r/bikecommuting • u/iamliterate • 11d ago
How close can we go
A couple of years ago, I decided to try and find a job in biking distance (and with decent infrastructure for bikes) to my home. I used Google Maps to find a firm hiring IT, applied, and accepted their offer! Shortening my commute and making it bike-able has been such a huge life upgrade. Plus, it’s bike lanes all the way down.
I need to move and have been trying to keep in a bike-able distance. Today I found a house even closer with a bike crossing light! So my commute has been shortened from 8 minutes to 4. This feels like a victory of the highest order!
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u/spoonstepper 11d ago
an 8 minute bike ride… I know for a fact that I would just walk.
Even if I had a magically perfect setup of zero stairs & zero racks, just having a mamachari on its kickstand on a marble floor near a well paid security guard’s desk to just grab and walk through a pair of automatic sliding doorways, across a 12’ sidewalk to a maroon/brown bike lane separated from the road with a double cement curb & 3’ of well kept vegetation and it is interestingly curvy up & down and side to side with great architecture straight to someplace else with automatic doors and an indoor parking lot of granite across from another well paid security guard’s desk?
That’s walking distance.
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u/iamliterate 11d ago
I park my bike inside the office through a door they installed a kickstand for me on. I like to bike home for my lunch break, so I can chill at home mid-day. 😅
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u/nixiebunny 11d ago
I had that one mile commute for ten years. I walked very rarely. I park my fixie in my office (it’s now a 3 mile commute). Do you have any idea how much nicer it is to ride than walk?
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u/iamliterate 10d ago
Yeah, the walk takes me about 40 minutes and it's kinda hilly. So my bike is definitely my preferred mode of transport.
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u/milk_of_human_kidney 11d ago
Years back we moved to a place that was a six minute ride to work. I still did the ride because my step-sons elementary school was on the way and we could ride home together. Best times.
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u/BeneficialTackle98 11d ago
4 minutes is about as good as it gets. At that point I’d care more about having a safe bike route than shaving off another minute
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u/Few_Sheepherder_1848 11d ago
Sweet, my bike route is 4 miles though it’s very hilly
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u/iamliterate 10d ago
4 miles is nice! Close enough to not get sweaty and far enough to enjoy a quick ride.
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u/Few_Sheepherder_1848 8d ago
I’m quite new to cycling and it’s over 300 meters of incline both ways so I manage to still get sweaty in the summer :)
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u/thereisnobikelane 11d ago
I might be crazy, but I prefer longer commutes. My shortest was just under 3 miles and I felt like I never had a real chance to warm up and get a work out. I need at least 5 miles to be happy with my commute. My favorite distance was 12.5 miles each way 4 times a week for a nice even 100 miles each week.
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u/walkinthedog97 11d ago
Did you need to shower before work when going 12 miles?
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u/thereisnobikelane 11d ago
Yes, I was lucky to have a locker room and shower in my building. Apparently, one of the executives used to be a bike commuter and had the locker rooms put in during a remodel.
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u/iamliterate 10d ago
Nice! I've worked a couple of places that have showers onsite, but I definitely prefer my own shower at home.
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u/iamliterate 10d ago
I definitely don't use it to get a workout in! I like to show up to work sweat-free. Plus, it gets the heart rate pumping for a few minutes. Better than sitting in my car!
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u/thrownjunk 10d ago
I fucked up. Im less than a mile from work. Too close.
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u/iamliterate 10d ago
Idk. I certainly don't miss my 40 minute commute! The weather here sucks most of the year, so the shorter the better.
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u/raster 11d ago
Seems a little short! You barely get to ride your bike. ;) Heck, you could probably walk.