7 ms·

"Some people are commuting eight to 10 miles, some only one or two miles, but they jump on their bike and go. With a traditional bike, that would never have bee

"Some people are commuting eight to 10 miles, some only one or two miles, but they jump on their bike and go. With a traditional bike, that would never have been considered" As a European this struck me as odd. 8 - 10 miles on an ordinary bike is considered a pretty normal bike commute. Especially as Ohio is pretty flat right?

derwiki 3y ago
I grew up near an Ohio Amish Country (Sugarcreek) which was south of where the glacier came in the last ice age, and can attest that it’s fairly hilly.
eternauta3k 3y ago
Are you thinking km? I would think riding 20 miles = 32km daily is more of a bike enthusiast thing, at least in Germany.
- derkades 3y ago
  Also in NL I feel like 10km (one way) is already more than most people are willing to cycle daily.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Yeah totally. The supermarket would never be more than 1 or 2 km away.
- reubenmorais 3y ago
  The EU Commission says [0] 3km is the average bike trip length in most European countries. They reference this other EU funded study [1] on replacing short car trips with walking and cycling, which says: > The willingness to cycle over longer distances differs between countries, but in general we should not expect people to use a bike for transport on distances longer than 3-5 km. Both are from before the e-bike boom. A 2019 Dutch study [2] says the average e-bike commute trip is ~8.5km, which indicates a rough doubling of the conventional bike range from 3-5km to 6-8km. Notably, commutes are significantly longer than all other ride types in the Dutch study, even with e-bikes. [0] https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/eu-road-safety-policy/priorities/safe-road-use/cyclists/walking-and-cycling-transport-modes_en https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/eu-road-safety-po... [1] https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/docs/walcyng.pdf https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/docs/walcyng.pdf [2] https://sci-hub.wf/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2019.102202 https://sci-hub.wf/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2019.102202
vestrigi 3y ago
As an european I feel like 8-10 miles (13-16 km) is a rather long bike commute which would take at least 45 minutes on an ordinary bike. I ride my bike a lot and would occasionally do such a commute but most people aren’t willing to do that at all, sadly.
- impossiblefork 3y ago
  15 km is too far for everyday commuting unless it's good weather and in the countryside, and you feel like it. I wouldn't do it in the dust and exhaust of Stockholm, and American cities have even more dust an exhaust.
  - timeon 3y ago
    I usually did 20km one way daily. Once you get used to it, you wish it was longer.
    - ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
      My commute to the office is 37km, though nowadays I mainly work from home. I tend to go in once a week, so I do one journey by train (the office is right next to a train station which is handy) and take my bike on board and the other journey I cycle if it's not raining too much. In the pre-COVID times, I used to go to the office everyday and built up my stamina/fitness enough so that I could do both journeys by bike (weather permitting). It's not particularly difficult doing that kind of distance (I'm over 50) but it helps if you treat it as fitness training - 80 minutes cycling instead of 80 minutes in a gym.
  - pastage 3y ago
    It is time that matters 15km can easily be 30 min on a regular Bike a commute is considered too long when it is above an hour. It is not length but how secure you feel and how fast you can peddle. We should strive to make bicycle infrastructure straight and easy, and make cars take detours.
    - 3y ago
phreeza 3y ago
I currently have a commute of 15km and I definitely think it's too much to do every day, both directions, and am considering getting an s-pedelex for that reason. I would say 5km is the distance where it is really obviously a bike use case, and 10km is the threshold, for me personally.
nfriedly 3y ago
Northern Ohio is very flat, southern Ohio is actually pretty bumpy.
throw0101a 3y ago
> 8 - 10 miles on an ordinary bike is considered a pretty normal bike commute. People on e-bikes were more likely to get more exercise (i.e., more calories burned) than regular cyclists because of less (perceived?) effort, and therefore a willingness to travel further distances: > Physical activity levels, measured in Metabolic Equivalent Task minutes per week (MET min/wk), were similar among e-bikers and cyclists (4463 vs. 4085). E-bikers reported significantly longer trip distances for both e-bike (9.4 km) and bicycle trips (8.4 km) compared to cyclists for bicycle trips (4.8 km), as well as longer daily travel distances for e-bike than cyclists for bicycle (8.0 vs. 5.3 km per person, per day, respectively). Travel-related activities of e-bikers who switched from cycling decreased by around 200 MET min/wk., while those switching from private motorized vehicle and public transport gained around 550 and 800 MET min/wk. respectively. > Therefore, this data suggests that e-bike use leads to substantial increases in physical activity in e-bikers switching from private motorized vehicle and public transport, while net losses in physical activity in e-bikers switching from cycling were much less due to increases in overall travel distance. * https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259019821930017X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259019821...
