[Closed] Commuting distances

he he, prepare to eat thy words foolish mortal.

Not from me though, mines about 17 each way, when it's nice I'll make the return leg about 20. I know there's lots who do much more than that though.

I bet if we ask how many of them do it fixed and offroad the number'll come down significantly mind.

I only do 9 miles each way but do go over the Malverns so wouldn't want to do much more... I don't do it offroad though, or fixed 😳

but might go for some offroad routes come the summer 😀

I do 15-16km each way and I'm happy with that. The main constraint isn't distance, it's time. I leave the shop around 18:30. Add in a bit of traffic and an uphill/headwind all the way home and that's 50 minutes. Any further/later and I'd not really be home in time for a family dinner. I'm sure if I finished earlier, I'd consider a longer commute though.

Mine is only four miles!!

My option is to sprint the four miles home arriving home in an 'orrible mess!!!!!

currently got a 3min pedal to work

used to ride a 7.5mile each way which was enough on 12+hour shifts and i miss the "therapy"

gonna have a 10miler soon, but with 05:45 starts on 12+ hour shifts its gonna take some commitment

I currently ride 12km to work SS, on road through central London.

It's going to change though as I need a new place to live.

wooobob: I'm in exactly the same position as you - same distances involved and everything. I reckon I'll just get sick of the longer commute. Any comments?

I ride 17 miles each way, now the ice has gone I'm riding five days a week again.
Nice contouring ride through the cumbrian hills.

Sometimes isn't the most appealing prospect on cold dark mornings but I love riding home, nice to unwind at the end of the day.

9 miles each way on road fixed. There's a couple of hills - but it's the traffic that will one day kill me.

8 miles each way, undulating 40mins to get there, 45 to get back on a fat tyred mtb, fitted cx tyres to make it a big quicker

Last year my commute went from an 8 mile road commute to a 12 mile road commute into the edge of the city centre. Time wise it went from 30 minutes, allowing for hills and traffic to 45 minutes. I got narked when I got stuck in the extra traffic, nearly got killed a couple of times trying to sneak through the traffic, and was getting really grumpy at the extra time getting home to the family each night.

Then the light went on when I realised that my house is just over a country mile from a sustrans cycle path, and the office is about 50 yards from a canal towpath that can be linked to it in various creative ways. Spent the winter doing what is now a flat 12 mile commute which takes an hour on the cheap hybrid I bought to do it on, but only involves a third on road. Happily taking the hit on the time to enjoy the wildlife on the new route.

Works for me - looking forward to those early summer mornings when the light wakes you up stupidly early and I can do a longer, pretty much completely off road route along the full towpath and through Attenborough Nature Reserve.

I'm usually only a few miles now but the longest I've done was 11 miles each way. I reckon I'd go to 15 but after that it would depend on the circumstances really- getting on for an hour each way is a bit much for a commute as far as I'm concerned.

It's time for me. I don't like much than an hour each way. How far that gets me depends on the traffic and topology.

Usually 11 miles in, 35-40 minutes, however long I fancy on the way home, at least 15, often 20-25. Nice way to get the miles in, looking forward to summer when the 4 o clock finishes will mean some nice long rides home in the sun!

Realistic everyday commute distance I think 10/15 miles each way would be good. Anymore than that and you just wont want to do it everyday.

Last year my commute was 37 miles each way, only did it once a week though as the last thing you can be bothered do do at 6/7pm is bike home after a 9/10 hour day 😆

I did 15 miles each way daily for a couple of years. My commute is now 28 miles each way, not that I've done it recently. Really must start riding again. When I am riding, I do that commute 1-4 times a week. It's good for fitness 🙂

Mine is 15 miles each way, 5 days a week.

The key is to take your time initially to let you legs catchup with the increase in regular mileage, and to increase your energy intake so that you don't burn out by Wednesday.

6.5 miles each way, about 25 mins, nice distance for mornings when my 3 yr old can soon make you miss your ideal departure time! homeward bound can be extended with a nice 20 mile road route on the road bike or 10 mile ish off road route on MTB, beats the rat race car commute any day.

I do 13 miles each way 4 days a week into centre of Nottingham been doing it about 2 years, I find the bad bit the traffic and motivation after a full day at work. Been knocked of once guy just pulled out, I was fine just made a right mess of his BMW 😉

25miles each way about twice a week in summer.

Trying to get into 12 miles each way 3 times a week in winter but failing miserably at the moment 😳

17miles each way is a minimum..

2 morning i will do 40miles on the way in.. Occasionally bunk an afternoon to put in a longer ride on way home to... 60-80miles generally 3-4.5hours.

