Well once again my good will intentions of riding my bike today have been trashed by that stuffy hot box of hell that is ...well .....my work. It seems to often that the 14 hour work days that this place generates gets in the way of my family and my riding. Its very very upsetting but really in this day and age of layoffs and no jobs in the market who am I to be here complaining. I guess I felt like coming here to vent my disappointments and see if there is anyone else in here who has to make the same sad choices that I have to make. Are you getting to ride everyday? If so, how much time do you get? When I do get a chance during the week, its only for 30 mins or so and that is if I am lucky. What does everyone else have?

Can you bike to work? Bike commuting is great for training and adding base miles.

+1 on commuting, if possible. Everybody's ride and work situation is different, of course, but check out the Commuting forum. You'll probably find answers to your questions there.

I bought a bike in April 2008 with the idea of losing weight and getting exercise. I lived 16 miles from work. By May I was driving to a parking lot about 3 miles from work, and riding the rest of the way in. A few weeks later I was riding the whole way a couple of days per week.

Now, three years later, I've moved into the city. I rarely drive (but still have a truck payment grrrrr). I ride in all weather year-round. I own four bikes. I lost 100lbs (and gained back 25).

So, yes, I ride almost every day. Sometimes it's 3 miles. Sometimes it's over 100.

How much do you want to ride.

I have 2 kids and work so my opportunity is limited. I commute via bike ( with 2 kids in the trailer ). I take the kids to the park ( on the trailer ). I have a 2 mile loop near my house that I can use for opportunistic rides where I can ride for 30-80 minutes. I have a rail trail I can hit when I have 2 hours ( give or take ). For hills I have a 1600' foot rise + rolling hills which is a nice 2-3 hour round trip.

I ride when I can and try not to fret the days I can't.

I find my job very interesting and challenging. I don't always get to ride as much as I would like to, but I got in 20 miles today after work.

I work 60 miles from home. With a car it takes over a hour. I hope to move closer, but right now I have to deal with 12 hour workdays before the 2 hour round trip. 14 hours out of 24 leaves 10. 8 of those are used for sleeping, and the last two are cut up between showering, eating, and spending time with kids and family stuff. Once upon a time and in a land far far away I used to commute by bike daily....I loved it. However, even if I moved closer to work it is in a industrial complex with lots of Semi truck traffic. Not very bike friendly at all... lol

+10 on commuting. I am at work about six days per week, from about 7:30 AM to 8:30 PM during the weekdays, and a few hours on Saturday. My job is such that I can adjust my duties within reason. I commute to 14 miles one way with the option of taking the train home (which I usually do).

From about May to September, I'm further motivated to add miles by following a 10 week century training program, gradually increasing my weekly mileage from about 70 to 190, which includes a long Saturday ride to work. Riding early in the morning is the key, and you're lucky if you're a lark.

I gripe about the same stuff, except not so bad on the work hours. I wouldn't take a job where I had to work more than 50/week. Fortunately, I am in a business and a point in my career where I can set that limit. Anyway, working 8-10 hours a day, having a wife that 8 months pregnant, and a 2 year old at home is not conducive to riding my bike daily. I am actually thrilled if I ride more than once/week. Sad but it really makes you enjoy that 1-2 rides you get.

Sometimes, I'll bring my bike to work and get some miles in on my lunch break.

Ever thing of splitting a commute? Drive in, bike home and then bike back the next day. Assuming it's not too hilly that's only 8 hours of riding @15mph ( 6 hours consumed since 2 of them would have been driving anyways ). Not something you can do weekly, but it would get your mile in. If you can bring up your average to 20mph and do it once a week that's 120 miles while only consuming an additional 4 hours of your time.

If a job is so far from home that you can't ride there, then it's probably not a healthy job to be having. Long distance car rides to work destroy one's sense of community, distances neighbors from one another, makes workers into mindless drones instead of feeling they have a stake in a local business...etc. plus you've already noted that it puts a pinch into family time, 2hours isnt enough for them...
I'd serously consider changing jobs, the abilty to ride to work is a good litmus test for the above other problems that arise from distant work...

You should read this:

https://www.slate.com/id/2295603/

Maybe you can drive part of the way to work, park in a public area, and ride the rest of the way in. You could get a 10 mule round trip each day, and some of that time would go toward your commuting time. Kill two birds with one stone, without having to bike the whole distance.

This is how I am working up to a full commute.

I don't always work the same number of hours per day but with my other commitments it is difficult to get out. What I started to do is ride at night, usually about 10pm. I'm fortunate to live in an area that I can have my front light and rear blinkie going and I feel safe going through my neighborhood to the bike trail. Can you find a 10 mile route you can do right from your house at night?

What's this 8 hours for sleeping thing you speak of?

WonderMonkey's idea of night riding has helped me out through the years. Fortunately I'll be retiring soon and will no longer have to concern myself with long work days away from home.

No. You are not alone. If it isn't work, it's family obligations, or church obligations, or some school event, or the weather goes bad, or *something*.

I try to be purposeful about my riding plans. I will actually tell people "no" on some things because I have a ride planned. But that approach can only go so far.

The other thing I've done is to map out some road/street-routes around town for when I don't have a lot of time. I've a short loop I do from one end of town to the other, for when I've got only 30 minutes or so. I've got a longer road loop for when I've got maybe an hour or ninety minutes.

Today and tomorrow I'm on call and limited in where I can go. So I will take my Giant STP two blocks down to the skate park and play around there a bit. At least I'll be on two wheels.

14 hours is a long work day o_O
I work 8 hours a day, and commute on my fabulous bicycle. I'll still ride for fun & function on the weekends.

It's probably like the N+1 rule; N+1= how much biking you want to do. In this case, N=how much you're currently doing.

Of course, I'm still new so everything is still very exciting and I want to bike ALL the time.