Is this a long commute? (18 miles each way)

joeytwobastards

New to these forums, but not that new to cycling.

I got a commuter bike (Giant Escape something, loaded down with massive bloody panniers as I use it for work as well, FCN 10) as part of that handy cycle to work scheme, planning to use the train to do the bulk of the journey and the bike for the rest of it. Picked the bike up from the shop, and thought "sod it, might as well ride it home".

Next morning, set off to the train station, and thought "sod it, might as well ride it to work". And so on.

Since then I've done 900+ miles on it, journey is 18 miles each way, so 36 miles a day. People keep looking at me as though I'm mad. Surely it's not that far?

For reference, Hadfield (SK13) to Swinton (M27) and back.

will3

Yeah that's a really really long way. You#d have to be superhuman to even atempt that (or, say, more than that, )

vorsprung

At one point I was doing 35 miles each way

Over Exmoor

In the winter

On a singlespeed

One day I got to work and I noticed a bike rider shooting off. "That's my husband" said the new girl.
"Oh, where is he cycling to?"
"Plymouth" ( over 50 miles crossing Exmoor and Dartmoor )
"Goodness!"
"He's a Royal Marine and he likes to do triathlons"

There's always someone more bonkers, no matter how far you are riding

asprilla

I do 34 miles a day, used to to 48.

You get used to it.

king_jeffers

What a commute, personally I think that is quite a distance. I do around 14 miles a day, round trip! Whats your time?

dhope

Yeah, quite a way. Not nutcase territory it'll keep you fit

joeytwobastards

1 hour 15 in, 1 hour 30 back. Typically. Traffic lights affect this (yeah, I wait at them) but this is a reasonable average. Ta for the feedback.

Hot Orange

Since April, I have been doing 16-17 miles each way. Some days it feels like a long way, but most days it doesn't - you get on your bike, you pedal for a bit, you arrive at work/home. It doesn't feel hugely different from the 8-9 miles I was doing previously.

I haven't done it five days a week yet, mind.

UndercoverElephant

It's a long way to do every day on a hybrid. It certainly wouldn't put me off if my commute was suddenly an extra few miles each way, sometimes I wish it was.

king_jeffers

UndercoverElephant wrote:

It's a long way to do every day on a hybrid. It certainly wouldn't put me off if my commute was suddenly an extra few miles each way, sometimes I wish it was.

Same here - need a longer route! I'm currently trying to get my time down but once I hit my target going to start seeking out longer ways home.

mj46

I've been trying to keep up with 19miles each way mainly on towpaths/bridleways (probably 85%) for a few months now and i'v come to the conclusion i can do it both ways for about 3 days then i'v got to take a day off, however if i ride in/train home or viceversa i can do it every day.

i'v been doing it on a genesis day one w/ 8speed alfine hub and 28c marathon plus's and it's just about comfy enough on the rough stuff, i have a feeling i'm going to need some meatier tyres for the winter though :? anyone tried the marathon plus tours yet? wondering how much more grip they offer?

ex-pat scot

I do around 40mpd / 200 mpw. All weathers. Sometimes it feels tough; most times I get into the groove and get on with it.

coopster_the_1st

joeytwobastards wrote:

New to these forums, but not that new to cycling.

I got a commuter bike (Giant Escape something, loaded down with massive bloody panniers as I use it for work as well, FCN 10) as part of that handy cycle to work scheme, planning to use the train to do the bulk of the journey and the bike for the rest of it. Picked the bike up from the shop, and thought "sod it, might as well ride it home".

Next morning, set off to the train station, and thought "sod it, might as well ride it to work". And so on.

Since then I've done 900+ miles on it, journey is 18 miles each way, so 36 miles a day. People keep looking at me as though I'm mad. Surely it's not that far?

For reference, Hadfield (SK13) to Swinton (M27) and back.

The 36 miles is not that far although doing it every day must be tough. It depends on the terrain though.

