[Closed] Your (longest) commute distance?

Only do it once a week, and usually only one way, but it's 45-50 miles. At which point it's basically a ride not a commute. Sometimes drive half way and do 26-30 each way.

18 each way is a great distance. Short enough to do every day (I'd probably do 4 out of 5 to bring clothes in without a bag), but not so far it's either a real struggle to motivate yourself or totally destroy yourself.

I miss being able to commute by bike every day.

But this is in chat, so dunno if you mean time, rather than cycling specifically. In which case mine takes c2 hours each way by train. But we did this recently.

1/8 mile.

Guess it's just distance thing.

Other half has sold her car and commutes by train. For 1-2 weeks in June/July she needs the car - so offered her mine but I need to get sone miles in before adult I guess.

I have to work till 2200 too as I take work home - or do it at work till 1800 and then ride I guess.

Drac? 1/8 of a mile lol

Unfortunately njee, it's s village with no other connections except roads.
Might see how close the nearest station is though and see if it connects closer to my home.

Need fitness anyway I guess.

Currently 5 miles (by bicycle, natch) each way every day, which was lovely. Used to have an 18 mile each way ride but that was only a couple of times a week because I'm fat and lazy (also because there was no shower facility at work and there's no way I could ride that far without being minging at the end).

Anything more than about 15-20 miles each way for me starts becoming more of a chore and I reach the weekend not wanting to look at a bike.

Riding that every day doesn't make you fit, it simply trains you to ride 15 miles a day while dodging traffic and stopping for lights - come the weekend you're too wrecked to do any proper riding.

Your commute may offer a different experience though - the amount of traffic affects the enjoyment and riding style a huge amount so if you've got traffic free in nice scenery it's very different to dodging buses through the urban jungle.

I used to do 15 each way up and along the Ridgway 5 days a week. I miss it, now the short route is 5miles each way but as the trails dry out. I can get a 10m route in andd whatever I want on the way back.

3 miles to get out of the city, then the rest country lanes (A/B).

Although some are national cycle network back roads with farm fields/yellow gold.

Cars whizz by at 60mph on some areas but not too bothered unless I get hit!

Might take some life insurance so the other half can buy a car in my memory.

I would use a CX with 28mm slicks or my road bikes with 28mm and leave the work clothes once a week.

Should be a shower somewhere at work but I could stand closer to kids as punishment if they misbehave.

Mine's 15 miles each way, along country lanes & along a cyclepath next to a dual carriageway. I've not done it this year but as the forecast looks half decent this week I'm tempted to get back on it this week.

My usual route is 45km each way.

Each way? That's impressive!

18 miles each way, but I only do the inbound leg, which is entirely downhill.
And I only do it in the summer.
🙂

Yes. I don't do it every day though. And sometimes I use an e-bike 🙂

It all depends on the amount of climbing involved..
Shortest route for me is 10 miles with 1000ft of elevation.
Usually ride twice a week.. shortest route into work and then try and pick longer route home.. usually about 20-25 miles home with 2000 - 2500ft of elevation.
Leaves enough energy for a decent ride at the weekend

38 miles each way 90 % down quiet country lanes. However I've only done it half a dozen times last summer on nice days when I can get away with arriving late and leaving early. So I don't think it really counts.

I'll give it a try with a Garmin next weekend.

It is flat-ish no major climbs.

Nice to see others commuting similar or far more even on an e-bike - as long it's fun - that's what counts.

Thanks for the encouragement - bows in respect in awe of double figures posted here.

38 miles each way. On the way in I generally ride half way then get a train the second half, I ride the full way back. In the winter I do it once, maybe twice a week, summer is 3 with a full ride in once. When I'm fit and it's sunny it's an absolute pleasure, when I'm not and its windy it a tad "character building".

I used to do 19 miles each way 4 times per week. Average time was 52mins on the way in and 55min on the way home. Headwinds suck!

My advice would be to carry as little as possible and slate one day per week as a drop off/pickup clothes and clobber day on which you use the car or bus.

Rusty Spanner - Member

18 miles each way, but I only do the inbound leg, which is entirely downhill.
And I only do it in the summer.

Perfect 😀

15 miles each way, with some big climbs especially on the return journey.

