My 16 mile Ebike commute was faster than a car today

[Apostrophe]

I ride my ebike to work regularly, and the most direct path is 15.5 miles.

A neighbor who works at the building next to mine drove to work today, and we met at the same traffic light about a mile from our homes. I called him as I was parking my bike, and he was still driving! He was almost speechless - "I can't believe you beat me to work on a bike", he says. My heart rate was steady for the first mile, but once I saw him at the red light it spikes from there as I was intentionally hustling to see if I could be close to his drive time. Even I didn't expect to beat him.

Anyway, sharing my badassity!

[Travis]

I've been riding my bike to work every day since April 1st and the commute is only 5 minutes longer than my car depending on stop lights.  I get off the light rail with my bike and start for home.  There is usually a metro bus picking up the train passengers at the same moment I get started and I'll "race" it home since we're going down the same street.  I can keep up with or stay ahead of that bus half the time, and while it will eventually overtake me no matter what, it won't happen until 3/4 of the way down the street.

[JimmyFry]

Nice work OP!  I've had a similar experience on the commute home (4.5 miles) where a coworker and I passed each other a few times before I finally kept my lead at a jam-up.  It was certainly satisfying!

[Arbitrage]

Very nice!  I'm starting an e-bike commute in a month and a half (about 7 miles each way), and it will be comparable to my current commute home most days, but far more enjoyable.  The ride in to work will take longer by a few minutes, but who cares - exercise, fresh air, saving money!

Can't wait to start it.  I still have to pick up the kids, and haven't been able to get a good solution for hooking up the trailer to the e-bike yet.  Also not sure I'd feel comfortable towing my daughter on the streets I'd have to take to get her home.  I probably could find a way to make it work, but she's switching to the local school in July where my son is (can walk them both home), so I'm going to grit out the car commute for a bit longer.  The couple of times I've managed to leave the car behind - on weekends - I've been invigorated by the bike commute.

[UniversityEmployee9]

This is definitely commendable.

I've been considering whether or not an ebike commute could work for me.

My biggest hangups: my commute is 22 miles round-trip and I live in Florida, where the heat gets pretty intense in the summer and we get heavy downpours every afternoon.

Or maybe I'm just lazy and these aren't very good excuses, I'm still not totally sure.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[PC2K]

I'm Dutch and we have an excellent bike lane system; with tunnels to cross busy roads. So cyclist just take the tunnel, cars need to wait for the lights. Cycling is pretty much always faster than driving to work for me.

(regular steel bike, nog a E-bike)

[MasterStache]

Awesome! I have been commuting my daughter to soccer practice and gymnastics for several weeks now by e-bike. Both occur during rush hour so my e-bike commute is actually quicker than if I were to drive. And my daughter loves riding on it.

[Thoughtful Mule]

To those with e-bikes including the original poster, what do you ride? Did you modify a mountain bike, or buy one already complete? how many watts. I really want to get on board with this, and know that i can get places faster by bike.

[MasterStache]

I purchased a Radwagon a few months ago. Chose it because my hybrid bike at the time wouldn't have been a good fit for a kit. Plus it's so much easier to cart my daughter around on the back. Since I am semi-retired, I accepted the fact that I likely wouldn't recoup the cost. It's been a blast riding it and lowering my environmental impact though. 

[Arbitrage]

To those with e-bikes including the original poster, what do you ride? Did you modify a mountain bike, or buy one already complete? how many watts. I really want to get on board with this, and know that i can get places faster by bike.

Here's a bit more discussion:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/making-the-commute-switch-e-bike-on-the-way!/

I actually had an opportunity to ride mine in today for just the third time; first time at regular working hours.  It was so much more serene than my normal car commute - even though I start work very early, the freeway is already packed by 5:45. 

5 more weeks and I can do it regularly!

[Penn42]

Hahahaha this is great!  I currently only have a 3.5 mile commute, most of which is on a bike path along a river, and I regularly pass a coworker stuck backed up in traffic at an awful intersection after I get off the bike path.

[babyolja]

I got 14 miles from home to work. Started in march and my coworker beat me by a day. A person i like to compete with beat me because i had an extra day left on my busspass...
Anyway its a bosch engine with 250 watts i got a magnet wich tricks the engine making it think it is only going half the speed it actually is. This gives me a boost up to about 40 kp/h. With 250 watts ur doing most of the work urself at any speed over 20 though. Takes me around 40-45 minutes with an average speed of around 26 kp/h. At around 25 C it gets a bit warm but nothing more than a sweaty asscrack mostly. But someone who sweats more might have issues.

[Icecreamarsenal]

I'm here to sprinkle some love for the Radwagon.  Purchased for 1.5k, can and does support up to 350 pounds.  I usually use it for grocery hauls with a bucket on the back and to take my daughter to the local equestrian farm, but I rode it two nights ago to a friend's house.  190# for me and 115# for wifey, 305# without much problem.  Granted, only a mile and not much elevation change either way but I was still pleasantly surprised.

[Apostrophe]

I had a Rad Rover for awhile, and ride a Haibike now.

The Haibike is a 2014 xDuro Rx29, and it has been great. I put the Bikespeed RS chip in it to remove the speed limiter, and I usually average 22 or 23 mph on my commute, which is mostly an empty, paved canal trail with no stop signs or intersections for miles. Top speed is around 30, but I can't maintain that for long, since this is a pedal assist only bike. There is no throttle.

There are lots of good bike choices. If I were buying one today, I would strongly consider the Haibike Urban Plus.