- mlyle 3y ago
  Yah, I believe it: sure, you might do more total work, but less peak intensity. And the payoff of cycling (being outside, getting to see things, etc) would be greater per unit of effort.
CalRobert 3y ago
I had a twelve mile bike commute in Los Angeles and it was about 50 minutes on a recumbent when I was in great shape. Lots of stop lights though. That'd get old after a while for most people, though I was young, childless, and loved the ride. Free gym too!
- mauvehaus 3y ago
  How do stoplights work on a recumbent? I've ridden one but a couple times and found that starting and stopping were a bit awkward. Does it get more graceful with practice, or do you do your best to time the lights and reduce the stops?
  - CalRobert 3y ago
    I never had too much trouble, I could reach the ground fine when I was stopped. The front wheel was smaller than the rear - https://files.bikeindex.org/uploads/Pu/56152/large_Giro-A20-web.jpg https://files.bikeindex.org/uploads/Pu/56152/large_Giro-A20-... I honestly am surprised I survived. The commute was 90% bliss (down the beach path from Santa Monica to El Segundo) and 10% terror (getting around Marina Del Rey and when I had to go inland). One time I rode down Lincoln blvd (a terrible idea) and nearly got pancaked. I heard brakes squealing behind me for _several_ seconds and a pickup truck came to a stop 6 inches behind my rear wheel. I think they'd been looking at their phone and not the red light with traffic waiting for it. Absolutely joyous ride though - I wish I had a gopro back then, one time dolphins were jumping out of the water alongside me as I went down the Ballona creek Jetty https://maps.app.goo.gl/cSHddj3sRF7YUsFt5 https://maps.app.goo.gl/cSHddj3sRF7YUsFt5
mauvehaus 3y ago
Holmes county doesn't have a lot of big hills, but it does have a lot of small rolling hills under 100'/30m in height. You could definitely get sweaty doing 10 miles in August.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Haha here in Spain I get sweaty walking 10 minutes to the subway in just a T-shirt. Needless to say the office smell situation is difficult in summer, especially now that the government decided offices may not be cooled below 27 degrees C (80 F) i get sweaty just sitting at my desk. I mean seriously how can you concentrate in such heat? It's usually 28 or 29C there. Most other companies just ignore that law and have the temp at 22-23C or so. But ours just has to be the one that doesn't. That law was supposed to be a temporary thing during the energy crisis but they never repealed it and the situation is literally unworkable in summer.
  - technofiend 3y ago
    Not sure what the regulations in Spain say about it, but I have a small USB-powered desk fan. It doesn't cool the air itself, but a little airflow can help cool you, regardless.
    - wkat4242 3y ago
      The problem is that since the pandemic they moved the whole office to a "hot desk" system which means you have to drag all your stuff from another floor so that makes it much harder to bring accessories. I just avoid the office like a plague now, I hate working there :')
EasyMark 3y ago
8-10 miles in a place like Austin or Phoenix in the summer in 105-115 degree heat really sucks, and you need a shower when you get to where you're going, unlike most European cities, although I imagine some parts of Italy and Spain would similarly suck with the humidity.
- aleph_minus_one 3y ago
  > 8-10 miles in a place like Austin or Phoenix in the summer in 105-115 degree heat really sucks, and you need a shower when you get to where you're going Some work colleague of me does a 25 km bicycle ride for each direction (so altogether about 50 km) for commuting each day he is in the office. Yes, he likes going by bicycle. After getting to the office building, he takes a shower (there exist showers in the basement of the office builing). He actually loves to promote the possibility of this way of living as a benefit to potential new hires. In other words: where is the problem? Take a shower if you like to or it is necessary after the commute.
  - mlyle 3y ago
    I'm 8km from the school I teach at. That's just enough to make me sweaty. Showering at school is perhaps possible (there is a tiny faculty locker room on the other end of campus) but not really realistic. I'm considering an e-bike to make the idea more realistic. A couple more miles per hour with a little less effort changes everything. A bigger problem, unfortunately, is that I'd need to travel along a really busy highway at each end of the journey, and it kills cyclists with some regularity.
wkat4242 3y ago
10 miles is 16km. In the Netherlands that would not be a normal commute. Our country is pretty small and although it's flat it can be really windy. And rainy. Usually people commuting with pushbikes would be doing 5km or so. For more you'd get electric. Or even a speed pedelec which is a faster type.
mc32 3y ago
Some of those are improved dirt roads so it's not easy pedaling, in addition, as others have said, it can get hilly.