Have the option of the old railway along the cliff top/edge for most of the route but it involves hauling the bike up a lot of steps at one particular point.

I used to ride it when I was working in a hotel and would regularly make the return journey at 3am which was great.

18 miles is fine, you'll love it. Especially if it's in for a couple of weeks!! You'll be wanting to do it more often by the end of it 🙂

It definitely won't take more than 90 minutes, and if your route has almost no traffic lights then it'll take a lot less

For National Cycle To Work day in 2013 I did Birmingham to Banbury and back, 90-odd miles total with a day's work in the middle, long day that, couldn't do it now. More normally I used to drive to either jct 15 or 12 of the M40 and cycle the rest, that was either 12 or 20 miles either way. Commute now is 12 miles and I haven't done it in months. 🙁

6-7 miles to work. Electric bike. Off road. 30 minutes. Can't understand how I'm not faster! Bike every day since two-three weeks.

I used to do 28 miles each way with 2000 ft climbing. I got very fit but was tough some days. Miss it a bit now.

I do 18.5 miles each way. It can be hard to combine it with actual training.

37 miles by road, 34 by cycle routes. Occasionally do the way home taking the bike in by train. Enormous bore I know, but did it on the fat bike on Friday. Well there was actually snow over the forth road bridge so it almost felt in its element... Same time as my time on a hardtail with road tyres so went not bad and will do it again 🙂

18 miles is doable but on the long side for a regular commuter; you need to get the showers/ locker/ bike shed etc prepared. starting now is great as you'll have a summer of riding 🙂

Plan on doing one day a week then increase to 2 then 3, personally I would only do maximum 4 days e/w and have a midweek rest day which I would use to do kit swap on the car / train day

The longest I've done day in day out is 10 miles each way. I've done longer commutes but not every day as I just found it dulled my enthusiasm and energy for fun rides at the weekends or evenings.

I now do 25 miles a journey, mainly Surrey country roads, but split it, so I drive in with bike on car Monday, ride home, ride back Tuesday, then drive home again. Wed off then same again thurs & Friday. It's working well so far...

I do 30km one way 4 days a week
outbound to work is by a small ferry across the fjord and then I cycle home

A whopping 4 miles each way for me. No time to break a sweat, really.

14 miles each way, typically do there and back three times a week.

10 miles there 10 miles back. 5 days a week. Along old railway line so nice and flat and sea and estuary views all the way. I do find I now use strava (gulp) to record my times, progress and lack of fitness!!

I commute 2.5km (linear distance) between millhouses and bentsgreen in sw sheffield. this nearly always involves going the long way round out into the peak. Houndkirk, burbage, stanage, lady cannings being the usual suspects. sometimes a bit further to the hope, edale or derwent valley.

I rode very nearly 10,000km on my MTB last year doing this sort of thing 🙂

mine is the same OP i.e. 18 miles each way.

you need to build up to it.

https://www.strava.com/activities/537201874

when i did it, 22 miles either way sandwiched between a 13 hour shift, 2/3 days a week

once took the long way, did 59 miles, then a 8 hour shift then 22 home

My commute is 0.3 miles. Though I do double that up to 4 trips a day as I pop home for lunch.
Builds up a right appetite that does...

DrP

Edit - though when I worked in Pompey A+E, and would often forget no trains ran on a sunday morning I'd often end up doing the 36 miles home on the fixie after a full night shift!

My longest was 18ish miles e/w across London, 5 days a week as the other options were horrible. Could be shortened quite a bit by using the North Circular, which I shudder at the thought of now, but I used to do that if running late. I almost miss it now but at the time it buggered my training up.

Now is a puny 6 miles e/w, traffic free and easy enough to do on a rest day, but it does mean I'm on a bike 7 days a week, 3 times a day most days. Gets a bit old.

Edit - just remembered I did Palmers Green to New Malden for a while, some 20 odd miles.

In London I had a 13 mile commute, which was 16 for a while when I lived further out. Couldn't face that more than twice a week though - it takes quite a while in heavy traffic.

Now have 6 miles each way on cycle paths which is a wonderful way to start the day, especially when it's sunny so I do it 4 times a week, and I'm still happy to ride at the weekend

Commute on 26" ht 4miles each way, 5 days a week. just under two miles out of town onto country lanes and/or bridleways. I like the options of short commutes, can make them long one day and keep them short another. Usually one ride at the w/e.

