The benefits of cycling to work are well understood and documented. Benefits range from improved physical and mental health, reducing carbon footprint, shortened commute time due to avoiding the traffic and, lastly, saving hard cash to name a few.
If you are considering the bike commute, but haven’t quite taken the plunge yet it may be your commute distance that is putting you off and making your commute seem like an intimidating physical feat. You may be wondering how far can you commute on a bike?
The average bike commuter can comfortably cover between 7 and 10 miles (11 – 16 km). Depending on fitness level, up to 20 miles is achievable but will require more endurance and conditioning. Most people live within 10 miles of their workplace making commuting more than achievable for a large portion of the population.
Many factors will contribute to your ability to commute this distance comfortably and different people will find the difficulty of this varies for them, it will even vary on any given day. Finding how far you can commute with your bike will come down to a number of individual factors which are discussed in more detail in this article but please be assured, you can do this!!!!
The beauty of the bike commute is it can all be accomplished on your terms. How long it takes, what time you leave, how many breaks you have and the speed of travel is all within your power to control. So if you find 10 miles to be too intimidating, leave a little earlier and do your commute in two 5 mile blocks with a short break in the middle for some breakfast and a drink on a park bench. There are many ways to skin a cat!!
If you find the distance too challenging at first then reduce your effort and have a more leisurely cycle, enjoying the fresh air and the views that your commute has to offer, it is likely you have never really appreciated them when taking the car and the hustle of the traffic-laden morning commute.
This post gives you advice on how you can determine how far you can bike to work!
Fitness Levels Required to Cycle to Work
You don’t need to be Bradley Wiggins to cycle to work. A moderate level of general health and fitness is enough to get the bike moving and you are not going for Olympic gold here. You can pace yourself for your fitness level and this shouldn’t be an obstacle. If you are generally healthy then you can do it.
For the normal commuter with a basic level of fitness, a 10-mile commute on the bike will take between 40 and 60 minutes. It doesn’t matter if it takes longer due to your fitness level. You can leave earlier so you don’t feel under pressure and take it in your own time. There is no need to kill yourself targeting a ‘normal’ commute speed. This is your journey, tailor it.
Cycling to work is a great way to bolster and improve your fitness level, 10 miles each way for your commute will give you enough aerobic exercise when you would usually be sat in your car or on public transport. This means once you get home your exercise for the day is done. Amazing right?
It may be necessary to build up to a five day a week commute. For the first few outings, you are likely to have some lasting effects with muscle soreness and if you are new to cycling you will certainly have some saddle pain (sore bum!) from the seat and this takes a little time to ease. Getting back on the bike with a sore bum can be difficult, so don’t overdo it at first.
Take it slow, hopefully, this love affair with cycling to work will be a lifelong one so don’t rush over the first few weeks and forgive yourself for easing into it.
Weather Considerations for Bike Commuting
Some types are weather can play havoc to your bike commute, but not all. Some weather can make a 10-mile commute feels like 50!!
There is no doubting it, a headwind can make your bike commute feel like hard work. It’s amazing how much wind resistance contributes to the challenge of cycling. This is why professional cyclist huddle together in the peloton. Headwinds can slow your speed significantly, reducing it by 30% to 40%.
Wind resistance can make your standard 10-mile commute feel much longer and will factor into your distance ‘limit’. If this is of concern then it is worth doing all you can reduce wind resistance. I hate to say it but tight-fitting lycra cycling shorts and jersey can significantly help here. The goal is to reduce the amount of ‘flappy’ fabric getting caught in the wind.
If you find yourself cycling into a headwind, you may need to accept that the commute distance will be much more taxing and you will need to manage this during your journey.
Rain, whilst not really effecting the difficulty of your commute distance physically, can play its part mentally. It’s not much fun riding in the rain unless you are a hardened cyclist. The splash from the road and the rain in your eyes can make your commute feel a bit miserable but it shouldn’t make the distance any more physically demanding.
In snowy and icy conditions, where the grip of the road is an issue, this can definitely make your commute feel much further. This weather will definitely have an effect on the level of effort needed to cover the same distance, and extra care should be taken to ensure that you don’t slip on the road due to the conditions. Safety is a factor here.
Impact of Terrain on Bike Commute Distance
As with the weather, you need to consider the route and terrain that you will be travelling on when assessing the distance you can commute. If you have a dominantly up-hill route then the 10-mile commute can feel much further and can be much harder physically. The good news is, an uphill route will be down-hill on the way back so averages out nicely.
The conditions of the route you take will also play into this. If you are off-road then the going will be tougher than on the smooth road. This is where the choice of commuter bike will be an important one.
Effect of Bike Choice on Bike Commute Distance
There are a number of types of bike that can be chosen, each one has strengths and weakness and will be much more suitable for different terrain. This article is not intended to be a detailed comparison of different bike types, but here are a few choices with information as to how they affect the distance you can ride. The choices you could make are:
- Road Bike
- Mountain Bike
- Hybrid Bike
There are other choices that can be made, but these are the main one and are discussed a little more below.
Road Bike
Road bikes are excellent at eating the miles on a normal road. A 10-mile commute on a road bike is more than achievable. These are lightweight bikes with low road resistance and they enable you to glide to commuting success for smooth roads.
However, if you have a mixed-terrain route, or you ride on cycle paths that are not neatly laid, a road bike can quickly become hard work over these sub-optimal surfaces. They are pretty poor at absorbing the impact of bumps and due to the narrow tyres, you may find riding on loose surfaces challenging and difficult to maintain stability.
For mixed terrain, you are best off with a mountain bike but there are disadvantaged here too.
Mountain Bike
Mountain bikes are the most versatile for off-road and variable terrains. The larger wheels and thicker tyres ensure much more contact on the surface meaning they can handle uneven terrain much easier. However, this increase in surface contact can make road riding significantly more physically challenging due to the rolling contact.
For a mixed commute, it may be the best bet, whilst sub-optimal on the road, it will be the most comfortable ride for off-road but you will need to accept you will be slower and find it more difficult on the road sections.
Hybrid
A hybrid can provide the best of both worlds. Simply, these are a cross between a mountain bike and a road bike and are essentially a mountain bike frame with more narrow, ‘road bike like’ tyres. Whilst the tyres are not as thin as a road bike, they bridge the gap meaning you can handle road and off-road terrain in one bike.
Over the distance of your commute, a hybrid bike will not be as good as a road bike or a mountain bike for the specific terrain but may provide a more versatile option.
Make Bike Commuting Fun
If you still find your commute distance to be a little intimidated, below are some ideas on how to make the commute more fun:
- Measure your distance – apps such as Strava or MapMyRide are great to measure your ride distance as well as a host of other statistics about your commute.
- Beat your time – use Google Maps to find new interesting routes to see which you can do quicker. With traffic slowing some of your routes, a longer commute with less traffic could be just the ticket. Check alternative routes out will also mean you have a choice to shake it up and stop the commute becoming mundane.
- Section times – Strava measure the time it takes you to complete different sections of your commute, you can then compare with friends and this is a fun way to add some healthy competition to your commutes o you feel more compelled to nail the commute length.
- Listen to an audiobook/podcast/music – with Bluetooth headphones you can listen to your favourite media whilst on your commute. Great for making the distance more manageable. Make sure you can hear surrounding traffic and hazards to be on the safe side.
Whatever your strategy for your commute, if you travel a reasonable distance, it should be more than feasible on your bike. To recap, a 10 mile commute is very achievable for most people, so why not give it a go!!
