[Closed] is 23 miles too far to commute? swinley to Reading

Not that route but my commute is approx 28 miles each way. Try and do it 2/3 days a week. The drive is horrid, takes much longer than 32 minutes.

Nice roads through there on a road bike. Not many climbs to do, if any other than the road from Spencers Wood to Beech Hill and Mortimer Hill.

Mate of mine does 24 miles each way, 5 days a week in all conditions apart from snow. Needless to say, he's quite quick as a result.

I used to do 22 miles each way twice a week. Fairly hilly, got it down to about 75-80 minutes after I got into it. Probably best to break yourself in gently and expect to be a bit knackered and hungry to begin with.

Its also surprising how much an effect on performance a pint a lunchtime had or how demoralising a headwind is.?

It'll be fine! Just do it.

I occasionally commute 26 miles each way, on a fairly hilly route (Gatwick to Biggin Hill) so a flatter 23 mile route should be doable. The major factor for longer commutes is simply finding time in the day.
It is rather satisfying, though.

You've just made my 8.5 mile commute sound like a short walk. Thanks! 🙂

This week I'm on nights and I have cycled in every night. I've been building myself up to do a complete week for a Couple of months. Up a slight hill all the way home but not too steep. Im using a 29Er HT at the moment but my new road bike should be ready to rock n roll by Monday, just a few pieces of helitape and I'm finished. Hopefully it will take 5 mins of my 29min commute. (34min on way home)
When I first thought about trying it I thought no chance it will kill me, but now it looks as if I may get rid of the car and save £300+ a month.

If you have a road bike this time of the year is the best to train and build yourself up for it. Give it a go twice a week for 2 months then up it to 3. I can't believe how much I actually enjoy it. Got drowned twice this week and I had the option of using a car. People at work think I'm mad but there fat and unfit.
Good luck!

It's doable - I probably wouldn't go for 5 days on the trot the first week, you might be a bit sore & worn out if you arn't used to that sort of mileage. Break yourself in!

I'm planning on doing my other office once or twice a week, but that's a round trip of 75 miles which is fairly daunting. I'll see how it goes on the first day...

Id say alot depends on your job as well ? .... if your sat behind a desk all day then id say yeah its ok to commute.
I occasionally ride the 21 miles to work, but im in a manual job as part of maintenance team at a big university and so always on the go and at the end of the day totally knackered and the last thing i need is 20 odd miles on the bike !

I do 20 miles each way 5 days per week with a mixture of being on my feet and sitting down while at work. It sometimes gets a bit tedious and I only ride once (road, cross or mountain bike) at the weekend.
I hate driving though and public transport would take nearly two hours each way due to the convoluted route.

22 Mile each way here - only once a week though. More days would get boring (I'm not a roadi) and I can choose the best weather day of the week.

23 Miles though - Forget it!

My commute is 20 miles each way and I cycle it 3 to 5 days a week all year round. 23 miles is certainly doable, how much time it'll add to your commute will obviously depends what the route's like and how fit you are. But it will add considerable time and considerable enjoyment.

You'll be fine doing 3 days a week but just take it easy either way in or way home.

10 years ago I was doing between 25 and 30 miles each way, 5 days a week and it wasn't that bad. I was hungry all the time though.

Now I tend to drive into work on Monday, ride home, ride both ways Tuesday, into work on Weds then drive home. Drive back in Thurs, ride home then back to work on Friday and then take the car home Friday evening. The rides vary anywhere between 20 and 50 miles each depending on the weather, my beer intake in the evenings, general mood and enthusiasm for riding.

So 23 each way every day is easily possible.

I used to ride Fleet to Reading (Thames Valley Park) 3-4 days a week all year round, 18 miles each way. It got a bit boring, windy days were very demoralising, and the A327 was quite terrifying at times, but for the most part it was OK and the summer was great.

We moved to Crowthorne so I'm down to a 12 mile each way commute now but struggling to find the time because of other commitments.

Break yourself in gently, avoid fast/busy roads, and try to enjoy it! Expect to be very hungry for the first few weeks at least.

What time do you generally start/finish work? 32 mins from Bracknell to the other side of Reading is pretty quick! It takes me longer than that to drive Crowthorne to TVP if I leave at the wrong time, in fact if I were to leave at the wrong time (08:10 - 08:50) it's quicker to cycle.

Do it, you'd get used to it. Start on 2 days a week then 3, 4, reckon 5 would be a push but if you wanted it enough in time you'd get it.

