How Long Does It Take to Ride a Bike 5 Miles
How long does it take to bike 6 miles? Or – How long does it take to bike 5 miles? These two questions surface a lot in springs and mostly before the start of schools.
5-6 miles or up to 10 miles is generally the distance Americans travel in a bike trip. Often the average distance between your college and work is 6 miles. And in reality 6 miles ride is achievable by all age groups.
Biking 6 miles is not very hard on your body and not very easy too. Most trainers will recommend you 6 – 10 miles cycling for fitness.
Even the 6 mile bike ride time is not absurd. Taking out 23 minutes to a maximum of say 27 – 28 minutes is easily doable.
If you are seeking the answer for any of the above two questions (How long does it take to bike 6 miles? or – How long does it take to bike 5 miles?) then you have come to a pretty right place. In this post we have calculated all the metrics and bars to exactly answer you your queries.
And if it is work or school then calculating the exact travel time means a lot for you. A single minute late punch of your card in corporate offices can sometimes lead to inflated fines.
So cutting all the criterion short – let us answer the question How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles.
Provided that all the evaluating factors (discussed below) are general – then you will need –
23.5 minutes at a steady speed on a flat road.
6 mile bike ride time – Factors to look for
23.5 minutes was what our riders clocked riding 6 miles. But remember this was a test run. We had a selection of 25 – 35 years of males and females. The road was flat, and the bikes were pretty much all road bikes.
There a lot of other factors which were not taken into consideration. Different type of terrains, your physical condition, your determination, local traffic and a lot other – are some of the attributes which affect your speed.
Are you just starting out with biking?
If you are a beginner to riding bicycles then – 23.5 minutes is not your 6 mile bike ride time. It will take you around 40 minutes to reach your 6 miles – milestone.
Mostly as a new rider you will start at an average speed of 8-10 mph. You will need to settle in on your bike and to understand it fully. The movement, the traction, gears, brakes, and the balance will be absorbed by your physique eventually.
The faster you understand how your bike is behaving with you – your speed will increase. Fairly estimating – a month on your bike will record you somewhere around 30 minutes for 6 miles.
And to reach to 23.5 minutes for 6 mile bike ride time – you will take around 45 days.
The start will be "a tortoise and the hare". Even small kids of your house will beat you. What you really need is a consistent program of 5 days – 6 miles ride – a week.
When you are starting cycling – initial miles are the most difficult ones. Take rest at every 3 miles of your journey. Keep yourself hydrated and carry granola bars or snacks if necessary. Even carrying a bag of essential biking tools like this one on Amazon is a recommendation.
After 2 or 3 months of your starting cycling – you can beat 23.5 minutes too. Reaching speeds of up to 35 mph when sprinting is a total possibility.
The answer to How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles – it can be reduced to 12 – 15 minutes with experience.
Which cycling route are you taking?
Traffic is the most important thing you need to look for when riding to work or to colleges. 23.5 minutes as 6 mile bike ride time is – when you are coming across a maximum of two traffic signals.
Even if you are a pro and record the least 6 mile bike ride time – your bike is wings-less. You cannot fly above the traffic and not dodge the signals either. Sometimes breaking a traffic signal will cost you more than what Uber might have charged you for 6 miles ride.
Before you start, buy a cycling route planner or simply use google maps to best navigate your cycling route. It will give you an exact estimate of the minutes – along with suggestions to best route you can take.
Stop at all the Traffic Lights and stop signs. Follow the Highway Code. Don't get into bus lanes if bikes and cycles are not allowed to be ridden there.
Plan a safer route. Main Roads and Highways are good to bike on. Flat grounds are best to ride. However if there are hilly terrains then the average gradient you can ride smoothly is 11% to 15%.
Cycling in the Rain?
Check what the weather is likely to be the whole day before hitting the pedals to work or college or school. If needed carry a rain jacket or a pair of UV protected biking sunglasses.
By cycling in the rain – we mean the whether in general. Whether will affect your speed. The test run we carried out to estimate 6 mile bike ride time was in a bright sunny day.
If the days are not rainy or windy then 25 minutes is average for a 6 mile bike ride. But if the whether is coarse you need to leave early. How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles – depends a lot then – on the current whether c conditions.
Check the wind speed or so called breeze speed. The drag will always be a hindrance in your speed. If you have a good streamlined bike – then it can help you a little cutting through.
Mountain Bike vs Road Bike
There is a lot of debate on Mountain Bike vs Road Bike. However we are answering "How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles?" considering that you are riding to work and college within the city limits. And for that –
A road bike will decrease the 6 mile bike ride time considerably. In the test run conducted by us to answer How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles – both the types were used.
Road Bikes reached 6 miles in 23.5 seconds. Mountain Bikes took 28 minutes to reach the same destination. This shows that Road Bikes are 20 to 30 percent faster on city roads.
However if you want to ride six miles or more on hilly and mountain-like terrains – then go for a MTB. In those terrains a MTB will be speedier and more effective.
Bike Tire Sizes
Mountain bike differs from a Road Bike. And the most important parameter making a road bike faster on flat grounds is – bike tires sizes.
Road bikes have a smaller size tire than a MTB. And smaller tires move fast on flat surfaces.
The Smaller the tire – the lesser its contact with the ground and air and lesser its spin. The lesser the contact means less friction. And less friction means high speeds.
On a rocky terrain you need larger bike tires sizes. Stability of the bike means more to you there. If you ride a small tire bike in a dusty and sandy terrain – the bike will not move as fast.
So basically the answer to How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles – depends a lot on which terrain you are riding.
On flat grounds go for smaller bike tires size and you will record fast. However if 6 miles are on difficult terrains than go for large tire sizes. You will be faster on large size there.
Recreational Biking or Cycling for fitness?
All the above statistics for "How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles" – were considered taking into account that you are riding to work or to college.
This shows that the purposebehind biking is very important. Because Riding to Work, Recreational Biking and Cycling for fitness – all vary in their speeds. 6 mile bike ride time for all three are quite different.
Recreational Biking is different than riding to work. Recreational rides are a leisure activity – where time should not matter to you at all.
And if you are on a recreational ride – then please toss this question – How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles – into trash.
Recreational Biking – first of all should not last limited miles. And secondly it should not be time constrained. Ride it – as if you own all the time in the world.
However please do not confuse Recreational Biking with cycling for fitness. A fitness ride should have pace. In fact cycling for fitness should be faster than road biking.
This is to say – that even clocking 6 miles in 23.5 minutes is not considered as good cycling for fitness.
However if your main purpose in riding 6 miles is work, college or something official then speed is what you need. –
23.5 minutes is our answer to How Long Does it Take to Bike 6 Miles – which is fine as an average. But if possible have a practice run on any free day taking into account all the above parameters.
Evaluate your bike, its tires, traffic, route, weather patterns and then time yourself. If it is between 21 minutes to 27 minutes then its near perfect. But if you are taking more than 30 minutes then you need to a check on where you are slowing down.
Either the tires, or the route, or the bike must be responsible for more than 30 minutes 6 mile bike ride time. Change where it is needed – and mostly you will come to the averages.
How to Ride Long Distances
If you want to go beyond 6 miles and 10 miles, then watch the video below. It explains all the basics and what to do's.
How Long Does It Take to Ride a Bike 5 Miles
Source: https://wanderingbiker.net/bike-6-miles/