The Chainlink

How many miles is your commute? ((read the OP before responding please, hunny-bunnies))

There seem to be a lot of discussions about gear, clothing, winter riding that don't take into account the sort of commutes people have; i.e. advice that applies to someone who rides 15 miles each way may not be useful to someone who rides 3 miles.  So I thought I'd propose that people add the (one-way) distance of their daily commute, or their most typical one-way distance for regular 'utility' (rather than social/fitness/recreational) rides after their user name and see if it helps, or at least provides a little added interest...

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on January 4, 2013 at 5:58pm

6

Permalink Reply by Reba 4.0 mi on January 4, 2013 at 9:56pm

geeze, you know it's winter when all the cyclists sit around figuring out how many Noah's Ark cubits their commute is :)

I'm 4.0 each way, taking the side streets, always.

Permalink Reply by Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles on January 4, 2013 at 11:46pm

5.5 is three season commute. 6.5 would be the winter commute if there was snow because the FRT isn't plowed.  Moot point anyway, because I was planning to take one season off of commuting by bike just to take a break. Bone spur near the ball of my left foot has made it necessary. Ugh. Now, because I can't ride, I want to.

Permalink Reply by grayn8 on January 5, 2013 at 12:16pm
Right now, I'm doing a mixture of public and bike on a hybrid (about 5 one way on the bike). I'm kinda scared to do the 36 trip with this weather and my poor finger circulation. Anyone interested in a commuter group from north suburbs to chi-medical district / west side?
Permalink Reply by Luke Gardner on January 6, 2013 at 4:19pm

12.5 round trip. More if I'm feeling frisky. I racked up 700+ miles in 2 months doing this. It's honestly one of the real joys in my life: just going to work. Funny how that works!

I bike toward the north, from roughly Chicago & Milwaukee to Montrose & Damen so I'm usually battling headwinds in the morning and watching the myriad Milwaukee cyclists going toward the Loop (holy cow there are a lot of you guys and gals!). That morning headwind can be pretty harsh.

I actually find the length to be very nice (roughly half an hour, more or less depending on conditions and how awful the drivers are behaving that day) as I get my head together and usually arrive at work rather focused and determined (if not a little sweaty).

When I was riding 6 miles round-trip I found it much more difficult to get "in the zone" and it was very difficult to figure out how to dress - I tended to really overdo it or really underdo it and that resulted in a lot of uncomfortable rides. I didn't think riding a longer distance would be easy to plan for, but it's actually much easier to anticipate what clothing I'll need. It's not an easier ride, by any means, but cladding yourself for winter weather with a longer ride seems to be easier to plan for. It's hard to stay warm with a little puddlejump commute.

Permalink Reply by Mike Keating on January 7, 2013 at 4:31pm

Most days I simply ride to the Central Street Metra in Evanston. That commute is 1.5 miles each way.

If I ride from my house in NW Evanston to my office on Monroe Street via LFP, it is about 18 miles.

Permalink Reply by daWillinChi on January 8, 2013 at 10:06am

Mine varies between 9.37 or 10.64, depending on which route I take. Right now, I take the street more than the lake front path, so it is only 9.37 one way.

Permalink Reply by Nançois on January 8, 2013 at 1:08pm

8.5mi on LFT or 7.75mi on streets.

Anyone know when they expect Maggie Daley park to be completed, so we can ride thru from Monroe and LSD up to the Bike Station?

Permalink Reply by Alan Ledrowski 16.5 on January 8, 2013 at 2:07pm

16.5, Lincoln Square to the University of Chicago.  My rides are limited in the winter, only 2 so far this year, but the other 3 seasons I do 3 days a week.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 8, 2013 at 2:18pm

 

6.5 miles = 3.39009366 × 10-13 Parsecs



Cameron 7.5 mi said:

Google has taken all of the sport out of it. Just type "(number) (units) in (other units)" into Google and it converts any remotely standard units (including cubits, rods, and furlongs).

By the way 4 cubits is a short commute, hardly worth getting the bike out for ;)

Reba 4.0 mi said:

geeze, you know it's winter when all the cyclists sit around figuring out how many Noah's Ark cubits their commute is :)

I'm 4.0 each way, taking the side streets, always.

Permalink Reply by Noah Weiss 1.2 km on January 9, 2013 at 7:58am

You forgot the "and then some" at the end of your list, a la "The Phantom Tollbooth."

My most common utility ride is from Engelhart to Tech, which is a mere 1.2 kilometers one-way.  When I go grocery shopping, the one-way is 2 to 5 kilometers.

Thunder Snow <1.9 miles> said:

The cycling portion of my trip can be expressed thusly:

3.1516 kilometers

3151.6 meters

10,339.9 feet

124,079 inches

28.7219 standard American football fields

63.039 Olympic swimming pool lengths

3.33124e-13 light years

223.49977272727273 Noah's Arks (allowing for a 300 cubit boat length, cubit=18")

(thank you "Google Maps Labs Distance Measurement Tool" for all this useless information!)

Great idea, h'!

 

 

Permalink Reply by Holly on January 9, 2013 at 9:54am

I thought it had something to do with fundraising :) My commute is varied. I don't even think of it as a commute because I walk dogs. I'm outside all day so I dress pretty differently than most commuters. (i.e.--there's always back up stuff in my bag in case I'm too cold or get wet.) I wouldn't say I've ever had an ideal winter situation as far as gear goes. I'm usually colder than I'd like to be because my stops are generally close together. Total M-F loop is in the 6-10 mile range.

 

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