Been doing 13 mile eachway commute 4 days a week for years, switched to an offroad route, same distance but the extra effort floored me for a while, no energy for night and weekend rides, used to it now tho.

Should probably man up and go for 5 days a week....hmm maybe work towards that through next winter, don't want to spend all summer knackered from commuting.

I ride a hilly 25 miles each way through the chilterns fairly irregular and I feel loads better and a lot more productive after it. Bison hill up to whipsnade zoo is a killer with a laptop and other work related gubbins on my back though.

I ride 18 miles in & 14 miles hilly route back 2 or 3 times a week, just over an hour in & just under for the return journey (30-40 minutes in the car)
As above I've driven in with my bike & ridden home then ridden in the next day when I first started.

When I started my original commute (7 miles each way) after not being on a bike for over 20 years I just built myself up into it 4 weeks at 2 days then 2 weeks at 3 days then another 2 weeks and 4 days then 5 days a week a month or so later.

Avoid busy roads and roundabouts at all cost if you can there bloody dangerous, after some very near misses I actually change my route to avoid one roundabout in fact.

And just ride like every one is trying to kill you as most of them are and finally buy the very BEST water proofs you can afford trust me you will never regret spending good money on waterproofs when you walk out of work and its pissing down!

It's perfectly doable. The biggest risk is that it is quite wearing (depending on how many days a week you do it) and you can reach a point where you can't be bothered to ride at the weekends which is a bit rubbish.

A chap I used to work with, would commute 7miles each way.
But he would ride home at lunch time for a brew and ride back to work.
Then either ride home, to a TT/race or just for a ride after work.
He was fast

Thanks for the replies everyone... I'll probably do a test ride next week.

panniers for the win - as above,don't skimp on waterproofs, shoes, shorts. and mudguards. I've still got a faded Freestyle yellow jacket I splashed out on, it was a revelation to be comfortable when it was pissin down.

Work has a shower I assume? Mine was 15 miles, first three weeks were a bugger but you get used to it and after that you'll miss it if you don't do it. Shower is essential though as you'll be hot and sweaty and will need to cool down. After 6 months I was about 35% quicker and much much fitter all round.

Mudguards, an essential piece of summer commuting kit.

How did you make Swinley to Reading 23miles? From Swinley to The far side of reading its only 15? Are you adding on extra for getting lost.

Sorry Neptune, it is from across the road from the lookout to Tadley to be more exact. I reset the clock in the car to measure it 😉

It's quite flat, go for it. What've you got to lose?

I say go for it. I commuted aprox 25miles 3 or 4 times a week for about 18months (Weybridge into London). I was lucky cause it only added marginally onto my comuting time (1h25min by bike, 1hr by train/tube)and I absolutely loved it. Some weeks you are knackered and have to take it slower but then I would just take two days off. Really do miss it - although not for the traffic.

I ride 27 hilly miles from Harrogate to Skipton once or twice a week. Just build up to more days.

[i]10 years ago I was doing between 25 and 30 miles each way, 5 days a week and it wasn't that bad. I was hungry all the time though.[/i]

I've never got this 'hungry all the time' thing, I just eat normal amounts of food. Of course you could use it as an excuse to eat more than normal, so you feel full all the time.

Sorry Neptune, it is from across the road from the lookout to Tadley to be more exact. I reset the clock in the car to measure it

There may be a shorter route on the bike. In the car we tend to use the faster route which may not be shortest, but on the bike the quickest is almost always the shortest.

According to Google the shortest possible route from the Lookout to Tadley is 19 miles. I'm not sure I'd fancy cycling on that Nine Mile Drive though, lots of blind dips and boy racer idiot drivers.

I've never got this 'hungry all the time' thing, I just eat normal amounts of food. Of course you could use it as an excuse to eat more than normal, so you feel full all the time.

50-60 miles is going to add upto another 2400 calories a day on top of your basic metabolic rate, if you didn't eat almost double a normal person you'd suffer malnutrition.

I used to do 30 a day and it was OK, just eat a lot to combat the fatigue. Get a lot of fruit, veg, meat, and other 'good' stuff, but revel in the fact you can eat a box of magnums or a tub of ben and jerries at your desk each way and still lose weight :-).

On that route I'd set off really early, the bit through wokingham/arborfield is my commute too and the standard of driving arround school run time beggers belief.

Do it through choice rather than having to, then you'll be fine.