've got the time, go for it and give it a try, why not.

Can't you multi-mode this ? ride to the bus, then put the bike on, & take the bus?

This is a great alternative, a lot of people bike and bus as well if you can't find a parking spot.

I love my 60-80 mile rides on the weekend, the big omlette I make when I get home and the nap shortly there after. Doing this on daily basis on the way to work and again on the way home! I'd go crazy. It would be takin a joy I currently have and turning it into a task.

To each his own. If you really want do this, try it 2 days a week, to see how the taint, and legs hold up. 120 miles per week is a strong showing, bumping up to 180 miles per week is very strong. 300 miles per week of commuting, fighting traffic, would be so mindnumbing that I'd be afraid of making a mistake and getting into an accident.

At the beginning of the summer of 1983 I took a job 35 miles from home, and planned to and from work every day for about two months, at the end of which I as going to take my earnings and my bike and ride across the country. All that riding, I figured, would be good training.

I kept it up for almost two weeks, by which time it was clear I couldn't do this. The day just wasn't long enough. It was dark when I started, it was dark when I got home, and I was tired all the time. I got an apartment closer to work.

Could you hand me a towel? I need to wipe the egg off my face... :p

The bike/bus/rail combo is still not a total washout of an idea, though.

Well Dave,

I guess you're only human, afterall! :)

Well there was your problem. Two weeks wasn't enough training for the body. :)

+1 - Multi-mode commute. It also hugely depends on what that 60 miles is. Rural, suburban, urban? Hills, flat, etc...

Maybe consider moving closer? Up front cost for housing may be higher, but your monthly costs could quickly make up for it with less wear and tear on your car, insurance, etc (or no need for a car if you are in the right place).

When I'm on a tour, I frequently ride 30-50 miles in the morning, eat a big pile of food, drink a beer, and lay down in some grass to read for a little while, maybe nap, then get back up and ride another 30-50 miles in the afternoon, eat another big pile of food, drink another beer, lay down and read, then go to sleep.

So if your work and/or school and/or family time involve eating a big pile of food, drinking a beer, reading and napping, then go for it.

If not, this is a pretty annoying, ***********y question. Of course you physically can do it. Should you? I dunno. Doesn't sound like a great idea, but feel free to try it out and report back.

my 2 cents - I'm looking for a new job. One of the criteria are that it is within bike commuting distance. I will not be considering anything further than 13 miles one-way. For me, anything further ios just not practical.

Most of this is utter rubbish. I'm in my fifties, and on tour I regularly ride in excess of 300 miles per week on a fully-loaded touring bike without difficulty. The idea that it gives rise to "pro-level ailments" - whatever they are - is fantastic nonsense. It doesn't even require you to be especially fit.

How often do you go on tour? How long are said tours? I don't know many people who do that kind of mileage, and those who do are all using ointments and/or relief sprays (they compete though). I think I could probably do 300 miles in a week with my current level of fitness (but not "without difficulty"). I'd need to recover afterwards though. Unless I biked at 10mph, but the discomfort would probably be the same or even worse then.

Congrats on your shape despite being in your fifties though.

My advice would be to figure out how much time you can devote to a bicycle commute. In my case, an hour in each direction is about the maximum I'm willing to do. Then see if you can figure out how to do it. Doing the full distance, but less frequently is a good option too.

It would make a good algebra word problem for school.

The OP needs to get to work in an hour. He lives 30 miles from work. He can go X mph in a car and Y mph on a bicycle. How far must he drive and how far must he bicycle to make it to work in an hour.

I go on one long tour a year. Usually they are two or three weeks, but my longest so far was two months and 2500 miles. It's irrelevant, though: when not on tour my average weekly mileage is probably around 200, which is only about 12 hours per week on the bike.

Honestly, the idea that one can't do these sort of mileages/times riding, in comfort, is absurd. Of course it takes a little time to work up to them, but it is easy.

Riding 60 miles per day IS fairly easy, the OPs problem would be the time, 8Hrs work and 4+Hrs of riding the bike would wear me down real fast...

I use to drive 30 miles each way to work. I thought that that took too long so I moved.

Biking that distance each day? If I were training for some monster event and pretty much didn't do anything but work and train maybe.

Probably not.

Given the information in the OP, I think it would be amazing if you did this for 3 days in a row before you realized how impractical this is.

This from someone who currently rides 5-7 days per week, minimum of 22/ day (often 30+) and has commuted as much 72/day- 3-4 x's per week. But all the givens in your post esp.- busy busy busy city streets makes a 60 mile RT 5x's per week a drudgery.

This kind of distance only works when you have a pretty uninterrupted 30 mile ride each way. Little or no intersections, excellent road conditions, a favorable climate, are in excellent physical condition and can maintain a relatively fast pace, have a reliable well maintained bike, can eat really good food, get plenty of rest and have a job that does not require a lot of physical effort. And even under those conditions how sustainable this would be for more than a few months is questionable. You would need extraordinary discipline to maintain this consistently and a non-existent or an extremely supportive, forgiving partner or family.

I have been car free since 1989. I choose my work and home location carefully so my commute doesn't kill me.

Perhaps you should consider same.

What is your preferred length of time for a commute?

For me, when I had motorized alternatives, one hour each way was fine. The car/motorcycle gave me an alternative to terrible weather, injury recovery time, minor illness, etc. I have commuted one hour each way for 18 months, five days a week, with no alternative due to being flooded out of my city (New Orleans) for a while. That was too much. The key - my job was very forgiving for taking a "storm day" off or going in late now and then. The distance was 18 miles each way.

My perfect commute is what I have now. 20 minutes each way at a reasonable pace with plenty of options to extend the ride to one hour when I feel like it or have errands to run before and after work. Even 30 minutes would be quite doable without giving up my life. If I had absolutely nothing better to do I would still prefer to keep it under half an hour unless I had other good alternative means of transportation available to me.

Time would be the real issue, for me anyway. I commute about 30 miles/day and it takes me about 2.5 hours round trip including all of the stops for traffic signals, locking up bike, etc., but not showering and dressing. A 60-mile commute would at least double that time, and would be extremely frustrating on busy, city streets. I have ridden my bike tours where we average 60+ miles/day for a week or so, and riding that much distance is not a huge issue from a physical standpoint if you are in shape. However, it takes a lot of time even riding on country roads with little traffic and no red lights to contend with. Commuting is much more challenging that touring and recreational rides because of the stop-and-go traffic, safety issues, loads of gear, and generally heavier bike due to fenders, bags, etc.

+1

If you're in school I guess you're young, maybe you're living at home for free, and you have a job wherever you can get a job. But if bike-commuting is something you want to do (and it sounds like it -- and it's a great thing to want to do!!) I would start hunting for a new job and house/apartment/roommate situation close to school.

However, if you love cycling so much that you don't mind if it's the only thing you ever do (outside of working, schooling, sleeping, eating, and pooping), then go for it!