How often do you ride?

[wvoldguy]

I'm pretty certain I've read that some of you ride daily. If so, are they long-ish (10+ miles) or shorter? When I retired not quite 2 years ago, I came out of the gate fast, riding as much as 6 days a week. Though I was enjoying myself, it was hard to sustain that pace. Eventually I dropped off, and now it's once or twice a week. This time of year I'm busy with yard work for me and my mom, so I feel fortunate if I get out 3 times. I live in a small, land-locked subdivision, where a lap around the entire neighborhood is only 6/10 of a mile, and I really don't like mixing with vehicular traffic. Sometimes the neighborhood is quiet, but there's often a lot of delivery traffic, and a few people don't pay the slightest attention when entering/exiting driveways, or worse, they see me and pull out anyway. The road onto which our street opens is a busy secondary two-lane with narrow shoulders. It seems many people take it as a personal challenge to see how much they can exceed the 40mph limit. So basically, if I want to ride, I have to load up a bike and take it somewhere else. You folk have seen my rail trail posts, but the nearest to me is about an hour away. I've tried riding the trails of various local parks, but mountain biking is really not my cup of tea.

I'm trying to think of creative ways to get out on my bike more. Sometimes I do just go out and spin around the neighborhood for 30 minutes or so. Sometimes I go to a nearby small river town and cruise the back streets, but even there I've had a couple close calls with vehicular traffic. I know we all deal with different terrain and population densities, but I'm curious to hear how other people maximize their saddle time.

 

[Captain Awesome]

3-5 times a week for any appreciable mileage. Probably average 10-16 miles for most rides. That's not counting just pulling out of the garage and spinning the neighborhood or pulling wheelies with the neighbors kids

I try and avoid traffic at all costs. Trails, golf courses (highly recommended), bike paths, etc....

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Not often enough outside work, maybe once or twice a week. I get to ride a Worksman trike 3 or 4 days a week, getting paid in the process. Winter is bad news for free range cycling, I need to look into some snow tires. I don't relish traffic, but I don't shun it either. My town is laid back enough that it isn't too big a deal. Sometimes I ride to get places, sometimes I ride urban and industrial areas.

 

[RustyGold]

4x/week at work...2-3miles a night. 1-2x/week outside of work...I ride around town while the wife walks either the track or the mill pond. I often just do a loop of skate park to abandoned lumberyard to abandoned mill, or I'll pull up a CL map of garage sales and play connect the dots . Either way, 10-14 miles because I'm on a wife imposed time limit.

I try and stay off the main drag, because there aren't any bike lanes...so a combo of side streets and trails.

 

[RustyGold]

Got a new job starting in September...I toured the shops, I don't think it is the kinda place that will want me storing a shop bike there. We'll see. I might have to get me a Schwinn Runabout to store in my trunk .

 

[ParkRNDL]

Spring and fall, at least once or twice a week. Summer (I'm a public school teacher) I try to ride 4 or 5 days a week when there's not too much other stuff going on. And as for winter, well, whenever it gets up into the 40s and it's convenient.

Our group rides tend to be 8-10 miles. Riding alone I shoot for a minimum of 8, try to get over 10 whenever possible. I did a 14-mile Rails-to-Trails ride last week.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Got a new job starting in September...I toured the shops, I don't think it is the kinda place that will want me storing a shop bike there. We'll see. I might have to get me a Schwinn Runabout to store in my trunk .

Montague Paratrooper!

 

[RustyGold]

That would work

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Tbh, I didn't know about that old Schwinn, I thought you were losing it. I have a more modern Runabout in the garage, wasn't sure what you had in mind

 

[K_50]

I ride my bike to work every day (5km. each way). Mostly because it's a lot quicker than driving or taking the bus But also because along with having a fairly active job as a kindergarten pedagogue, it keeps me in decent shape.
When it's not raining, I like to go for a pre dinner ride as well. Nothing much - Anything between a 5-20km. round-trip to some quiet place where I can sit and relax with a good book. Something like this:

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I wish I could commute, but my shift starts at 6:30 am and I ain't getting up any earlier.

 

[K_50]

I wish I could commute, but my shift starts at 6:30 am and I ain't getting up any earlier.

In Copenhagen, during rush-hour biking is by far the quickest option:
Carry bike downstairs, ride to work, park in locked bike room at work - 20 minutes max (if get hit by the Red Wave).