Mine is 17.5 miles each way, it's a fraction shorter if I do the off-road version (although that takes at least 20 mins longer) and there's various different ways I can combine the options open to me - half on and half off road is a viable route.

It's a fraction too far to do every day though - I have done it 5 days a week in the past and it just leaves me wrecked over the weekend, I don't want to look at a bike!

When I worked 12hr shifts I had a nice 8 mile rie which was about as far as I'd want to do on that shift pattern.

I've also done occasional days working at a site 24 miles away and that was a beautiful commute along country lanes, hardly any traffic and in good weather it was stunning - agian far too far to do every day but on the odd day a week I worked at that site I used to really look forward to the commute, I'd be upset if the weather was too crap to ride.

As for the OP question, I'd say about 12-15 miles is perfect for an every day ride - much more than that and it starts to wear you down. Being able to vary the route makes it a lot more bearable.

Thanks all. 37 and 28 - wahey 😆

I'd love the 12 miler with the sustrans canal route. If I lived and worked back oop north that would be an option, but I'm pretty much looking at drawing a circle of eg 12-15 mile radius around central London. Although TfL do (or did) do some good maps which has helped produce more interesting and less hazardous runs in the past.

mine is 15 miles each way from 1 side of bristol to the other taking in 2 big hills with lots o little ones and 2 dual carridgeways i do in roughley 45-50 mins depending how i feel thats on a 26" slicked mtb at the mo i try and do atleast 1 day a week but when the wether improves il be uping to 3 days hopefully

I'm about 23 miles each way, but like the other longer folk up there ^^ can't really do it much more than once or twice a week (and still enjoy the weekend riding). I've not done it over the winter, which I do miss, and am actually plannng on starting again this Thursday.

I can take a sustrans route for a large chunk of it, and miss pretty much all the towns en route out, with minimal main roads. I'm still lit up like a christmas tree though.

Looking forward to thursday now even more! 🙂

My commute is 15 miles each way crossing into Devon from Cornwall. It has more downhill on the way in & of course more uphill on the way back. My best times are 45mins in & 57mins home but it really depends on the wind direction to get the better times. I ride a HT with slick tyres.

Living in a rural area the nearest street lights are 9 miles away therefore I only commute in BST when it is lighter & I can be clearly seen. I try to commute 3 times a week & after a while I vary the route home to take in a bigger home leg of 28 miles which I have managed to do in 2hrs 🙂

The more often I commute the fitter I get & the more I eat but there are times after multiple days that I find it hard to get on the bike to ride home - weird - once I'm riding I'm OK but just getting on the bike can be a mental struggle, not sure if any other regular commuters have had this?

My ride is only 4mi each way, and this is normally done in just a tad under 10 mins. Flat all the way!

Used to ride 17mi each way to my old job.

I am planning on doing a 36 mile each way commute when the mornings get alot lighter (probably around early April) as a way of improving fitness and also training for triathlons & sportive's. Planning on starting at once a week then building up to probably three times per week if i can manage it. I also do quite a bit of riding at the weekend so don't want to be burnt out. It's gonna be an early start but after a couple of months i'm hoping to be doing the ride in two hours or less! The route is fairly flat, but i can add in a few extra hills and miles on the way home to extend the ride.

Currently 15 miles on road with only one hill.Used to be 10 miles on road or 12 off road...... but with 480m of climbing!Nice dh singletrack on the way home tho!

15ish miles here, I'd say about 80% off road, with the last mile or 2 on tarmaced paths.

Although I haven't done it since just before Christmas.

Starting again next week with the good old drive-cycle-cycle-drive-drive-cycle-cycle-drive-drive-cycle.

Only issue then is my car ends up at work over the weekend..... I am sure it'll be fine.

One miilllllllllllllllllllllion miles. And then home again.

14miles each way, but along a canal towpath with just one short steep hill at a 5 rise locks. I have no problems with arriving tired, infact I find it's a good way to feel totally awake at work. I also often do what drdom does, car bike bike car train bike train bike bike car car train bike etc etc etc depending on weather, work rotas, whether I can be bothered etc.

I take it you guys have good shower access etc at work? I'm moving jobs in April abd it looks as if i'll have myself a nice 15 mile road commute through a mountain pass in north lincolnshire...

Mine is roughly 13.5 miles each way with a few different options. Mostly on cycle paths. Usually 4-5 times a week, but aiming to do over 4000 commuting miles this year.

commute through a mountain pass in north lincolnshire...

Me, about 13 miles each way, last year did it over 50%.