I take the people thinking as though I am mad as a compliment. I see it as no different to going to the gym for an hour before and after work. Put it that way and it looks a lot more normal

p.s. Get a road bike and you will knock 5-10 minutes off either side of your commute
[/u]

lastant

Coopster the 1st wrote:

I see it as no different to going to the gym for an hour before and after work. Put it that way and it looks a lot more normal

Yep, this...always amuses me to hear people at work complaining saying that they don't have much time in the evening as they 'have to go to the gym'.

Being in London you can just sit their smugly as you think your journey to and from work takes more or less the same time as theirs yet you've fitted in a 'free' cardio session whilst they've been crammed into public transport.

will3

lastant wrote:

Coopster the 1st wrote:

I see it as no different to going to the gym for an hour before and after work. Put it that way and it looks a lot more normal

Yep, this...always amuses me to hear people at work complaining saying that they don't have much time in the evening as they 'have to go to the gym'.

.

I see it this way:

driving to work + 1 hour in the gym = 30+60 minutes

cycling to work = 70 minutes

so cycling to work saves me 20 minutes each way.

will3

lastant wrote:

Coopster the 1st wrote:

I see it as no different to going to the gym for an hour before and after work. Put it that way and it looks a lot more normal

Yep, this...always amuses me to hear people at work complaining saying that they don't have much time in the evening as they 'have to go to the gym'.

.

I see it this way:

driving to work + 1 hour in the gym = 30+60 minutes

cycling to work = 70 minutes

so cycling to work saves me 20 minutes each way.

keyser__soze

I think a lot of it has to do with how busy your commute is. I'm usually as mentally tired as physically having fought pedestrians, cars, lorries, mopeds, traffic lights etc for almost all of my 30 miles a day through central London. I frequently find myself going up to Richmond Park on my way home just to unwind a bit and enjoy cycling away from crazy traffic.

woodford2barbican

I don't see how people can not say it is a long commute? Just going by journey time makes it long. between 75 & 90 minutes on the train is long, on a bike it is long - average journey on here is probably about 7 miles.

So whilst not nutcase, it is long and all those saying it isn't are talking our of their backends.

Agent57

It's a long commute in terms of averages. Mine's 2 miles, used to be 5. I read a claim recently that the average is around 4 miles.

But if you have the time and the fitness to do 18 miles each way, why wouldn't you?

keyser__soze

woodford2barbican, people are probably mistaking 'long' with 'too long'

jimmypippa

Hey it's above average commute distance...overall in the UK, not just cycling.

This from the BBC in 2003:

It said seven out of ten people outside London travel to work by car and more must be done to improve roads and public transport so that journey times can be cut.


According to the report, the average distance travelled by UK workers is 8.5 miles - 17% further than a decade ago.


Outside the capital, only 11% of people get to work by public transport and just 5% of commuting is by national rail.

Only 3% cycle to work, while one in 10 walks.

There are some strong regional variations however - with 28% of people in Cambridge cycling to work, and more Norwich people walking to work than anyone else in Britain.

Every so often I imagine what the roads would be like if even 25% of those with a commute less than 4-miles each way decided to cycle in fine weather.

Hardly impractical for most people but I doubt it would happen soon.

I've got one colleague cycling an 11-mile round trip most days, and another doing a 3-mile round trip once a week, so I am having an effect (my commute is 25-miles round trip).

One of the parents at school has a 50-mile round trip cycle commute, with a fair bit of climb - I think that would be too far for me.

tony620

hopefully starting my commuting monday as job is finally agree'd will be a 48 miles commute only advantage is its fairly flat.

driving take's 2 hours anyone got a idea how long riding it will take?

Dalton

tony620 wrote:

hopefully starting my commuting monday as job is finally agree'd will be a 48 miles commute only advantage is its fairly flat.

driving take's 2 hours anyone got a idea how long riding it will take?

Assuming you ride fairly fast - say 16-18mph, it will take approx 3hrs!!

Good luck with that.

cjcp

Good effort. As said above, you get used to it.

