How many miles are each of you commuting to and from work and how long does it take?

[dbb]

If I don’t take a detour, it is about 5.5 each way (takes me about 25 minutes). I like to take the Arlington loop to boost the commute into DC to about 16 miles or do laps about Hains Point.

I try to do it every day, but failed last month, breaking my 13 month streak of no drive/no metro

[KayakCyndi]

I’m at 20 miles round trip if I take the direct (i.e. Custis Trail) route between Falls Church (home) and Dupont (work). In is usually 40 minutes(ish) depending on bike, weather, and energy levels. Home is longer for obvious reasons.

A 10 mile commute used to feel like a lot. Now I’m almost always looking for ways to extend it in the morning. Coming MVT makes it 16.7. This morning I tried Chain Bridge to the C&O. So many options, so little time!

[thucydides]

The OP has a long and complicated bike commute. I don’t think I would take that one on very often. I was fortunate enough to be able to choose a neighborhood with bike commuting in mind. (It wasn’t the only factor, of course, but a big one.) It’s exactly 8 miles one way (North Arlington to Foggy Bottom). On average it’s 35 minutes in, 42 minutes back. My vague memory on the research is that most bike commuters are 5 miles one way or less. That’s surely affected by available infrastructure.

[jrenaut]

Mine is 3.5 miles, all downtown. I think it’s about 20 minutes in, 23 home (all uphill). On days I’m not in a hurry (and especially if it’s nice out), I’ll take the long way, which is 7 if I go straight to work and 11ish if I do a lap around Hains Point. After two years of bike commuting, on the long days I STILL can’t help but grin smugly as I pass traffic across the bridge from Hains Point as I think, “I just tripled the length of my normal commute ON PURPOSE and AM THRILLED ABOUT IT”.

[vvill]

I’m fortunate that my commute is very similar to Subby’s. It took me probably a year or more to step up to commuting the full way every day without fail. I’m also lucky to have the option of a spare car, so I used to often throw my bike on the car, drive 15 mins, park for free, and bike 15 mins. This made it easy to modulate my tired days (I almost always regretted it on the return journey though as 3-5 miles is too short for a decent ride.)

I don’t think you have to be a super athlete, it’s more important to have a good route. Also, it takes awhile for your legs/etc to get used to all the biking. And beyond a certain speed you get diminishing returns for the effort you put in to go faster. Going from plodding along to sprinting as much as I can only changes up my total time by 5 or 10 mins. Such is the beauty of the bicycle!

[creadinger]

My commute is about 24 miles RT from Crystal City in Arlington to Suitland, MD. I cut through the city, cross both rivers, then head up the big hills along the Anacostia to Suitland. It’s mostly flat except for 2 big hills (up on the way in, down on the way home).

I don’t ride daily. Right now I’m averaging about 1x/week, but I’d like to consistently do 2. When the weather gets a little better I’m thinking I want to try riding every day for 2 weeks and then see how I feel.

[KayakCyndi]

@jrenaut 43300 wrote:

“I just tripled the length of my normal commute ON PURPOSE and AM THRILLED ABOUT IT”.

Ha, I had that exact thought (except it was doubled not tripled) as I rode down the CCT with the parking lot known as Canal Road on my left this morning!

[consularrider]

My direct commute is 10 miles round trip using the full length of the Custis (more or less East Falls Church to Rosslyn) or 9.5 miles if I take surface streets. This is fairly consistently just over 20 minutes going to work, 25 minutes coming home. However, I now do that only a couple times a year. What I usually do is a combination of the W&OD, 4MRT, and MVT which is 12.2 miles going to work, 12 miles coming home. The time varies between 50 minutes to an hour depending on which bike I am riding, weather, or trail conditions.

When we moved to this area, I told myself I was going to ride every day, but expected I would bail in heavy rain or other really bad weather situations. Since the first year, I have not missed a commuting day (that my office was open) for weather related reasons.

[Dirt]

@jrenaut 43300 wrote:

“I just tripled the length of my normal commute ON PURPOSE and AM THRILLED ABOUT IT”.

I think we’ll hear that from a lot of people around here. I have a route that takes me about 40 minutes to complete. I virtually never take it. I purposefully take the longer routes. I have routes that vary in length from 13-45 miles (each way) between home and work. The question is how much fun do I have time for. I think most of us are looking for that kind of commute. How many people living in the DC area can honestly say “I love my commute”?? You’ll find them here.