This thread is quite heartening, since the new year I've been building up towards doing my commute every day and have peaked at doing it four times in a week but this really tired me out so I've dropped back to three until the clicks change. The ride is 15 road miles each way in/out of London village and takes anywhere between 55 mins and 1 hour and 5 mins on a cx bike. I was beginning to think that I wasnt going well, I've started eating much more and doing the recovery drink thing to keep me awake on an evening... The only thing that pees me off is you guys with a short commute sprinting past! Lol. Not really, gives me something to chase, or at least try and chase!

Between 13/15 miles each way, usually extending to about 25 on the way home a couple of times a week. Once the clocks go forward I'll be able to start mixing it up over the South Downs again. (West Sussex).

Agree that mornings can be tough, especially in the middle of winter, but it only takes 5 mins to put the smile on your face. Trip home over the downs into a setting sun is very nice for the soul 🙂

richmars - Member

commute through a mountain pass in north lincolnshire...

Which one is that?

The A15 😉 Although i've identified a nice quiet back lane that runs parrallel to it, so i'll be using that to avoid the unbelieveable traffic on the A road.

The area is as flat as a fart, especially seeing as i've spent the last 4 years mountain biking in the south west...

60 mile commute in the car each way (or thereabouts).
Last year I did get into a routine of taking bike in the car & unloading in a village to do the last 12.5miles commute by bike.

Struggling to get back into the routine of it again, especially since we had that bad spell of weather.
Gonna try and do it from next Monday. Once the weather gets a bit better, I will probably extend the cycle home to get more miles in my legs, time permitting.

I'm doing 100 miles a week at the moment, cycling every day. I'm finding its destroying my motivation to ride at the weekends, although it is partly due to the horrible weather. After getting rained on all week its difficult to go out and get soaking wet/muddy again at the weekend.

I have no other alternative way of getting to work so i wouldn't want the commute to be more than 10 miles if i still want to ride at the weekend.

However, if you can take the car/train/bus a day or two so you can get a rest in order to ride at the weekend, a longer commute would be fine. I've done a couple of crazy 70-80 mile roundtrips before, but only once a week.

17 miles each way. Currently doing 3 days a week, was doing 5 days in summer (with extra riding).

Moving house in around a month, which will give me a lumpy 25 miles each way. I reckon 3 times in summer, twice in winter.

(But right now, I hate it and just want to get in the car in the morning and listen to radio 4. Need time off the bike.)

7 miles each way in winter 5 days a week

anything up to 20 each way in better weather 5 days a week

365 days a year (if I worked weekends and holidays that is)

motivation for weekend rides can be hard to come by

I commute in to the smoke from Surrey - aprox 40km each way and have been riding it 3-4times a week right through winter. Means I can get away with less riding on the weekend and more time with the fam but it has been damn hard at times. The constant days and the back to backs has taken its toll on my ageing (not really that old) body.

10 miles each way, uphill two thirds of the way in means a longer downhill route on the way home. I can't do it every day as I need the car for work.

between 15 and 20 miles each way - 3 or 4 times a week with taking clothes in one day per week. At this time of year it's the bike that takes the bashing - everything starts to break!

My commute can vary drastically depending if the little'un needs dropping at nursery, or if I'm between sites....
Shortest is just over 12m return, longest is about 25m round trip (which involves 4 miles to nursery, 6 miles to site 1, then 10 miles to site 2, then a few m to nursery, and 4 miles home! All over the shop!)

I tell you what though, my appetite has gone sky high! I ate over 1000kal of flapjack yesterday, just in snacks!

DrP

I currently do 13miles each way, mixture of offroad and roads approx 1hr each way on a SS CX bike. Wouldn't trade it for anything!

Its in London - but I only need to share the road with cars for approx 4 miles, the rest is separate cycleways including Wimbledon common, Richmond Park and the thames footpath. LOVELY

10 miles each way for me, did first one this year last week, and aiming to build it back up to 4-5 days a week.
Country roads, so a bit dark at the moment, but its a nice ride with some cheeky trails to be had if wanted...

Pah, all your klickage claims are nowt compared to the commutes most of [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apollo_astronauts ]these guys[/url] had to get to work.

Option 1 (when I am late) 15 miles each way ,all road with lots of traffic.

Option 2 17 miles each way ,all road , very low traffic.

Option 3 20 miles each way ,includes 4 miles of single track and forest road , next to no traffic.

I mix and match them depending what I am doing at night ,but I don't think I would like to live much further away.
I try to do 3 days a week in the Winter and 5 days a week the rest.

It's the only way I could ever fit my training round family life and it gives me enough base mileage to not have to worry too much about weekend top ups.

I don't know what you do for a living but you may want to consider that the further you ride, the sweatier you get? if you don't ahve a shower at work it could be pretty minging!

