no1mad 

After being multimodal for an employer that was located 26 miles away via the most direct route in a car, but was longer than that in both time and distance doing the bus/bike thing, I recently started a new job in my town that is less than 2.5 miles away. So far, I have biked it and/or caught a ride in and hiked home.

To be honest, I think that I prefer walking over biking for this distance.

How far would you be willing to hike before reaching for the bike?

Underground

I'll take the bike for the <1-mile ride to my mother-in-law's house to help her out. Then again, I don't like walking if I don't have to.

Smallwheels

It depends on the weather and the neighborhood. I walk a few blocks to the post office in the winter. In summer I use my Xootr most of the time. I wouldn't want to walk three miles to work. I also don't want to pull out the bicycle just to go to the post office.

In a bad neighborhood I would prefer riding a bicycle quickly through it than slowly walking through it. The distance wouldn't matter much. For me walking one mile would be about my limit unless I was in the mood to walk. The farthest I've ever walked for fun is four and a half miles. I definitely wouldn't want to do that daily.

Robert C

I don't like walking at all. I have a leg length discrepancy that has resulted in my knees and ankles being messed up.

Very simply, it hurts to walk. As such, whenever the opportunity provides itself to ride, instead of walking, I ride.

(I am still trying to find a precedent, or study, to provide my doctor, in the states, in order to get a letter of medical instruction to ride my bike rather than walking. He has never heard of such a thing and dosn't want to be the first.)

LesterOfPuppets

2 blocks or so. Possibly longer if there are stairs at either end of route, cuz I hate carrying bike up stairs just a little bit more than walking.

A kilometer or so then I'll sometimes take a skateboard instead of bike.

no1mad 

i've thought about using a skateboard, but there isn't enough smooth pavement to warrant getting one. If I could find one with wide pneumatic tires instead of the usual wheels, then maybe...

enigmaT120

I think a half hour, maybe 45 minutes one way. I carry my stuff in a back pack. I walk fairly fast so that's probably in the 3 mile range.

It's almost a draw because a big reason I bike is for the exercise, and I can't get what I want from walking. As a runner I can't walk fast enough to get a work out unless I'm going up a pretty good hill or carrying a heavy load. So it is possible I would be willing to ride my bike to work 2 miles if I was going to go 15 home, something along those lines.

gerv 

Me? Under 1km. Which gets you just about nowhere in my town.

no1mad 

Dunno, but I guess I'm a freak or something. I've never really had a problem with walking to get somewhere, even if there were other options. Of course, I'm a introvert and asocial, so the solitude doesn't really bother me. And with my glaucoma, it's just a matter of time that biking will no longer be an option.

ro-monster

If my bike is available I tend to use it for trips longer than about half a mile. But I used to walk 1.75 miles to the train station, ride the train for 15 minutes, and walk another .75 mile at the other end. After work I would do the same trip in reverse. Hiking and backpacking for recreation, 10 to 15 miles isn't uncommon for me.

Underground

What is funny is when I visit London, I walk all over the place. I guess because I don't have a folding bike to take along with me.

Then again, I don't mind the walk when I am there. I actually enjoy it. I guess it really depends on where I am at...

Stealthammer

I enjoy walking very much and often will walk 2-3 miles one way to see friends or run errands rather than taking a bike, and I regularly do 6-8 mile walks with Apache on weekends just for the exercise and to enjoy the outdoors. I have also often had friends stop and express surprise or concern when they find me walking 4 or 5 miles from home while listening to my MP3 player. For me it is relaxing and I enjoy the opportunity to slow down the pace of life and just "wander".

If I need to carry much in my backpack while on an errand though I will usually take the bike, or if I think that I might find myself needing to making additional stops or anticipate having a change in plan while out, I will take one of the bikes. Otherwise it really depends more on how critical the time factor is. I have been carfree for so long that walking is just another normal method of transportation for me.

wahoonc

About 2 miles...however I have been found walking up to 4 miles from home, just out wandering. If I have any load at all it is going to be on a bike, regardless of the distance involved. Depending on several factors I would probably bike that distance to work. To walk that would take me just about 40 minutes, riding less than 15.

