100 mile a day commute?

[chocjohn9]

...with crude maths you will not be able to work out the tiredness! It will get you....

Plus, you will have to buy a robust bike, which will cost you, and you will go through parts like no-ones business and then there's the food - doing that you will eat an awful lot more than normal.

There's also lost time for maintenance both at home and on the road. Potentially you could break down miles from anywhere.

Really, I admire your spirit but this is a non-starter. Driving half way - all the way in bad weather - now we are talking.

[millimole]

I looked at a long commute for a job I ultimately didn't get (thankfully). My interim solution- once I'd decided the ride was just too far - was to look at where I could cycle to, to get public transport from. I'd worked up a plan that involved secure storage of the bike (at a local shop) and bus from there. For the days that the bike wasn't an option it was somewhere that I could park (wife's car) as an alternative.
It would be the loss of leisure time (non-commuting cycling time) that would kill it.


I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my brain to my iPad using my fingers and Tapatalk

[De Sisti]

Crude maths without riding the route means 20mph average should make it a 2.5 hour ride,
which on top of (I confess!) an easy civil service day would make it a 12 hour day from leaving home to getting
back, and it's only for a relatively short 18-24 month period

20mph average? You must be seriously fit and fast if you can do that over 100 miles. If an average of 17ish mph
on your current bike is possible why not try the longer distance on it, just to give you a 'benchmark' of what your
capabilities are.

[thirdcrank]

Yes. Being able to cruise at evens is not the same as reliably achieving journey times at a true average of 20mph in normal road conditions, without support and presumably complying with the law. However, in the end only an individual rider knows what they can do.

I would advise against spending the money cycling will save until you know it's been saved. Obviously, there are many ways in which cycling is cheaper than owning and using a motor vehicle but that doesn't mean it's free and some potential costs are higher. While you can ride in just about anything - and even in the last few days I've seen riders commuting with bare knees in lycra shorts - but it's easy to be tempted by things like nice dry winter boots and waterproof gloves. I'd consider decent lights important in winter - and during most of the year if you work shifts. Very few bikes come with lights as standard. Nowadays, there are some serious bike lamps. Rechargeable types require a meticulous charging régime and back-up spares if you don't want to be completing a ride without lights. Dynamos have improved tremendously, but a hub type to minimise drag is not cheap.

I usually think of the little voices telling you it's stupid, in terms of distance riding but I fancy it also applies to some commuting: everybody has their own way of coping with what's going on in their head. For me, as a pre-mobile phone person who has at least two back-up plans for every situation, that's the last thing I need on a murky morning in the deep midwinter, because it's so easy to turn plan B into main option.

[PH]

Give it a go, you'll learn something from the experience. I'd hate it, I'm pretty sure the body would adapt, but it'd soon become all the life I had.
If you can safely overnight the car at work, you could drive there with the bike, ride home, ride back next day and back in the car. A nights sleep between 50 mile rides should make them sustainable and you'll half the driving costs.

[Mark1978]

It's not so much the miles but the time. Ain't nobody got time for that.

50 miles each way is a long commute even driving. I drive 35 miles each way and never fancied cycling it.

[Heltor Chasca]

I wouldn't discount doing it two or three times a week. Don't forget, when your body is repairing on rest days, that's when proper strength and fitness is built up. My longest regular commute was only 22 miles a day for 5 days all year so I'm not your best advisor.

[bogmyrtle]

I think your crude maths is likely to be woefully inadequate. You are unlikely to maintain a steady 20mph for that distance. What about bike and weather related problems? Also don't underestimate the time taken to get out of the door in morning and the time to get cleaned up before work (I hope you are planning on showering).
I find it difficult to restful sleep when I commute because I know I'm in trouble if I sleep in. I'm wrecked by the end of the week.

[Vorpal]

Have a go. Plan on doing it two or three days per week, and drive or take the train the other days. That will give you a good idea whether you can do it and how often you'll want to.

It might help if you build up your weekly mileage gradually.

[mnichols]

How about driving part of the way and then cycling the last n miles. This may save you on parking and you can change the distances each day based on how you feel

[AaronR]

The nays have it

Going to try the 50/50 or thereabouts option, drive 25-30 and cycle the rest, or almost the same but a little less flexible is perhaps cycle to Winchester and get the train to Farnborough, thereby reducing the cost element of the train

Once again, thanks for all the responses, its always good to be able to draw on the varied experiences of everyone on here

[[XAP]Bob]

There is no way I'd consider that to be cycling range, and I'm crazy.

Possibly if the roads are good and you have a velomobile, maybe even with a small assist in it for starting up.

It's certainly doable sometimes - 2-3 times a week in summer (and then I might consider driving in, cycling home and back, driving home&aback...)

That's much more achievable in terms of a 50% commute than doing half of your days as 100 milers imho.


Btw. Have you read up on Tommy Godwin? Just to give you an idea of what serious distances do...

[Richard Fairhurst]

Going to try the 50/50 or thereabouts option, drive 25-30 and cycle the rest, or almost the same but a little less flexible is perhaps cycle to Winchester and get the train to Farnborough, thereby reducing the cost element of the train

I'd suggest looking out for a fast folding bike to take on the train. Airnimal Chameleon is probably the best option, a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket if you can find one secondhand, or a Tern Verge. They don't fold as small as a Brompton but it's less likely to matter as you're not going all the way into London. A part-train, part-Airnimal commute could be a joy.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

On a good day after your Weetabix you cold manage 3 hrs either way, add the time to dress and recover, cool down forgetting drying your socks and that's going to be 8 hrs a day out of your life

[Zigster]

I do something similar - approx 45 miles each way.

But I only do it in the summer months, and then only once a week - cycle in one day, get the train home, get the train to work the next day, then cycle home.

I have cycled there and back in a day - it is about 6 hours of (pretty hilly as it includes the North Downs) cycling. And that's too much with a full day's work in the middle. As others have said - it's as much about the length of time it takes as the physical exertion.

I don't do it at all in the winter months - too dark, wet, and cold. I need to set off at about 5.30 am to get to my desk at a sensible time; I need to leave my desk soon after 17.00 to get home at a time that allows me to have any sort of life.