Shower at work ,
Bike storage at work (inside).
Drying area at work.
Storage for clothes at work.

It's almost like having my own gym 😉

Duffer whereabouts on the a15???

I do about 32km, giving me 40miles a day. It's fairly flat, only climbing about 200m both ways. I've only been doing it 3 times a week during the winter and hope to build more during the summer. The secret for me is to have a heart rate monitor on, and keep at zone 2 as much as possible. It feels very slow and I get passed by all sorts but it means I still feel fresh for a good weekends riding. I can easily get the train if I don't feel like it or my bike isn't working.

I used to commute 14km everyday and I had no alternative to the bike. Keeping the bike in working order became key and I couldn't imagine being able to do that with just the one bike. I had two I used for commuting, and if the worse came to the worse I was on my decent bike.

Commuting seems to kill equipment like nothing else.

Commuting seems to kill equipment like nothing else.

Tell me about it. I think it's one of the reasons why I'm so out of love with riding to work - knackered bike = no fun.

I'll limp on until I move, but the first job in the new garage will be a full strip down of the commuter and replacement of large parts of the drivetrain, rims and other consumables.

I've been doing 4 miles in (mostly downhill) and 6 miles home (nearly all uphill obviously!) since I took my 2nd car off the road in October. It was a slog on the wet days but a pleasure through the snow and ice as I have an alternative off road route for most of the way. I'm in a similar situation, thinking of moving firther out of Manchester but not sure on the distance to cycle in. Maybe try it a few times and see how it goes. Or by a motorbike again! Definately not gonna sit in a car for an hour and a half either side of work though. Again where we a re thinking of moving to will be allmost all uphill on the way home 🙁

For once, there seems to be an abundance of good, honest opinion on here. I've found that cycling to work 5-6 days in a week knackers me for any weekend leisure cycling and that seems to be fairly common.

What's happened to the real hard-men who do 50-60 miles a day and then are up for mega-marathons every weekend?

topgunsteve - Member
I don't know what you do for a living but you may want to consider that the further you ride, the sweatier you get? if you don't ahve a shower at work it could be pretty minging!

change of cloths and wet wipes does a good job.

25 mile round trip for me, though so far I've only done it a handful of times.

Sitting at my desk in the afternoon having driven into work today, I feel raring to go and say to myself "tomorrow I'm taking the bike."

But I know that tomorrow at 7am, I'll feel like a sack of wrongness, unable to contemplate swinging my legs out of bed into my slippers, let along swinging a leg over my bike on yet another cold, grey and dismal day.

Once the clocks go forward I shall prob start again.

For once, there seems to be an abundance of good, honest opinion on here.

When seeking tips from clubmates on a route for my upcoming new commute (did I say I was moving? 😉 ), a friend gave some pointers. He also told me about the effect of doing 5 days of a round trip of 50 miles - he would fall through the front door at the end of the week. And he was an elite cat road racer at the time..!

It's not so much the distance, or the incessant nature of 5 or 6 days a week. It's doing that and having to then complete a full day at work that's the killer.

I do 15 miles each way crossing the Quantocks and work 12 hour shifts it makes a long day and the weather can change a lot in 12 hours, so I don't do it as much as I should 🙁

It's not so much the distance, or the incessant nature of 5 or 6 days a week. It's doing that and having to then complete a full day at work that's the killer.

That's it. 6 miles in with a shower = great. Can't beat it. Finish work, then get home under your own steam and eat a massive dinner! 5 days a week no probs. Or: 25 miles in, have shower, try to stay awake all day then have to cycle 25 miles home! Fun as a one-off, or occasionally, but not every day.

The consensus seems to be <15 miles, with some countryside. Gives me something to work from... 🙂

Yep, I do find I'm flagging by the end of the week even with such a short commute. It doesn't seem to slow me down at weekedns though and I'm still faster than I used to be and better at getting up hills. I feel tired but must be fitter which compensates - if that makes sense?

mine is a 60 mile round trip..

4 days a week, brompton + train = above 10miles per day of actual cycling

1 day, single speed road bike all the way and back

monkeychild - Member
Duffer whereabouts on the a15???

I'm soon to start work at Kirton Lindsey, but it looks like i may be moving to Scampton, so it'll be a good 15 mile ride. Honestly, i've been hoping to get a job a decent distance away, so i had an excuse to ride!

You local?

It's not so much the distance, or the incessant nature of 5 or 6 days a week. It's doing that and having to then complete a full day at work that's the killer

+1 i found that and my commute is 'only' 10k each way. now i take wednesday as a 'rest day'.