Applespider

If you were planning on taking the train part of the way initially, please tell us that you hadn't already forked out for an annual Travelcard so you're not doing the better part of 200 miles a week plus paying for a train you're not using :shock:

Tony - 48 miles feels that it might be getting close to 'too long' but good luck!

sketchley

I live in Worcester Park and work in Old street.

13.3 miles most direct route via A24 / CS7
15.1 miles flat route via Garratt Lane, Wandsorth Bridge and Embankment
18 miles via Richmond Park
25 mile via Richmond Park + 1 Lap

Most cummuting in one day via RP in morning home via RP + lap in evening. so 43 miles. RIght now a lap morning and evening would be too much!

Normal day is the quick route in, then home via RP with or without a lap. I tend to cycle commute between 10 and 15 days per month as sometimes I work from home or go on client site when taking the bike is not acceptable. It did take some time to build up to this though, when I started I did it one day a week getting train in the a ride home. Now I would cycle everyday as a choice.

To answer the original question no 18 miles each way is not too much.

sketchley

jimmypippa wrote:

Hey it's above average commute distance...overall in the UK, not just cycling.

This from the BBC in 2003:

It said seven out of ten people outside London travel to work by car and more must be done to improve roads and public transport so that journey times can be cut.


According to the report, the average distance travelled by UK workers is 8.5 miles - 17% further than a decade ago.


Outside the capital, only 11% of people get to work by public transport and just 5% of commuting is by national rail.

Only 3% cycle to work, while one in 10 walks.

There are some strong regional variations however - with 28% of people in Cambridge cycling to work, and more Norwich people walking to work than anyone else in Britain.

Every so often I imagine what the roads would be like if even 25% of those with a commute less than 4-miles each way decided to cycle in fine weather.

Hardly impractical for most people but I doubt it would happen soon.

I've got one colleague cycling an 11-mile round trip most days, and another doing a 3-mile round trip once a week, so I am having an effect (my commute is 25-miles round trip).

One of the parents at school has a 50-mile round trip cycle commute, with a fair bit of climb - I think that would be too far for me.

Cummuting by all forms of transport isn't really a distance thing it's a time thing. I live 14 or so miles from work, PT involves a 15min walk to station, 25 min train, 25 min tube and 5 min walk. Total 70mins plus waiting time at station / tube normally means 80 mins or so (note quicker by bike 55min PB door to door). My brother lives approx 45 miles from London, he has a 5 min walk to station then a 54 min train journey (fast train) then a 5 min walk. Total 64mins + waiting time of up to 20 mins. Not a lot of difference considering 3 times the distance.

itboffin

To the OP once you've done this 18 mile commute for a while you'll start looking for "longer" and "longer" versions of the journey, that's how it starts ...........

:roll:

tlw1

itboffin wrote:

To the OP once you've done this 18 mile commute for a while you'll start looking for "longer" and "longer" versions of the journey, that's how it starts ...........

:roll:

and then the wife starts asking if you will be back in time to put the kids to bed :roll:

jimmypippa

Sketchley wrote:

Cummuting by all forms of transport isn't really a distance thing it's a time thing. I live 14 or so miles from work, PT involves a 15min walk to station, 25 min train, 25 min tube and 5 min walk. Total 70mins plus waiting time at station / tube normally means 80 mins or so (note quicker by bike 55min PB door to door). My brother lives approx 45 miles from London, he has a 5 min walk to station then a 54 min train journey (fast train) then a 5 min walk. Total 64mins + waiting time of up to 20 mins. Not a lot of difference considering 3 times the distance.

It is also a reliability and hassle thing, as well as mental and physical effort.

Cycling involves the least stress for me as I know when I will get to work and get home, and the main variable is under my control - how hard I pedal. This isn't the case by car.

For me train would involve the most cost, about 2.5 miles of walking - and a large uncertainty as to what time I'd get anywhere.

Bus is significantly better on most counts, but still not good.

Bike wins.

A car is less reliable than a bike and more expensive, on my commute, as the road seems to get shut about twice a quarter, plus snow...

Time is important - but physical effort also counts

cloggsy

It's not a long commute IMHO!