The Golden Distance

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This has been on my mind all week.

What is "The Golden Distance" for a commute?

Would it be time or distance?

Should it have a more direct alternative for days of bad weather or when you're running late?

I used to think 13 miles round trip was pretty good but now I find myself regularly extending it because I'm not going far enough, trying to make it more like 13 miles each way and because of the routes I take I miss out loads of lights so it's double the ride but less than double the time.

I'm still pants at getting up early enough to lengthen my morning ride enough though, despite all my good intentions.
 

col

Legendary Member
I think it depends on the person?I might like ten miles,others fitter might like twenty?Its relative to the persons ability isnt it?A hard question to answer .:biggrin:
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Just make the most of what you have - mine is 8 miles and I hammer it each way....no chance for a conversation, and on an MTB..... makes riding the road bikes really fun at weekends....
 

OldSeagul

New Member
Location
West Yorkshire
I ride 6 miles to work and 2 home in early Spring & late Autumn, rising to an average of 15 miles to work and 4 home during Summer. I'm mainly doing it for the exercise, though I enjoy the longer rides in the summer if I get up early enough (around 5.00am). I think that I would prefer 8 miles or so each way, but that would mean getting another job or moving house.
 

MrGrumpy

Huge Member
Location
Fly Fifer
well my round trips are 28/29 miles but doing that 5 days a week is tiresome, especially when its early starts. However I reckon my cyling mojo will return :idea: I reckon half of that everyday is easily achievable.
 
Mmm. 10 miles is perfect. 45mins if you're not in a rush, try for 30mins if you're feeling frisky of a morn.

Any longer and it's biting into real life time and that is not acceptable.
 

4F

Active member of Helmets Are Sh*t Lobby
Location
Suffolk.
For me it is the 1 hour figure. Just about right that you don't have to leave at stupid o clock on the morning.
 

PBancroft

Senior Member
Location
Winchester
My commute is 11 miles each way. For me, it's a touch too far, especially as it across hilly terrain with some beastly climbs, and the dark winter mornings don't help (I start work at 8am).

I do agree that 1hr seems to be the magic number. Any longer and it becomes your life, not a means to an end.
 

foothillbilly

New Member
I believe it depends on your level of fitness, the terrain, your bike(s) and personal taste.

I have commuted comfortably here in Columbus, Ohio, USA (relatively flat) on a 10-12 mile round trip with a variety of cheap old bikes. When we moved closer, I had a 6-mile round trip. Eventually, I began to walk more often than ride. I enjoy walking for its own sake, and the bike ride wasn't enough to count as exercise.

Right now, I'm on hold for commuting due to being between jobs. For me, though, about 10 miles (30 minutes each way; I'm slow) is ideal.
 
My commute 1 way is 4.5miles or 3.5, its good to have the alternative when I'm running late/ too lazy to get out of bed. This is fine in winter but too short in summer. I think the ideal solution would be to have a winter home close to work and a summer home further away but I don't think I could afford that:wacko:.
 

Flying_Monkey

Recyclist
Location
Odawa
foothillbilly said:
though, about 10 miles (30 minutes each way; I'm slow) is ideal.

That's hardly slow. It might be slow for a TT, but it's pretty fast for a commute. Or do you mean not counting the time spent waiting at traffic lights etc.?

I am always puzzled by people who say their commute isn't long enough so they don't cycle - surely, you can just take a longer route, or add on a loop? I have three routes of either 9, 15 or 18 miles, and I could always find ways to add more...
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
12.5 miles each way in an hour (lights and traffic a go go), I used to think it was too far but it's really raised my fitness so I a can set a good pace all the way, made me a better cyclist for sure, I war proper kit etc etc

really does depend what you want, in the past I had an eight mile commute which was nice, far more casual
 

domtyler

Über Member
Mine is around 6.5 miles at the moment which takes around 25 mins. We are talking about moving quite a bit further away though which will make it a 16 mile trip into London and then the same in the evening. Doable but quite an increase in both effort and time.
 
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