derwiki 3y ago

I grew up near an Ohio Amish Country (Sugarcreek) which was south of where the glacier came in the last ice age, and can attest that it’s fairly hilly.

eternauta3k 3y ago

Are you thinking km? I would think riding 20 miles = 32km daily is more of a bike enthusiast thing, at least in Germany.

derkades 3y ago
Also in NL I feel like 10km (one way) is already more than most people are willing to cycle daily.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Yeah totally. The supermarket would never be more than 1 or 2 km away.
reubenmorais 3y ago
The EU Commission says [0] 3km is the average bike trip length in most European countries. They reference this other EU funded study [1] on replacing short car trips with walking and cycling, which says: > The willingness to cycle over longer distances differs between countries, but in general we should not expect people to use a bike for transport on distances longer than 3-5 km. Both are from before the e-bike boom. A 2019 Dutch study [2] says the average e-bike commute trip is ~8.5km, which indicates a rough doubling of the conventional bike range from 3-5km to 6-8km. Notably, commutes are significantly longer than all other ride types in the Dutch study, even with e-bikes. [0] https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/eu-road-safety-policy/priorities/safe-road-use/cyclists/walking-and-cycling-transport-modes_en https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/eu-road-safety-po... [1] https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/docs/walcyng.pdf https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/docs/walcyng.pdf [2] https://sci-hub.wf/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2019.102202 https://sci-hub.wf/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2019.102202

vestrigi 3y ago

As an european I feel like 8-10 miles (13-16 km) is a rather long bike commute which would take at least 45 minutes on an ordinary bike. I ride my bike a lot and would occasionally do such a commute but most people aren’t willing to do that at all, sadly.

impossiblefork 3y ago
15 km is too far for everyday commuting unless it's good weather and in the countryside, and you feel like it. I wouldn't do it in the dust and exhaust of Stockholm, and American cities have even more dust an exhaust.
- timeon 3y ago
  I usually did 20km one way daily. Once you get used to it, you wish it was longer.
  - ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
    My commute to the office is 37km, though nowadays I mainly work from home. I tend to go in once a week, so I do one journey by train (the office is right next to a train station which is handy) and take my bike on board and the other journey I cycle if it's not raining too much. In the pre-COVID times, I used to go to the office everyday and built up my stamina/fitness enough so that I could do both journeys by bike (weather permitting). It's not particularly difficult doing that kind of distance (I'm over 50) but it helps if you treat it as fitness training - 80 minutes cycling instead of 80 minutes in a gym.
- pastage 3y ago
  It is time that matters 15km can easily be 30 min on a regular Bike a commute is considered too long when it is above an hour. It is not length but how secure you feel and how fast you can peddle. We should strive to make bicycle infrastructure straight and easy, and make cars take detours.
  - 3y ago

phreeza 3y ago

I currently have a commute of 15km and I definitely think it's too much to do every day, both directions, and am considering getting an s-pedelex for that reason. I would say 5km is the distance where it is really obviously a bike use case, and 10km is the threshold, for me personally.

nfriedly 3y ago

Northern Ohio is very flat, southern Ohio is actually pretty bumpy.

throw0101a 3y ago

> 8 - 10 miles on an ordinary bike is considered a pretty normal bike commute. People on e-bikes were more likely to get more exercise (i.e., more calories burned) than regular cyclists because of less (perceived?) effort, and therefore a willingness to travel further distances: > Physical activity levels, measured in Metabolic Equivalent Task minutes per week (MET min/wk), were similar among e-bikers and cyclists (4463 vs. 4085). E-bikers reported significantly longer trip distances for both e-bike (9.4 km) and bicycle trips (8.4 km) compared to cyclists for bicycle trips (4.8 km), as well as longer daily travel distances for e-bike than cyclists for bicycle (8.0 vs. 5.3 km per person, per day, respectively). Travel-related activities of e-bikers who switched from cycling decreased by around 200 MET min/wk., while those switching from private motorized vehicle and public transport gained around 550 and 800 MET min/wk. respectively. > Therefore, this data suggests that e-bike use leads to substantial increases in physical activity in e-bikers switching from private motorized vehicle and public transport, while net losses in physical activity in e-bikers switching from cycling were much less due to increases in overall travel distance. * https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259019821930017X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259019821...

mlyle 3y ago
Yah, I believe it: sure, you might do more total work, but less peak intensity. And the payoff of cycling (being outside, getting to see things, etc) would be greater per unit of effort.

