Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
What makes you think the average biking distance per day in North America is much different than the NL?
I don't have the statistics on this, but I do know that many cities in the USA segregate residential/commercial/retail much more sharply than do European cities, so if you're going to ride a bike at all, you probably need to ride at least a bit farther just to get out of your residential neighborhood.
Here's a
slightly dated report from the US Census about bike commuting. It notes the median bike commute time is 19.3 minutes (it's not 100% clear whether that's one-way or round-trip, but I assume one-way). If we assume a fairly leisurely 12 mph pace, that would be 3.86 miles.
The demographics of bike commuting in the USA are also completely different, which I think is important. Bike commuting in NL is normal. Everyone does it. In the USA, it's rare (0.6% of all commuters, per the above report), and the only people who do it are A) those who don't have a more convenient option, and B) those who actively prefer cycling. For those of us who prefer cycling, we'll probably tolerate longer distances because hey, we get to ride our bikes.