[CaseyKane50]

My commute is 25 miles round trip. I start from the west end of Alexandria on the Holmes Run trail to the Eisenhower Avenue trail and then through Old Town Alexandria up the Mount Vernon Trail, then turn on the Four Mile Run trail, cross over Glebe at Meade and then over to Army-Navy Drive and finally arrive in Pentagon City. I take Army-Navy Drive to get one hill into my commute. Usually, I am on the road by 5:30 am and because I am semi-retired I leave work around 2 pm. My ride takes about 60 minutes each way, which includes waiting at all traffic lights.

[KelOnWheels]

@Dirt 43306 wrote:

I think we’ll hear that from a lot of people around here. I have a route that takes me about 40 minutes to complete. I virtually never take it. I purposefully take the longer routes. I have routes that vary in length from 13-45 miles (each way) between home and work. The question is how much fun do I have time for. I think most of us are looking for that kind of commute. How many people living in the DC area can honestly say “I love my commute”?? You’ll find them here.

I was pretty pleased about making my morning commute 0.4 miles longer this week

[TwoWheelsDC]

Just read this…seems to bode well for most of us:

http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/861-seven-diet-tricks-for-weight-loss.html

#4. The best time for an aerobic workout is before breakfast, said Dr. Kathleen Hickey, a bariatric physician in private practice in Hillsborough, N.J.

“This is when your insulin level should be its lowest, and therefore the energy for the workout has to come from fat,” Hickey said. “Whenever insulin levels are elevated — which is nearly most of the rest of the day given how frequently Americans eat — fat stores are protected and cannot be used for energy.”

#3. Exercising for more than 45 minutes or so may stimulate the production of cortisol, a stress hormone, which can lead in turn to fat production, said Dr. Marc Tinsley, a health, fitness, safety and wellness consultant in Monroeville, Pa.

By splitting one 60-minute workout into two 30-minute sessions, you’ll “turn your body into a fat-burning machine,” Tinsley said.

[Terpfan]

I commute from OT Alexandria to up near McPherson Square. It’s about 7.5 miles each way and generally it’s about 35 minutes on the way in (more uphill) and about 30 minutes on the way home. I have done it in 27 minutes short side and 45 long (I came down with a cold and rode into a constant 20mph gust). Honestly, if there weren’t 7 total traffic lights, it would probably only be 20-25minutes.

I started about a year and a half ago commuting wise. Honestly, reading the suggestions, experiences and these forums in general really helped me get into gear (pun intended). At first, I rode in good weather and carried everything with me. Over time I learned to leave things at work (dress shoes, etc) and I learned how to dress for the cold. Honestly, only the bitterest of cold days bother me and more because it will make my eyes cry than anything else.

For me, I save some money from not paying for gas/parking or Metro (I don’t get subsidized unlike many others), I get a decent workout (I’m lazy and can’t wake up to go to the gym) and the earnest commute time is on average only about 5 minutes slower than the bus (on bad traffic days, I will beat traffic back since traffic is non-existent on the pathes save for ninja joggers).

My advice is go for it and start slow if you need to. I bet you will like it and find yourself like me riding around on your days off because you can.

[eminva]

Hello Liz W,

I have a 29-mile round trip and it takes about an hour getting in and an hour and a quarter to get home. During 2012, I bike commuted 75% of the days I went to my office.

I am not a super athlete but I have been doing this for eight years. When I started I had an 11-mile round trip and did it only two or three times per week. Five and a half years ago we moved and my commute expanded to the current distance. At first I did a mixed mode commute, biking to EFC metro station (12 miles r.t.) and riding metro the rest of the way. Gradually I worked my way up to the full commute and then added more days.

There were some stops and starts, but I’ve been pretty determined the last three years or so (starting after the Snowmageddon melted). But it was so gradual I hardly noticed the increase in distance and frequency.

You have a long commute — I would continue to take it piecemeal as you have been. When the weather is gorgeous, you may be tempted to add on. Just remember, to all those people looking out their car windows at you, you already are a super athlete!

Liz M.

[DismalScientist]

My commute is 14 miles round trip via the Custis into downtown. It takes 30 minutes each way. This pernicious Freezing Saddles thing caused me to change that to a 25 mile round trip via the MVT, which takes 50 minutes each way. My bailout is metrobus and only when I cannot avoid 30 to 40 degree rain. Since I take my bike with me on the bus, I can still use it on the reverse commute.

[Author]

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