Ebike commute from Reston to DC

[vern]

I commute from Reston to Crystal City. The length of the commute is what you describe/anticipate, and I ride it on a regular road bike. It’s all good.

I don’t know enough about e-bikes to comment on that one way or another.

[jrenaut]

This is a touchy subject here – some jerks ruin ebikes for others. But so long as you’re riding at about the speed of traffic and not being unsafe or unpleasant, you should be fine.

[jabberwocky]

The official line on most mups like the w&od is “no motorized vehicles period”. Some e-bike riders seem to interpret that as not applying to them. FWIW, I seriously doubt it will be enforced unless you ride like a total asshat.

I do get apprehensive when people talk about “keeping commute time reasonable” with an e-bike on trails because even a non motorized rider can push the limits of safe speed on mups; adding a motor to cut the commute down sort of implies you’ll be going pretty fast which is usually not very safe (or completely unsafe on more heavily used parts of the trail, which most everything inside the beltway is).

[hozn]

Agree with jabberwocky that the parts of the trail where an e-bike is going to make the bigger difference in speed are probably also the heavily trafficked parts east of Vienna. West of Vienna the terrain lends itself to riding quickly (20+mph is not a big effort here) without the electric motor.

I’d be curious how many minutes it would save in the commute vs a solid effort commute on a regular bicycle. I am sure it would save a few minutes. The mileage is significant, though lots of folks here do ride that sort of distance — even on a daily basis, so not something you couldn’t work up to doing comfortably. Of course the time commitment is also pretty significant, even with e-assist to lessen the effort.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, good points. Maybe it was a bit optimistic to think it’d save me commuting time over a normal bike safely. It’s pretty busy on the Custis through Arlington, anyway. I’m a pretty conservative biker (or driver for that matter) and take it slow during the trickier/busier sections. I think when it comes to the idea of biking all the way from Reston on a normal road bike, is that I’m not really interested in doing it given how much energy it’d take – I like going to the gym and lifting weights, or whatever. My current commute is a 20 minute walk to the Reston station and 45+ minutes on metro. I’ve grown to hate the metro and started thinking of electric bikes as a possible solution.

[Judd]

Other options to consider:

1. Bike commuting the full way to and from work but just less days a week so that the mileage and time commitment are about the same.
2. Bike commuting one way and taking public transit the other way.
3. Do what I would do: Bike the full way to and from every day and feel sorry for the poor souls who have a much shorter commute and aren’t as much of a biking mileage stud.

E-Bikes are not permitted on the trail but there’s zero enforcement. As more people start riding them, I suspect the needle will adjust some on the rules. As others pointed out, you likely won’t get much time saving unless you’re riding in an unsafe manner or your current average speed is low. You must also be prepared for people hating you because you’re riding an e-bike whether you’re behaving appropriately or not. I must admit, that although I’m basically indifferent to e-bikes and buy a lot of arguments for them, that my natural reaction when being passed by one while I’m suffering up a hill is “F that guy and his F’n e-bike!”

[KLizotte]

If you have a secure place in the District to store your bike overnight (not on the street!) like *in* your office or a well monitored bike cage I would advocate for biking one way then taking metro home; reverse the next day. 22 miles is a significant commute plus you will be getting the walk to/from metro. And if the weather is bad you can take metro.

The other option is to buy a folding bike (Dahon, Brompton) and take it on metro with you. Get off, say, at East Falls Church and bike to/from work. A folding bike also means you can bring it into work with you. In the winter you probably won’t want to bike as far as Reston but in the summer it’s a whole different ballgame (trust me on this).

The other alternative is to use Capital Bikeshare in the same manner.

[jnva]

Just don’t pass anyone on the trails and you’ll be fine . I’ve found it’s much easier to just ride on the roads, especially if you want to ride faster. You’ll still get yelled at by car drivers though. But it’s worth it not to have to use metro

[Tim Kelley]

An e-bike would likely cut down on your commute time in the sense that you wouldn’t have to shower or change clothes when you get to work….