CalRobert 3y ago

I had a twelve mile bike commute in Los Angeles and it was about 50 minutes on a recumbent when I was in great shape. Lots of stop lights though. That'd get old after a while for most people, though I was young, childless, and loved the ride. Free gym too!

mauvehaus 3y ago
How do stoplights work on a recumbent? I've ridden one but a couple times and found that starting and stopping were a bit awkward. Does it get more graceful with practice, or do you do your best to time the lights and reduce the stops?
- CalRobert 3y ago
  I never had too much trouble, I could reach the ground fine when I was stopped. The front wheel was smaller than the rear - https://files.bikeindex.org/uploads/Pu/56152/large_Giro-A20-web.jpg https://files.bikeindex.org/uploads/Pu/56152/large_Giro-A20-... I honestly am surprised I survived. The commute was 90% bliss (down the beach path from Santa Monica to El Segundo) and 10% terror (getting around Marina Del Rey and when I had to go inland). One time I rode down Lincoln blvd (a terrible idea) and nearly got pancaked. I heard brakes squealing behind me for _several_ seconds and a pickup truck came to a stop 6 inches behind my rear wheel. I think they'd been looking at their phone and not the red light with traffic waiting for it. Absolutely joyous ride though - I wish I had a gopro back then, one time dolphins were jumping out of the water alongside me as I went down the Ballona creek Jetty https://maps.app.goo.gl/cSHddj3sRF7YUsFt5 https://maps.app.goo.gl/cSHddj3sRF7YUsFt5

mauvehaus 3y ago

Holmes county doesn't have a lot of big hills, but it does have a lot of small rolling hills under 100'/30m in height. You could definitely get sweaty doing 10 miles in August.

wkat4242 3y ago
Haha here in Spain I get sweaty walking 10 minutes to the subway in just a T-shirt. Needless to say the office smell situation is difficult in summer, especially now that the government decided offices may not be cooled below 27 degrees C (80 F) i get sweaty just sitting at my desk. I mean seriously how can you concentrate in such heat? It's usually 28 or 29C there. Most other companies just ignore that law and have the temp at 22-23C or so. But ours just has to be the one that doesn't. That law was supposed to be a temporary thing during the energy crisis but they never repealed it and the situation is literally unworkable in summer.
- technofiend 3y ago
  Not sure what the regulations in Spain say about it, but I have a small USB-powered desk fan. It doesn't cool the air itself, but a little airflow can help cool you, regardless.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    The problem is that since the pandemic they moved the whole office to a "hot desk" system which means you have to drag all your stuff from another floor so that makes it much harder to bring accessories. I just avoid the office like a plague now, I hate working there :')

EasyMark 3y ago

8-10 miles in a place like Austin or Phoenix in the summer in 105-115 degree heat really sucks, and you need a shower when you get to where you're going, unlike most European cities, although I imagine some parts of Italy and Spain would similarly suck with the humidity.

aleph_minus_one 3y ago
> 8-10 miles in a place like Austin or Phoenix in the summer in 105-115 degree heat really sucks, and you need a shower when you get to where you're going Some work colleague of me does a 25 km bicycle ride for each direction (so altogether about 50 km) for commuting each day he is in the office. Yes, he likes going by bicycle. After getting to the office building, he takes a shower (there exist showers in the basement of the office builing). He actually loves to promote the possibility of this way of living as a benefit to potential new hires. In other words: where is the problem? Take a shower if you like to or it is necessary after the commute.
- mlyle 3y ago
  I'm 8km from the school I teach at. That's just enough to make me sweaty. Showering at school is perhaps possible (there is a tiny faculty locker room on the other end of campus) but not really realistic. I'm considering an e-bike to make the idea more realistic. A couple more miles per hour with a little less effort changes everything. A bigger problem, unfortunately, is that I'd need to travel along a really busy highway at each end of the journey, and it kills cyclists with some regularity.

wkat4242 3y ago

10 miles is 16km. In the Netherlands that would not be a normal commute. Our country is pretty small and although it's flat it can be really windy. And rainy. Usually people commuting with pushbikes would be doing 5km or so. For more you'd get electric. Or even a speed pedelec which is a faster type.

mc32 3y ago

Some of those are improved dirt roads so it's not easy pedaling, in addition, as others have said, it can get hilly.