Got a question about counting miles for commuting.

Is the commuting only the distance from home to work and back?
Or does "home > grocery store", or other non-recreational trips count aswel?

I you're referring to the "Commuting Mileage Thread" I think only actual home to work to home commuting mileage counts for the purposes of the thread.

I thought it was for anything except leisure or recreation rides. I have counted trips to the movie theater and grocery store. And if you take a longer route than normal on the way to work or back home, those count too. My understanding is the mileage in the parentheses is to show your total commute + leisure if you want to.

But I'm fairly new here and will stand corrected if someone else says so.

So... (I don't really care, but...)

When I ride to work, I almost always take somewhat meandering routes (I can do it in 3.5 miles x 2 = 7 miles, it usually takes 15 miles). I don't stop anywhere else.

Is that 15 miles or 7 miles?

(This is of course a ridiculous thing to worry about, but since the thread is here... In any event, I would have split things up "utility rides" (including commuting) and "leisure rides" - any riding that replaces a car trip is a good thing.)

I count to and from miles ... and if I decide to extend it a little, I count those too. I'm still getting too and from work ... and it's not much different than if I was driving and I stopped off for errands on the way home

I was just thinking about this, because some time ago I rode to the railway station to park my bike, to take a train to Brussels for leasure, but the bike route I did was the same that I did when going to work.
Actually I commuted to the railway station, but didn't go to work.
But it wasn't a recreational ride to do some sports.

Same as I sometimes take my bike to the grocery store instead of a car, actually isn't a recreational bike tour to do some sports... Maybe it counts as commuting too.

Maybe it just changes a few miles in my mileage log, but wanted to be sure.
Just wanted to know what miles you guys are counting

I think that for the mileage thread it's all utility miles including work, errands and so on. Personally I only log the trips to work and back, mainly because that's easier for me, and almost all of my miscellaneous errands are only 1-3 miles away anyway. So log them all if you want, I don't think anyone will have any issue with it.

Alright, I can add a 2,8 miles to my list

Just wanted to know if I wasn't cheating in the game

My understanding is it's any riding that replaces motorized transport. So, if you bike to work instead of drive, that counts. However, if you bike to the store instead of walk, that doesn't count. How you would have gone somewhere if you didn't take your bike is left to one's discretion. It's not scientific anyway. Some people track miles very precisely with GPSes and spreadsheets or mileage tracking sites. Others use SWAG or even WAG to arrive at their answers. Then there's the occasional "October surprise" entrant who makes no posts until the year is almost over and then somehow pops up near the top of the list.

All of them

+1 to all of them.

Unless the computer is not attached. Then you did not do them.

Does it really matter ??...

Just noticed that you'd started another thread, bulevardi.

It was explained to me when I started here that anything between leaving for work and arriving at home counted as your commute. Sometimes I go straight to work and back, sometimes I ride with my club after work before I get home, once I worked in a liquor run to a nearby town when Templeton Rye was harder to come by.

If only the "to work" and "to home" legs could count, then anything over the shortest possible distance would be a frivolity...

P.S. That said, occasionally I do set out on a ride purely for utility, but don't record it as "commuting" unless it involves a trip to work.

Every mile matters