Aaron

NormDeplume

If I'm carrying stuff, the bike gets pressed into service for anything over about 3-4 blocks. I hate lugging heavy backpacks or bags.

Artkansas 

Well, unless I'm on my way back from a store run, I always walk to the convenience store 1/8 of a mile away. I usually ride to the Post Office which is about 6 blocks away. So the dividing line is somewhere between them.

But it all depends on temperment. I have been known to walk a couple of miles. But in general, if I can get there significantly faster on a bike, that's the way I go.

dynodonn 

I prefer to ride, a 50 minute walk versus a 15 minute ride is a no brainer for me, add in over an extra hour round trip every workday, that equates to 20 hours extra a month. With that amount of time, one can do a serious amount of errands after work.

Suburban

Depends on how much time I have. If I have the time, I'll walk. I like walking and my 3yo likes running around in circles and interacting with his environment. If I'm by myself, I'm happy walking for an hour. With kids, no more than 1.5km as I run out of patience past that point.

dcrowell

If I have to carry anything, I'd rather have the bike to bear the weight.

I have walked the 3.5 miles from work to home once. I don't normally do it because I have to carry a laptop and the shortest route goes through a part of town I don't want to carry a laptop though.

Most of the time I'd rather ride. I have a single-speed bike with dyno-lights that's perfect for those half-mile beer runs.

cooker

For a daily commute, I would probably walk to work up to about 3 km (2 miles). There is very little exercise value in that short a bike commute, and the walking would provide that seamless daily exercise. For a longer commute, walking would take too long. If my commute was 3 km or less, I would only bike on days I intended to go on a rec ride after work, ie. taking the long way home.

For errands, I typically walk up to about 1.75 km (around a mile) to the bank or drugstore. However I take the bike if I am buying a few bags of goods.

So about the same as Aaron, it seems.

Roody

I've been walking to work fairly often since I got a shorter (1.75 mile) commute. My arthritis and various injuries make bike riding uncomfortable for the first couple miles, so I save the bike for longer trips. I'm lucky to commute through a pretty area (bike or walk) and I have a variety of routes I can take to prevent boredom.

Years ago, before I "discovered" bikes, I would almost always walk 5, 10, or even 20 miles a day.

MichaelW

For, a single lockup procedure takes about 100m of walking so anything under 300m is slower by bike.
I also factor in where I can lock the bike locally, ie how close to my destination.
I do like to wake up my walking muscles occasionally and keep them in shape.
Generally anything within 500m is a walk and often 1km is a walk.

no1mad 

There is that. However, even if I walked to this job, I will still see a net savings over what my previous multimodal commute took- on average of 4 hrs daily. I'm still getting used to this new sleep/work cycle, so I imagine I'll come to my senses eventually.

This job is one of those "take something, anything" type of scenarios. Temp to perm, but no guarantee I'll make the cut. Even though the pay is less than my last job (-$5.50/hr), I'm getting a full 40 hrs- and with virtually no transportation costs, it's totally doable.

DX-MAN

My walking limit is about 3-4 blocks one way. More than that, I get out the bike.

Walking, though healthy, is something that must be endured; riding is something that, even at distances of 1/2-mile or less, is to be enjoyed!

no1mad 

As long as the bike is a proper fit, then yes. But if the frame is a bit too large and you didn't realize that there was more to checking fit than simply the stand over test??

chasm54

I live about 1.5 miles away from the town centre, which is where I usually shop. Mostly I walk there - it takes just under a half-hour each way. If I'm short of time, I ride. And I would certainly tend to ride were it two miles or more.

I like walking. And I think it a good idea to vary one's exercise; cycling is great, I ride maybe 150 miles a week on average now that I don't have a car, but walking and running provide benefits that cycling does not.