Your longest commute
#26
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 25 miles northwest of Boston
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any "park & rides" along the route? this is part of new cycling infrastructure, if your area supports cyclists. you drive part way, then bike, then reverse the process going home
#27
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: USA
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Bikes: 1996 Trek 970 ZX Single Track 2x11
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Your longest commute
Once was, several times weekly I would cycle just short of 25mi each way. Though practically none of that was in a bike lane or on a MUP. Oh, to be so young and injury-free as that. Ah, well.
#28
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Minnesota
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Bikes: Cannondale '92 T600 '95 H600 '01 RT1000
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I had a half century round trip commute from '04-'20 (covid casualty). I started with three times a week and gradually got to where I could do five days in a row if weather/schedule/attitude allowed. Four was a nice number with Wednesdays as a rest day. I ended up with an average of about 110 commutes a year--half my work schedule. Winters were lighter (Minnesota) and involved my Cannondale hybrid with studded tires. There were some slow commutes on that. Summers were with a Cannondale touring bike. I left shoes at work and had a drawer full of snacks, but otherwise carried most everything in my pannier.
Maintaining the attitude was more challenging than the physical aspect. I spent 3.5 hours on the bike per commute on average, so there wasn't a lot of extra time and energy on the days I commuted for other activities. I kept about 100,000 miles off the car in that time frame. The touring bike saw six times the miles as the hybrid, but they went through about the same number of components. Winters here are just harder on equipment.
If you bike the full way, replace the mountain bike, or at least put slicks on it. It will take time to build up the endurance. I've read 3-4 years, and that sort of fit with my early years. (But at one annual physical, my GP said, "You have the lungs of an elite athlete!" That was about the best compliment I've received, as I definitely don't have a racer's physique nor their speed.)
Maintaining the attitude was more challenging than the physical aspect. I spent 3.5 hours on the bike per commute on average, so there wasn't a lot of extra time and energy on the days I commuted for other activities. I kept about 100,000 miles off the car in that time frame. The touring bike saw six times the miles as the hybrid, but they went through about the same number of components. Winters here are just harder on equipment.
If you bike the full way, replace the mountain bike, or at least put slicks on it. It will take time to build up the endurance. I've read 3-4 years, and that sort of fit with my early years. (But at one annual physical, my GP said, "You have the lungs of an elite athlete!" That was about the best compliment I've received, as I definitely don't have a racer's physique nor their speed.)
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#29
No Pain, No Pizza
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Above Jamestown, CO
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My current commute 1-2x/week spring-fall, 23 miles downhill, takes 50 minutes. The ride home is 3,575 feet elevation gain, in around 2 hours 45 minutes. I’m still waiting for my new Tout Terrain which will fit studded snow tires to keep it going through the winter.
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#30
Full Member
Thread Starter
I tried cycling one way this weekend. My duties at work have changed in the last week or so, so this may not work anyway. My one way trip showed that I need some more conditioning for sure. There was a headwind and I was wiped by the time I got there. As for multimodal, there are no busses or trains, just double lane highway followed by heavy industrial area where I work.
#31
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: New Jersey
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I tried cycling one way this weekend. My duties at work have changed in the last week or so, so this may not work anyway. My one way trip showed that I need some more conditioning for sure. There was a headwind and I was wiped by the time I got there. As for multimodal, there are no busses or trains, just double lane highway followed by heavy industrial area where I work.
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