25.2 miles each way.North London into Hertfordshire.
In the winter months, I usually leave the car at work &ride home (lots of options to increase distance) then spin in the morning after.
Glad we moved north from Kentish Town,now I don't have to do Highgate West Hill every time. 😀

My commute is only 14 and a bit miles each way but a I have to cross the Quantocks so there's some pretty steep climbing involved.
On the plus side I've got a year till I retire and then all my Quantocks riding will be just for fun. 🙂

Used to do a 16mile commute. Was fine and c45 ish minutes, so about 50odd minutes once I'd got the bike in the building and had a quick shower. That was roughly the same as the train with the walks at either end. Horrible in bad weather though and there were always dodgy moments in the same few areas. (A6 - Levenshulme mostly).

I do 21 miles each way 5 x a week. Takes 1hr 15. I would like a shorter commute, but train fares / house prices mean it's the only option.

Currently 6 miles each way (west London into central) so do it on the bike every day I can. Wouldn't mind something slightly longer, but not too much longer.

19 miles each way. Takes 1hr 15 for me on the Charge Cooker 29er with Rocket Rons.

Worst parts of the commute are the first mile to work, up something called Apple Pie hill... which at 6am isn't nice.
Also the carrying of a bag full of clothes and a laptop which is WAY too heavy to be fun.

15 miles each way. Inbound is nearly all downhill. Wish it was the other way around to be honest. Try to do it twice a week, but struggling as need to be out of the office a lot at the moment.

There is however, no finer way to start the day.

Used to do 30m (fairly hilly) each way, although there was no way I'd do it 5 days a week. TBH it was fine when the weather was good, if it was cold / wet it could get proper demoralising.
Quite liked driving 1/2 way and doing 10/15m depending on the conditions. What wasn't so good was getting a flat after 10m, having to fix it then pedal like **** to make the time up in order to get to work on time.

My longest commute is a lumpy 11.5km but I extend the return journey to 25-40km to get some riding in and avoid the central traffic nonsense. Some days you just want to carry on riding, others you think 'this was a daft idea' as you get home sopping wet and miserable.

Mine is 20 miles each way and I do it 3-5 days a week, all year round, only reason I don't do it is if I've got something else on. For example did Monday to Thursday last week but couldn't do Friday as I was going away for the weekend.

My average over the year is 1h 10 mins, and 1h 30 is perfectly doable, but time doesn't really matter so just go at a pace you're comfortable with.

Despite what a lot of people say you don't need to eat huge amounts of food, you don't end up with legs that don't fit in jeans and you should still have energy left to ride at the weekend - I do.

I love commuting on the bike though, my route is all road but 12 miles of it is on a segregated cycle path over a moor.

I do 20 miles each way every day, it's ok. Didn't feel like it on Friday, but didn't want to pay for the train either so just sucked it up.

I like it, I can eat pretty much as much cake as I can afford 8)

I used to do 12 miles each way every day into London.

The alternative way of getting to work meant a horrendously overcrowded train and I could never face it.

I wouldn't want to ride any further than that every day, certainly not without a backup method of getting to work. Sometimes it was a real chore, especially in winter when i wasn't feeling 100%. Thankfully it was quite flat so i could always crawl in.

It was great in the summer however, and despite what people say, most people in London are quite friendly and I frequently chatted with people at the lights and so on.

I don't know how you guys do 40 miles every day!

20 miles but have been driving in/riding home/riding in/driving home a couple of times a a week, usually out and about the rest of the time so need the car.

normally about 1.15 home 1.30 there, keeps the fitness ticking over quite nicely

Mine's a minimum of 20 miles but tends to creep up as the weather improves. Out of the ten journeys a week I try to ride 6 and drive 4 of them. Last week totalled 184 miles on my Genesis Flyer singlespeed, an average of 30 miles per ride which I think is fairly respectable.

It's obviously doable coz others manage it, question is how long have you got to get some training? I've been doing ~25mile minimum round trip 4 days a week for about 9 years, was doing ~18miles for a few years before that. ~33 is the most I do semi regularly, I do the occasional monster commute days, but they wipe me out so not sustainable.