Compared to taking the bus:
Walk to bus stop, wait for bus, ride bus, walk the rest of the way - Up to 40 minutes.

Or driving:
Walk to where my car is parked, drive through rush-hour traffic, find a free (in both senses of the word) parking space near work, walk the rest of the way - at least 45 minutes.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

I ride every day and it varies from as little as a grocery store run, to a hundy on a fixed gear. I prefer to ride pavement at night when there is little traffic, sometimes starting at 0300. In-town I ride secondaries and resedentials exclusively, though the cagers who speed, disregard traffic devices and sometimes like to see how close they can get irregardless of the Three Foot Law are getting worse. Dirt and the pump track are my drive-to riding places and dirt can be had from 10 miles to ∞, while the closest pump track is 18 miles away.

 

[wvoldguy]

Thanks for chiming in, guys. I got in a bit over 10 miles starting at sunrise this morning, doing laps around the local fairgrounds. It was getting hot fast by the time I finished. We need rain badly.

 

[Hogleg44]

Every rideable day of the year, I ride one of my bikes around 25+ miles on local little traveled neighborhood streets and city trails.
I'm 85, and except for yard work, my bicycles are my only means of daily workout. I'm religious on exercise. Use It or Loose It!!!
I do ride around sunrise because it's cooler and less windy here in N. Texas.
Rideable days means, DRY, and not too cold that I have to weight myself down with excess clothes baggage!
My ride takes around two hours. I do lots of curves on an empty parking lot, and it also depends how many dog walkers are using the trail. I slow down for everyone I have to pass. Otherwise, depending on which bike, i usually go around 14 mph.

 

[Mesquite Hugger]

I do 20-50 miles per week commuting to work on a pedal-assist e-bike (depending on the number of 4-wheeled errands I have to squeeze in, and am working on a cargo-ish e-bike to cut down on 4-wheeled errands). I do 5-10 miles per week on a cruiser/klunker of some sort for short trips. At least every other week I do a 5-10 mile mtb trail ride with my coffee buddies. We have minimal bike lanes and no bike paths around town, so most of my rides are on surface streets in residential neighborhoods.

 

[ParkRNDL]

Just reread the original post and noticed this:

...I live in a small, land-locked subdivision, where a lap around the entire neighborhood is only 6/10 of a mile, and I really don't like mixing with vehicular traffic...
...
...So basically, if I want to ride, I have to load up a bike and take it somewhere else...

I'm in the same boat. My subdivision is also a 6/10 mile loop with a couple of cul-de-sacs off of it, and kinda hilly for all that. The two exits from the subdivision put you on the same hilly stretch of 55-mph county road. If I want to do any more than cruise a few laps around the neighborhood for 20 minutes, I load the bike up and take it into town. It's about a 10-minute drive, and there's a 2-mile rail-trail type deal right through the middle of town. I always start on the rail-trail, which has a couple of designated parking lots. Then I dive off the north end near Wilson College and cruise the residential neighborhoods there, or the south end near the high school where there are even more neighborhoods to explore.

I have discovered there's a whole network of alleys through town that are great to ride. Little motor vehicle traffic and lots to see, and they connect the different neighborhoods and different parts of town without having to ride main roads. It's kind of funny how the alleys give you a whole different view of the area. I lived here for over 15 years before I started riding the rail-trail and alleys, and it's like a whole different town that nobody knows about right in the middle of the "main" one.

Our group rides are in a different town about half an hour south, and we like to do "alley tours" there also. One of our favorite ride destinations is actually a legendary local donut shop located in an alley.

 

[Palepainter]

6-10 miles daily. 5 days weekly minimum.

 

[Kevin B]

I ride 10 miles daily if possible. This time of the year is hardest because of interference from our subtropical rainy season. The next two days may be wash outs because of TS Fred. My riding is done on single speed cruisers with coaster brakes. I do have a 3 speed I ride in moderate to heavy head winds. If I ride my 21 speed mountain bike I just stay close on local canals as I really dislike the bent over posture required to ride it.

 

[Captain Awesome]

I loaded my boat on a ferry today and took it to an island only accessible by boat. Got 31 miles in exploring all the abandoned stuff

Two abandoned resorts and two abandoned golf courses = shred fest