commuting mileage debate
 

I need a ruling on what is considered commuting mileage and what is not. I was with some friends this evening (some are commuters some not) and I mentioned that I only consider mileage riding to work as qualifying as commuting miles. Everyone else says no, any ride that replace a car qualifies as commuting miles. I must say I was surprised by unanymous agreement.

This came up because in order to reach my years mileage goal I'm considering losing some vacation days (can only carryover certain amount or lose them). Yeah it's insane but I'm really close. If I include non riding to work miles I'm already there. So, consensus determines how much I work this month... no pressure.

I don't count "commuting miles." I just count "utility miles," which means any trip where the bike replaces the car. These are different from "recreation miles," which consist of longer, faster weekend rides. On the other hand, I don't really have a goal number I'm trying to reach ;)

Since you set the goal, it's really up to you to determine what "counts" toward that goal.

Maybe you could take the vacation but find a longer route to and from work on the days you do work.

I agree that when you set the goal you get to pick what counts towards it and what does not.

I also feel that when there are several definitions of a word, you get the pick you one you use.

I don't think you get to make new definitions for old words.

Commute | Define Commute at Dictionary.com

The one I use from this page is "to travel some distance regularly between one's home and one's place of work".

FWIW, I've been car-free since 1999. Under your friends' rules, I get to count every bike ride as a commute. This is silly. I use the definition above. Going to the store and such is an errand, IMHO, not a commute.

For the record, today was commute 201 in 2013, and my 1,592nd consecutive workday bike commuting.

I count all miles going to and from work as commuting miles, even when I take the long route. If the ride starts at home and ends at work, or the other way 'round, those are commuting miles, IMHO.

OTOH, what's really important to me are commuting days, not commuting miles.

By definition (as would also apply to a car) commuting miles are those daily (or other schedule) rides between home and work (or school). I'd also count the miles on detours if you do errands along the way.

But the other utility miles, where you replace a car aren't commuting miles. Call them utility miles or whatever you wish, but they don't fit the definition of commuting, any more than the miles you'd drive a car after you got home would.

My ruling is that obsessive behavior may not be insane, but giving up vacation days for such a "goal" is close, as you already acknowledge but seem unable to control.

A mile in the rain counts as 1.5 miles.

A mile ridden when you're sick also counts as 1.5 miles.

It is multiplicative so a mile in the rain while sick counts as 2.25 miles.

Happy to help.

Take the long way home... :)

This is geeting to be like the asterisks in sports stats. When you set the goal, you had something in mind. Whatever it was, that's what determines whether you've met it. Other people's rules or opinions don't count because it was your goal, and you're the only one who knows the rules.

Of course you could game it by getting our permission to fool yourself, changing your work schedule or (if really dumb) giving up vacation days to make the goal. But then you'd have to put a mental asterisk next to it because you wouldn't have made it without cheating.

Unless there's some third party bet or money riding on this, decide for yourself whether you've made a good faith effort and call it a wrap.

I'll be burning some vacation myself, but because I wanted to get some work done not just to ride there ... now that I put it that way, I see the flaw in my attitude. If you want to do it then I say go for it. Whatever reason you chose to work more, it's nobody else's place to judge.

For the literal question, I agree with others that only the miles traveled from home to work and back are truly commuting, but any errand "on the way home" counts.

Take your vacation days. Go for a ride on those days. Pick a route that swings you by work, count those miles.

My commute to work is just under three miles each way. In the warmer months, I would often stretch this out to 20+ miles by making a big loop through three boroughs, but the start point is work, and the end point is home. Is that a commute? Many Wednesdays, after work I go way uptown to play trivia with some friends (in part as an excuse to ride), ten miles up, and then thirteen miles down to go home. Since neither leg includes both work and home as end points, does that mean I didn't commute at all? What about, say, going to church on Sunday? It's not work, but it's a trip I'm obligated to do regularly. Likewise six or seven miles each way to get to weekly volunteer tutoring. Is that a commute? I avoid the whole issue simply by counting miles ridden, never mind the purpose.

On Thursdays after work during the summer I hit the Airport Ride, 40 miles of crosswinds, bad pavement, and 3 sprint points, with the other local idiots, er racers, and then ride home. Starts at the office and ends at the house, so it counts as a commute, right?