Upping the effort, an extra hill or a few more miles than usual can knock you on your arse so keep it steady. Offroad/cycle track you have the option to go as slow as you want to save your legs - but unless it's [i]well[/i] tarmaced it will add effort, even smooth hardpack is draggy. On road there are certain points where I feel a lot safer upping the speed to closer to the cars around me (taking the lane etc) so can interfere with an energy saving "slow n steady" riding style.

Killing yourself commuting can be demoralising if you're not fit to do a "proper" ride at weekend...but if it's just a short term thing probably embrace it all as free riding time, pedal your legs off, sleep soundly at night and rest at weekends.

Mine's 30km pretty much on the dot each way.
But that is a very roundabout route taking in a couple of good climbs (Ranmore, and up to and down Staples which is a fantastic view on a sunny morning)
Home journey can be anywhere in the Surrey Hills... 🙂
Direct is a lot shorter but a lot busier with other traffic.

I normally do 10-11 miles each way. 1h30 will be plenty to do 18 miles. You might be tired by the end of the week or two but you'll cope fine, just avoid having to race.

I have occasionally cycled 45-50 miles to a weekend away or to see a friend after work on a Friday, which can be a challenge at the end of the week, but is rewarded with ample booze.

18 seems to be a popular commuting distance on here, i'm the same-ish - 18.5 miles each way if I do cyclepath/road or bang on 20 if I stay on the cyclepath pretty much all the way, only done it 5 days in a row once & I was burst all weekend after that, although I suppose i'd get used to it eventually... I don't beat myself up about it though & just stick to the dry-ish days. The headwinds are a killer sometimes though, last Monday it took me 1:30 to get into work & 55 minutes home.

OP - try & make a point of doing it once or twice per week at first, I started with Tuesday & Thursday at first, then progressed to Mon/Wed/Fri, then Mon/Tue/Thurs/Fri, just think of all the food you can eat as inspiration & you'll obviously need some new gear and perhaps a new bike too.

[i]The headwinds are a killer sometimes though, last Monday it took me 1:30 to get into work & 55 minutes home.[/i]

Sounds like my commute last week, headwind in the morning Monday to Thursday, Tuesday was the worst, think I was 1h30 too. You don't ride Kilmarnock-Glasgow-Kilmarnock do you 🙂

I'm plagued by the terrible easterly winds of Renfrewshire, (Lochwinnoch-Glasgow-Lochwinnoch) although one day last week it all went to cock & somehow I had a tailwind in and again going home, it was magnificent although I now may owe my soul to the dark lord himself. Still, it was worth it at the time.

Must have been Friday as I had brutal headwinds in all week - although I would much rather have a headwind in than home.

you'll obviously need some new gear and perhaps a new bike too.

This goes without saying.

75 km into work# and 15 km home. I do that once a week for training miles. Of course I also ride the shorter route in and out on other days up to about 160 km/week

18 miles each way is possible but if you do it every day you will always be hungry (it's 1200 Kcal) and likely to be tired.

#Windsor to Uxbridge via laps of Chobham Common.

Currently doing LS4 to Central Leeds.

A puny 2.9 miles each way (and that's if I go the long way round to take in a few steep roads...). Can be as few as 1.9 taking a linear route.

The pros are that I can roll out of bed at 8.30 and be at my desk by 9, cons are that that for long rides before or after work I have to spend ages (well, 20 mins!) riding out of/back into the city before I hit anywhere nice and quiet.

[i]18 miles each way is possible but if you do it every day you will always be hungry (it's 1200 Kcal) and likely to be tired.[/i]

That's not the case once your body is used to it. I do 20 each way most days and don't eat any more than usual, I'm not always hungry and I'm no more tired than usual.

To be fair I could do with the deficit!

Completed 12 miles of hill sprints and general cruising on my CX.

Hope to ride to work next month after done more training.

Thanks everyone for inspiring me with their commutes, appreciated as I would have chickened out.

The drect route is 17 miles each way, straight down the A6 into central Manchester, and is all a bit yuk.

The scenic route is 34 miles/2900 feet, and is rather less yuk

I peobably don't do it more than once a week though