How long is your commute? Is your ride fairly flat, or is it hilly? Rural or urban? Roads or bike paths? How long does it take you? Do you bike every day, or a few times a week? In the snow, or no? I’m considering biking to school this fall (13 miles one way, hilly, mostly rural, on the roads, takes me 1-1.5 hours depending on the winds) instead of driving and want to know about other’s rides.
Thanks!
I’ve been commuting by bike this summer out in California. The only reason I really contemplated doing it is because it’s really easy (just about the perfect situation for bicycle commuting, IMO):
Approximately 3 miles one way
Almost completely flat
Takes about 15 minutes
Pretty much always sunny
Bike lanes/wide shoulders most of the way
In fact, it sounds like my situation is almost completely opposite to yours, so I guess my good experiences probably don’t inform your decision much at all…
This past spring and summer I was riding in about once a week, although there were a few weeks where I rode in at least 3 or 4 times. I’ll probably ride in a couple times a week for at least another couple of months, or until our rainy season really starts. It doesn’t snow here, but I can’t ride in the cold rain.
My commute is about 12.5 miles one way.
Almost completely flat.
It’s a weird mix of rural and urban.
7 miles of it is on a paved bike trail along a creek. It’s actually a very nice ride.
About one mile is heading towards our downtown area, but never actually enters downtown, since the entrance to the trail is just before that area.
And the rest is on a busy road with a very wide bike lane/shoulder. The road is busy, but the area is mostly farms and vineyards. The trickiest parts for me are a couple of overpasses over highway 101. I just need to be extra careful and alert when near the on and off ramps.
It usually takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to get to work, and an hour or a tiny bit more to get home in the afternoon. The wind is brutal for some reason on the ride home, and I don’t have the ‘urgency’ to get in to work on time, which slows my ride home down a bit I think.
I haven’t commuted yet, but I did bike to work last Sunday (to see how doable it is).
9.57 miles one way. About 45 minutes one way. Mostly flat. About half on trails or bike lanes.
If I start i’ll start with 1/day a week and expand.
Won’t do it in the snow.
Brian
Two miles one way. Mostly flat, but with one overpass. Takes me about fifteen minutes or so.
I’m going to miss that ride when it starts snowing here.
As the crow flies, my ride is a couple of kms. But to get there I have to go back and forth, and backtrack a bit here and there. It takes about 25 minutes, if I don’t stop to get cash from the ATM on the way. It’s a mix of road, dirt track through a housing estate that’s being built, and bike path. A little bit hilly. And a bastard if there’s any sort of wind, because half of the ride is through the back of the housing estate/along the edge of an airfield, so the whole area’s been stripped clear, and any breeze feels like a gale.
I don’t enjoy it, but I don’t drive so there’s no other option for me.