View Poll Results: How far will you ride (one-way) for utilitarian or transportation purposes?
5 miles or less
6
4.17%
5 - 10 miles
52
36.11%
10 - 15 miles
38
26.39%
More than 15 miles
48
33.33%
Voters: 144. You may not vote on this poll
POLL: How far is "cycling distance'?
#26
1. e4 Nf6
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Originally Posted by Roody
How far will you ride for utilitarian purposes or basic transportation, as opposed to recreational or fitness riding?
How far will you go to:
Please take a minute to explain your answer in a reply post!
How far will you go to:
- Shop for groceries and other items
- Commute to work
- Visit friends or family
- Entertainment like movies and restaurants
- Other basic needs or special needs
Please take a minute to explain your answer in a reply post!
Metric conversion:
5 miles = 8 kilometers
10 miles = 16 kilometers
15 niles = 24 kilometers
5 miles = 8 kilometers
10 miles = 16 kilometers
15 niles = 24 kilometers
This is a really tough question for me, because it makes me theoretize about what I would be "willing to do" as opposed to what I regularly do. I therefore didn't punch the poll to offer my opinion.
I take pleasure rides daily that exceed the limits of what I do in order to get groceries, and that kind of skews the question a little for me too. I live less than a mile from the Trader Joe's and the Thai-Lao Market that I buy my groceries from, so if I had to answer "how far do you ride for groceries?", it would only be a mile or so. How far would I ride for groceries? Totally depends on the situation. If I were starving or lived in some completely cut-off place, it might be over 100 miles, hehe. Other utilitarian concerns are largely irrelevant for me, as my whole job is based in-home.
In other words, I'm completely fence-sitting on this one. Sorry!
Last edited by Alekhine; 07-05-06 at 03:45 PM.
#27
Senior Member
Realistically, I think it's about 10 miles. This is about as far as someone can travel every day or almost every day via bike without getting burned out. If I ride more than about 10-15 miles one day, then I need a day to recover.
#28
Senior Member
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Location: Boston
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If I can get somewhere by bike in a hour or so, then its good for me, so 15+ is my answer. It also gets me off my chair in front on my computer and outside. I spend half of Friday riding up and down Seattle doing erranding while I was tired at the end of it. I felt like I got more acomplished than if I had driven.
#29
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It depends, a 15 mile commute to a sit down job isn't bad, but biking two hours a day to eight hours of labor may not be doable.
#30
Senior Member
15 miles is just a warm up.
#31
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It all depends on:
- how much time I have
- what the weather is like (ie. is it not raining)
- how much I have to carry
- do I have someplace safe to lock up
- do I have to arrive without a drop of sweat on my face
In general, this means anything below 10km is fine, and anything more requires a bit more planning, at least. I really need some rain gear and panniers.
- how much time I have
- what the weather is like (ie. is it not raining)
- how much I have to carry
- do I have someplace safe to lock up
- do I have to arrive without a drop of sweat on my face
In general, this means anything below 10km is fine, and anything more requires a bit more planning, at least. I really need some rain gear and panniers.
#32
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Location: Burlington, ON
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3 mile commute to work,
720m to grocery store.... 0.4 of a mile. We often walk it though :-)
Doctor is 6 miles but we often take the bus (we're going to the doctor afterall :-/ )
0.7 of a mile to the mall
0.9 to the beer store
0.6 to the LBS.
But I said more than 15 miles since you mentioned entertainment - Peach festival in 2 weeks is 15 miles away.
Haven't gone to the mother-in-laws yet, although it is only 50 miles.
720m to grocery store.... 0.4 of a mile. We often walk it though :-)
Doctor is 6 miles but we often take the bus (we're going to the doctor afterall :-/ )
0.7 of a mile to the mall
0.9 to the beer store
0.6 to the LBS.
But I said more than 15 miles since you mentioned entertainment - Peach festival in 2 weeks is 15 miles away.
Haven't gone to the mother-in-laws yet, although it is only 50 miles.