My commute(s).
option 1 - reasonably busy "A" road out of North London Village.
26 mile one way.

option 2 - 70%Sustrans route - very low traffic.
29 mile one way

option 3 - 50% Canal tow path & 40%country lanes.
37 mile one way.

I did option 1 for 5 days (On a nightshift pattern).Once.
it nearly killed me. Also my work output was reduced,significantly.
I did option 3 on Sunday and forgot a rearmudguard...doh. vvvCold.
Like others I mix the options to suit the season/shift/weather/workload.
Roll on the (dry)spring and summer when i can do option 3 and add another few miles and play out in Epping on the way home.

I'd love to commute more but I think I need to live closer to work for it to be realistic.
Like druidh said , if you do too much in the week it will impact on your weekend riding.

When I used to cycle commute I did 15 miles each way as a minimum during the Summer I'd more often than not take a more scenic canal/river route that was 20 miles each way. Knackering at first but after about three months the body got used to it and if I didn't ride in I was a right miserable git.

EDIT: Did ride much less at the weekends though.

Since my commute has changed to about 8 metres across the landing I am slower on the bike and considerably heavier. On the upside I don't spend over 10 hours a week getting too and from work.

2 miles each way. Way home has 1000' of climbing though, so its not *completely* woosey 🙂

What's happened to the real hard-men who do 50-60 miles a day and then are up for mega-marathons every weekend?

Ha ha ha . They are the walking dead with the 1000 yard stare that you see waiting at the start line.

Yup ,it's tiring and you are sometimes glad to get to Friday night , but then every day isn't at a flat out pace.

When I was trying to get silly miles in last Summer I would fit in 2 chain gangs after work, which was hard.
The thing that made it a lot easier (for me) was changing my eating pattern during the day so that I had enough energy for it all.

It paid off last year so going with (almost) the same approach again.

Oh , and I don't do the 1000 yd stare 😉

17 hilly Devon miles each way for my commute, so doing it every day would soon destroy me. I'm just starting to increase the number of commute by bike days after a slack winter period.
The key for me is to get plenty of rest days mixed in with the commuting and off road rding. Some days I'll drive, other days ride both ways, other days ride in and get the train home etc. Throw in an off road night ride mid week and one or both weekend days and that's plenty of cycling, so the rest days are important.
Seems to work fairly well without the motivation fading away.

36 miles a day four days a week = 144 miles a week plus MTB at weekends.

Covered 8,000km in 2010

60 mile commute in the car each way (or thereabouts).
Last year I did get into a routine of taking bike in the car & unloading in a village to do the last 12.5miles commute by bike.

Struggling to get back into the routine of it again, especially since we had that bad spell of weather.
Gonna try and do it from next Monday. Once the weather gets a bit better, I will probably extend the cycle home to get more miles in my legs, time permitting.

Same here. Trying to ride twice a week on a SS road bike from a car drop over a 9 mile moderately lumpy route around the Chilterns. Motivation after surgery and then a car crash has proved difficult, especially with the faff of preparing bags kit and car the night before.

Senior J: where do you live?

I used to commute from E18 to EC1 several years back.

No showers at work but live and work near the station so bike on train in the morning then cycle the 20 miles home at night, all pretty flat but sometimes extend it a bit and add a bit more up and down. About three times a week in summer keeps me fit enough, and leaves me fresh enough for whatever weekend rides I want to do.

I used to do 15miles there and back, it was good, but meant I ws tired by the weekend, probably because I treated prety much every day as a race.

Would love a nice commute but only have 6 miles at the moment, and its crap like most things in the south east.

Love that video, MTB-Idle. I'd seen it before and found it inspiring so thanks for sharing it again.

Tomorrow heralds the first (23m each way) commute of the year. I have that pre-race feeling at the moment (not that I race these days...) I think it's the fact that you and your kit can't fail, you have to get to work on time and you're cycling away from home all the while - unlike the weekend riding around in circles thing, with rarely any great time pressures.

I do 10 miles each way, just getting back to commuting after years (10+) of needing a car for work, now in a job where the work comes to me. I am currently on a hardtail with slicks, and with a new off road hardtail inbound , the current one will become dedicated commuter. I have managed twice a week for 2 weeks, planning to step it up considerably in the coming months, I do find it tiring but satisfying at the same time! No shower but wear merino top and have a strip wash at the sink and put clean clothes on - all good! Bike storage is a bit of an issue, and may have to move towards locking outside with a serious lock, against the grain but gonna gamble it..

i'm 14 miles each way and had to do it (crashed my car!) for a month (including shift work) for a month and it almost killed me, generally i'll do it 2 out of 4 days one of which a longer route home.