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Tim Kelley 147964 wrote:

An e-bike would likely cut down on your commute time in the sense that you wouldn’t have to shower or change clothes when you get to work….

Came to say this.

[dasgeh]

Don’t listen to the haters: ebikes are great.

There’s a colorable argument that ebikes that meet the federal definition (most, but not all, of the ones you’d find retail) are not motorized vehicles. But even if I’m wrong, enforcement would be a HUGE shock.

As to time: I find that the travel time is the same with my ebike as with my road bike.

The advantages are:
– an ebike makes the commute doable. I know you could work yourself up to the fitness you need for 22 miles/day, but you have every right to not want to. {Editorial note: no one needs the “I can do it and so you could do” shaming}
– with an ebike, you won’t be sweaty/knackered when you get to work.
– with a ebike (instead of a car/Metro), you get movement into your day. You control whether it’s like a long walk or a real workout, but even if it’s a long walk, that’s a lot more activity than car/Metro.
– with an ebike, you can carry EVERYTHING. Obviously, this depends on which one you get and how you outfit it, but as long as you can fit it somewhere, you won’t doubt your ability to haul the load. Stop by the grocery store on the way home because you need 2 gallons of milk and 2 gallons of OJ – no problem!
– with an ebike, dressing for bad-weather is easier. Figuring out the right clothes to be warm-but-not-too-warm-because-sweat is a challenge. Especially when you add rain into the equation. Since you can ride an ebike an not get sweaty, you can bundle up with reckless abandon.
– with an ebike, you simply have fewer excuses not to bike. “I have the sniffles” Whatever, ride the bike. “It’s cold” Bundle up, ride the bike. “It’s wet” Throw on that rain cape and rain pants, ride the bike. “I’m tired/hungover/really sad” Ride the bike already.

Riding responsibly is about the rider, not the bike. You seem to know that.

[Judd]

@dasgeh 147969 wrote:

{Editorial note: no one needs the “I can do it and so you could do” shaming}

Editorial note on the editorial note:

Any suggestion from me that one should ride 44 miles roundtrip for a commute without the assistance of a motor should not be construed as shaming. I stretch a 9 mile roundtrip commute into about 30 miles every day. There’s a time/value calculation in deciding on a commute. For me, the math worked out that 30 miles of riding is roughly equivalent to the time it took to ride the bus, plus the time I was spending in the gym.

Based on the math for Mike, his intended speed and not wanting to give up the gym in lieu of more time on the bike, it probably doesn’t make sense. I’d still encourage you to give it a shot at least once if you think it’s at least a possibility for you. I’ve done a countless number of things at the encouragement of forum members that I would be too hard or impossible or difficult or maybe even not enjoyable and I haven’t regretted doing any of them.

Also – welcome to the forum.

[Steve O]

@hozn 147954 wrote:

West of Vienna the terrain lends itself to riding quickly (20+mph is not a big effort here)

Please take very clear notes on the author of this comment.
The clearest, uninterrupted stretch–from Hunter Mill to Vienna segment–shows fewer than 8% of all PRs are at 20 mph or higher (the other direction is easier, but that’s on your way home). Those are people’s PRs!–drafting, on their speedy crabon tri-bikes, tailwinds, etc. No doubt Sir Hozn does this all the time, but regular mortals do not. Throw in that you will be carrying at least some clothes or lunch or something and claiming it’s “not a big effort” is a lie, lie, lie.

[hozn]

Yeah, I don’t think we should misconstrue encouragement as shaming. 220 miles per week is not insignificant, but is certainly achievable if someone wanted to do it. I personally would not do that *and* the gym, though.

[Tim Kelley]

@hozn 147989 wrote:

I personally would not do that *and* the gym, though.

You can’t spell “Legendary” without “Leg Day”….

[Author]

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