[Lan Mandragoran]

I'm strongly considering the https://electricbikereview.com/surface-604/shred/ atm as well as if smart motion puts out a new catalyst this year (its supposed to be a mid drive instead of hub motor).

I'd love to do my own, but that comes with the concern of it not looking professional or something idk.

[techwiz]

Congrats on the fast commute. Nothing like motivation of racing a co-worker to pedal faster. My bike commute to my downtown office is 50% faster than taking the bus (35mins by bike, over an hour by bus) of course the bus is on a milk run through the neighbourhood and gets bogged down in downtown traffic...biking is a direct route.

[GuitarStv]

On a good day in the summer it's 42 minutes for a 13 mile bike commute here using my road bike.  It's consistently faster to drive during off hours, but consistently faster to ride than drive any time near rush hour.

[Timmm]

My small US city has an excellent bike path system - maybe not as good as PC2K's Dutch one, but some of the same advantages over driving.

Our bike paths are mostly off the street entirely, and at busy intersections usually have a tunnel. So after going through one traffic light to get to the main bike lanes/path, I usually have no stops to get to my destination. There are some on-street bike lanes, but the separate paths are very pleasant. Usually following next to a creek, so it's quiet and green. A drawback is the paths are very popular for bikes and pedestrians. They also have many gentle curves. Both mean they're really not suitable for top bike speeds. That's fine with me, but there are many who want to ride much faster.

So even at casual cruising speed, biking is usually very close to drive time for in-town errands. And every destination has good bike parking, that's usually a little more convenient than car parking options too.

[UniversityEmployee9]

My small US city has an excellent bike path system - maybe not as good as PC2K's Dutch one, but some of the same advantages over driving.

Our bike paths are mostly off the street entirely, and at busy intersections usually have a tunnel. So after going through one traffic light to get to the main bike lanes/path, I usually have no stops to get to my destination. There are some on-street bike lanes, but the separate paths are very pleasant. Usually following next to a creek, so it's quiet and green. A drawback is the paths are very popular for bikes and pedestrians. They also have many gentle curves. Both mean they're really not suitable for top bike speeds. That's fine with me, but there are many who want to ride much faster.

So even at casual cruising speed, biking is usually very close to drive time for in-town errands. And every destination has good bike parking, that's usually a little more convenient than car parking options too.

Very cool, is this a college town or something? My small US city only has on-street bike lanes.

[Timmm]

My small US city has an excellent bike path system - maybe not as good as PC2K's Dutch one, but some of the same advantages over driving.

Our bike paths are mostly off the street entirely, and at busy intersections usually have a tunnel. So after going through one traffic light to get to the main bike lanes/path, I usually have no stops to get to my destination. There are some on-street bike lanes, but the separate paths are very pleasant. Usually following next to a creek, so it's quiet and green. A drawback is the paths are very popular for bikes and pedestrians. They also have many gentle curves. Both mean they're really not suitable for top bike speeds. That's fine with me, but there are many who want to ride much faster.

So even at casual cruising speed, biking is usually very close to drive time for in-town errands. And every destination has good bike parking, that's usually a little more convenient than car parking options too.

Very cool, is this a college town or something? My small US city only has on-street bike lanes.

Yes, it has the biggest state university campus in the state and it's a big part of the town culture and commerce. When we were shopping colleges, ours stood out in one stat I hadn't even thought about - percentage of students with a car on campus. Ours is well out on the low end of the curve. Bus transportation is also decent and pretty cheap for students or if you get in on an employer or neighborhood group deal.

But I'm kind of spoiled now. A couple of summers ago, we spent about 6 weeks in Martha's Vineyard, and they promoted being bike friendly. We strapped ours to the van for the long road trip. But I never touched mine once we got there - those roads (and drivers!) are not especially safe for cars, let alone bikes. There were some spots that looked like a nice ride, but getting there by bike looked crazy.

[Icecreamarsenal]

I had a Rad Rover for awhile, and ride a Haibike now.

The Haibike is a 2014 xDuro Rx29, and it has been great. I put the Bikespeed RS chip in it to remove the speed limiter, and I usually average 22 or 23 mph on my commute, which is mostly an empty, paved canal trail with no stop signs or intersections for miles. Top speed is around 30, but I can't maintain that for long, since this is a pedal assist only bike. There is no throttle.

There are lots of good bike choices. If I were buying one today, I would strongly consider the Haibike Urban Plus.

A bit expensive at $2k on sale.  Looks good though.

[ditheca]

16 miles! That's impressive.  I raced home with the CEO of my company one day.  Him in his clown car, me on a bike.  I trailed close behind him for almost three miles, and finally passed him at the last turn before we go separate ways.

... Never told him, not sure if he noticed.  But it sure felt good!  I think that was the fastest I ever rode.

[fell-like-rain]

My (unpowered) bike commute is about 18 minutes to go 4 miles through the heart of downtown. I've never actually driven it, but I'll check google maps occasionally, and the rush-hour estimate for driving is routinely double the time. Even walking to the subway and then a 20 minute walk home gets me there faster.

[HenryDavid]

The main commuter route in Calgary follows a riverbank for about 25k. Not traffic lights, no intersections. Beautiful river views. It was interrupted by construction for a few months, and the detour forced cyclists to take a stretch of road with a traffic light. A loooong light at a major road which the normal bike path just avoids with an underpass.
You shoulda heard the disbelief as cyclists bunched up at the light. “People do this every day?” This is bs”. “This is why I stopped driving!”.
Now it's over an we can all whiz downtown faster than the cars again. And park for free. And skip the gym. And car payments. And insurance. And just enjoy looking at beaver lodges (yes, in the city) and ducks.