You are considering giving paid vacation up? That takes a good reason. But for gaining more commuting miles?!?!?!? :twitchy:

just ride :)

replacing car miles reduces CO2 output which is much more critical than total miles cycled.

however, if you want to be technical, do you eat more when you cycle? i'd wager yes otherwise you'd waste away to zero. those additional calories have CO2 output as well, which can be quite high.

For example, 1kg of beef (I usually pan fry a streak in the evening and am trying to hone my skills now that i'm cooking with gas) results in 13300g CO2 produced.

Let say, that one compensates all lost calories with beef (300kcal/100g) ... and that you consume 500kcal on the RT ride ... that's about 150g of beef or 6500g CO2 extra consumed.

an average car (Audi A4 Ayant 2.0 FSI is about as average as one can get) ... produces 116g/km.

so a 20km RT car trip (13 miles and around 500kcal) produces 2300g CO2.

500kcal of meet is 6500g CO2

beer produces roughly 60g CO2 / liter production and probably 300g CO2 with transport and cooling as well ...

so, I find that one 1 liter of generic beer (Franziskaner Hefeweizen Dunkel or a Leffe Blonde)

is a much safer way to go ... resulting in roughly 300g CO2 production versus the 3000g CO2 produced from the steak.

i hope the people in the thread don't take this the wrong way, but you are asking that to an American.

i negotiated 46 holidays per year and unlimited sick leave (and a 35h work week to boot!) into my new contract.

on the other side of the pond, vacation days usually turn into "personal" days and not always "travel" holiday days :(

As much as we may hate it, definitions do change. Right now, I'm with those who only consider commuting as something done only between work and home. Of course, if you're a student, then between school and home would be included, as well.

OTOH, ten years from now, most people could very well be discussing their weekly commutes to the supermarket, drugstore, or library. So go figure! :D

In the mileage thread, I only count miles ridden to/from work.
I don't count errands or joy rides. In fact, I don't even keep track of the latter.

I haven't been keeping up with posts in the mileage thread (I think I only posted my first commute there), but I agree. I plan to keep up with it next year, and then I'll only include miles to and from work. When I said above that I just lump all "utility" miles together and track them separately from "recreation" this is because I want to know the total number of miles I ride each year. But I also want to know if I am getting stronger and/or faster. To do that I need a sense of what my averages are on two very different kinds of rides. I never really aim for speed, but I do naturally go faster on a weekend ride where I'm not wearing work clothes or trying to arrive at my destination sweat free.

To the OP I'd say: no way I'd give up vacation days to increase my mileage in one category or the other! Can you take vacation, but still make the ride? Would that count as a commute? Depends on what you intended with your goal.

Rent a bike on holiday! That's what we do!

No way I would give up vacation days to increase my "commuter" miles. I also have a lot of leftover vacation days I've been trying to use up, so I took two weeks off work in November and plan to take off Christmas week as well. I rode almost every day I was off work, but didn't count those miles as commuting, even though I was starting from home and not using my car. I do track my total miles separately from commute miles. My goal was to top 5,000 annual commuter miles for the first time, and I will probably fall short by a few miles due to the vacation days, but I will not give up vacation time to top that goal. On the plus side, I should easily top 9,000 total miles in a year for the first time unless the weather turns really nasty in December.

clearly you have your priorities straight with cycling above vacation time ... ;) and let's face it - we all know what you're gonna do on vacation, right? bike to work in disguise. hey, there's an idea, take your vacation time but bike to work anyway! you don't have to actually go in and work, just zip by the office!

I like it. What about a mile in the snow while it is snowing?

First of all, rides that aren't to and from work, aren't commuting. That said, you can take a long way home and it would count in my book.

There is an easy answer to how you should proceed. When you're 80 or 90 years old and looking back on your life, what will you wish you would have done?

How important is this goal in the larger scheme of things? What sorts of things would you do with that vacation time?

I do not commute on a leisurely cruise down the coast in my car, or to the grocery store. Nor do I consider doing it on a bike commuting. Commuting is traveling to and from work.