Question for FG commuters.
 

I love riding my bike and pretty much hate catching trains (especially in Tokyo). If possible I'd love to commute by bicyle, but it's a daily round trip of about 70km. Does anybody ride this kind of distance on a daily basis or a few times a week on a FG bike (or any bike, for that matter)?

I'd like to do it on my FG bike as that's the one I most enjoy riding and I'd be particularly interested to hear if anybody commutes in Tokyo. Cheers.

EDIT: I know there is a commuting forum, but I'd like to hear from FG riders first. Thanks.

My commute is 4 miles... womp womp

just do it. Maybe it will work out just fine for you. I have a friend that was commuting that much for a short time, he ditched the messenger bag for a good rear rack and panniers. He also wen't clipless but I don't know if he did it because of all the riding

Yeah, a 40 mile daily round trip would be a lot for me to take riding fixed. I'm spoiled, though...my round trip is 6 miles. :rolleyes:

I really don't understand the round trip talk with commuting. You ride 30-40km, cleanup, work/rest, then ride home 30-40km. To me, once I'm spinning... the miles seem to mesh together. I really have trouble guessing distance and many times I've thought I've only ridden 10 miles and turns out someone with computer says we've ridden 20+ miles. To me, commuting is all about time and how long it takes you to get there given the effort put in. There are so many variables to this that no one can answer. Gearing, traffic, road conditions, weather, number of intersections, etc make it impossible to really compare with you.

FWIW I commuted for a year on geared bike and then 150 days on a fixed gear bike. Commute was 10 miles one way with 500ft of climbing. I enjoyed it so much better than geared as I didn't have to worry about anything on the bike except for tire pressure. I enjoyed the lighter overall weight and the low speed control (waiting for traffic or redlight). I plan on doing 12 mile commute to school (different attire) in September however I'm thinking about giving SS a try.

Starting tomorrow, my round trip will be a whopping 2 miles.

My commute is a 60 kilometer round trip, mostly flat, with a few nasty hills. I have a ferry midway that gives me a ten minutes rest. I ride all year in all kinds of weather. I think the clue is to find a gearing that you are comfortable with. In the winter I ride 47/19 because of the studs, on my summer bike I have 45/14. If you are motivated it shouldn't be a problem.

I used the term 'round trip' because that's the distance I'd be covering in a day. Getting there is one thing, but after putting in a day's work, I might not feel much like cycling 30-35km back home, so I was wondering if anybody does so.

The first 20km or so would probably be along a cycle path by the side of a river which I ride regularly - no traffic, no hills, no intersections, smooth, but gets very windy. In central Tokyo, not sure as I've not ridden that section yet, but I imagine lots of traffic lights, but nothing too horrendous. Gearing will be 46/15 on my FG or I might ride a cross bike. Weather changes, obviously, so I'd factor that into the time on any given day.

Fresh Garbage - I'd thought about panniers. Having my backpack on for my current 6km each way (to the first of the train stations I use) is fine, but I think it would get tiresome over five times that distance.

Cheers for the input, everyone.

Try it on a weekend. If you find it bearable, then try it on a workday. Who knows, maybe get some work done on the weekend. :)

Thanks, yeah, I think that's the best idea. Time and weather permitting I might give it a go this weekend.

In this case I think the most important factor is your saddle.

The best part about my day is riding to/from. I've heard it said that work is what you do between bike rides. I put in about 40 miles (about 63km) a day most days, all fixed. In my experience showing up flushed, happy, alive in mind and body makes the first part of the day just fly by. Then, even if I don't feel like riding home later, I feel like I can tough it out and build some character on the way home. And usually within 3 miles I'm just as happy on the bike as I am any other time.

If you like riding, you'll probably be fine IF you prepare yourself and your ride to be comfortable and easy. Doing it with ****ty pedals, uncomfortable riding position/poor fit, a heavy wind-sail messenger bag, uncomfortable clothes etc is going to make it suck a little bit/a lot.

Its supposed to rain tomorrow (I’m in Saitama).
Anyway, my current commute is about half of yours, but I do it on fixed gear bikes, and I have to agree with the others that not having to worry about much, but tire pressure, lubing your chain and tension is great. I recently moved to a clip less set up since I don't wear my "outside" shoes at work, so its perfect and really does make a difference. Also, as many places of employ will pay for your train fare here I essentially make a little money by commuting this way, but I don't know your situation. Scooters and bike salmon are ridiculous here, but u probably know that already. From my experience, Japanese drivers seem to get a little thrown off by people hauling ass with traffic and splitting and/or taking a lane on bikes. I guess this results from the way in which the vast majority of people here see bikes purely as a utilitarian tool for going to the station, shopping etc.
Anyway, you're lucky to have the path along the river, Sumidagawa?

Great post, thanks!

Indiglow - Yeah, my clients pay for travel, so I could probably save/make around 30,000 yen a month. The main reason I want to do it is that I'm pretty much sick of trains, though. I'm actually up the top end of Chiba (near Kashiwa) so I'd be cycling along the Edogawa.

i commute fixed about 90% of the time. about 40km round trip. it is super easy, and nothing to worry about, your extra distance should be fine. more importantly, i ride with a carradice barley bag, to take the pressure of the back. i highly recommend that strategy. it tends not to effect my bike handling too much.

yea, I ride like 15 miles round tripe, but that's nothing compared to 70km. I enjoy riding, but 20 miles one way is too much for me personally. if I didn't have to share my car, I might do 1 way trips (drive work with bike on rack, ride home, ride to work in morning, drive home, drive to work, bike back, etc etc).

That way I'm not killing myself.

I ride (at least) 14miles/22km every day on FG, and its no problem at all :)

--edit-- nevermind

45 km round trip for me. It's about three minutes slower than on a bike with a freewheel since I have to limit my downhill speed and have to hammer out of the saddle on the way back up.

I would hate to ride that kind of distance in Tokyo during the summer. It is miserably humid.

Two years, car free, riding slightly more than 70km (RT) across Cle, OH daily, in all weather.
All fixed. It was no problem.
Though I don't know the terrain or traffic conditions in Tokyo.
I had a nice weather bike and a full fender beater for winter and rain.
I could get to work faster by bike than by using pub trans.

Enjoy

I used to ride my cruiser from Yokohama to Yokosuka....I think it was 56km round trip. I still arrived before a lot of people who drove

Damn thats far! I thought my 17 mile round trip rides were long.
I say go for it. It's usually only rough in the beginning

Used to average as much as 60km a day and handled that fine save for all the eating I had to do to maintain weight.

My current commute is 32 steps to my shop but I do find time to knock down 30-40km a day.

I only commute about 5-6mi one way, but I go longer to get groceries, etc.

Best advice would be to get a good rack/pannier. I have a rack and use a Timbuk2 Bullitt, which is awesome.