How far do you regularly ride your 20?

I ride my 20 pretty far when I got a couple extra tubes, tools, food, water and a pump in my bag. but the furthest Ive ridden 1 way and back was 24 miles on my 20". I dont do that often but I do ride many miles finding spots and riding in general.

I used to ride about 4 miles each way to work and back. Took almost as long as taking the train with 3 transfers. Farthest I rode regularly was maybe 6 or 7 miles each way, south side to north side and back, but that included time riding stuff so that was a 6 or 10 hour day. I run the seat just high enough to be useful.

I ride my BMX to work, its the funnest thing in the world. Only 2-3 miles though when I used to live farther it was closer to 4. Don't have to sit in traffic with a bunch of dickheads or take the bum riddled and piss stained subway. Fuck commuting up the ass with a drinking straw.

I ride about 5 miles to work and back up to 5 days a week (except when it rains) and do about 4 miles around the city on my lunch break looking for new shit to do. Running 25/9. Seat stays low, never use it. Can be hard on my knees sometimes.

With my daughter, we usually cruse 3-4 miles for chill.. I've been riding my 20 on those rides lately and seems to coast so easy that it's less work to ride compared to my 26" (50+lbs) school bus.

But I'll ride 6-7 round trip to a destination (bar)..

Anything more than 7, to me, is getting closer to working than playing..

Bulletpup wrote:

I ride my 20 pretty far when I got a couple extra tubes, tools, food, water and a pump in my bag. but the furthest Ive ridden 1 way and back was 24 miles on my 20". I dont do that often but I do ride many miles finding spots and riding in general.

So 48 miles total? Or 24 round trip? Either way that's pretty damn far.

The furthest I've walked in one day was 24 miles at work.

Bulletpup wrote:

I ride my 20 pretty far when I got a couple extra tubes, tools, food, water and a pump in my bag. but the furthest Ive ridden 1 way and back was 24 miles on my 20". I dont do that often but I do ride many miles finding spots and riding in general.

Black Swamp Ghost wrote:

So 48 miles total? Or 24 round trip? Either way that's pretty damn far.

The furthest I've walked in one day was 24 miles at work.

Round trip. It was actually surprisingly quick. I thought is was going to take forever but if youre smart about it and cut corners here and there its not bad.

I did it as a challenge when I got cleared to ride again after an injury.

I was a letter carrier for the post office at that time so I was used to walking 10-15+ miles everyday anyway.

I walk a ton too, transmission power lines forestry.. GPS mapping stuff through Kentucky when I did that 24 point A to B walk, over the hills, creeks, rivers, hills, swamps... Lol

Hell yeah. Y’all got me riding my bike to work at least one day next week! I could use the extra exercise and, if my knees can handle it, it would be awesome having 45 minutes to get some flatland reps or something on lunch.

Edit: For the record, I’m in pretty decent shape already but could use a little extra something these days.

I was never sure until this past week. I took some mtb buddies street riding. They used some 26” dj bikes I used my typical bmx. Was what I considered a light session. One of them ran an app called Strava. It recorded we did 12 miles. So I’d say on average I ride 4 to 6 miles more than that per street session.

BillyBigRigger wrote:

I was never sure until this past week. I took some mtb buddies street riding. They used some 26” dj bikes I used my typical bmx. Was what I considered a light session. One of them ran an app called Strava. It recorded we did 12 miles. So I’d say on average I ride 4 to 6 miles more than that per street session.

You mean you don’t Strava all your BMX rides?!?!

https://www.vitalbmx.com/product/guide/Seat-Post-Clamps,21/S-M/Quick-Release,11528 problem solved

If I get a good bmx by the time my wife gets back to riding with me in the nicer weather, I will probably try a 20"er. She goes kind of slow.... When I ride by myself on my cruiser I'm usually going a lot faster than with her.

My current 20"er has a gearing of 41.9, so I don't really fancy a longer ride with it.....

VirginiaDoug wrote:

To a spot, to school, to work, wherever. Come spring, I’m trying to ride to work about three miles each way to get some practice on lunch, but standing up the whole way kicks my ass. I’m used to my 24 cruiser with the seat post cranked so I can sit and pedal on the flats. Anyway, I’ll get in awesome shape if I go through with it. How far do regularly ride your 20?

For fitness they say what ever one does, should be done for about an hour with the same pace.

Average person should be able to do a 5k "paved" walk in an hour. 5k is just over 3 miles. That is what most charities set their walks at.

A person is not going to get to much fitness on a bmx sitting for 3 miles. It might take 6 miles or more of sitting on a bmx just to equal 3 miles of walking.

VirginiaDoug wrote:

To a spot, to school, to work, wherever. Come spring, I’m trying to ride to work about three miles each way to get some practice on lunch, but standing up the whole way kicks my ass. I’m used to my 24 cruiser with the seat post cranked so I can sit and pedal on the flats. Anyway, I’ll get in awesome shape if I go through with it. How far do regularly ride your 20?

Before I got a car, pretty much everywhere. Honestly probably biked 20 miles a day

VirginiaDoug wrote:

To a spot, to school, to work, wherever. Come spring, I’m trying to ride to work about three miles each way to get some practice on lunch, but standing up the whole way kicks my ass. I’m used to my 24 cruiser with the seat post cranked so I can sit and pedal on the flats. Anyway, I’ll get in awesome shape if I go through with it. How far do regularly ride your 20?

Wayne S wrote:

For fitness they say what ever one does, should be done for about an hour with the same pace.

Average person should be able to do a 5k "paved" walk in an hour. 5k is just over 3 miles. That is what most charities set their walks at.

A person is not going to get to much fitness on a bmx sitting for 3 miles. It might take 6 miles or more of sitting on a bmx just to equal 3 miles of walking.

They aren’t comparable, walking and running are strictly cardio while cycling is actually a strength exercise that incorporates cardio elements.

VirginiaDoug wrote:

To a spot, to school, to work, wherever. Come spring, I’m trying to ride to work about three miles each way to get some practice on lunch, but standing up the whole way kicks my ass. I’m used to my 24 cruiser with the seat post cranked so I can sit and pedal on the flats. Anyway, I’ll get in awesome shape if I go through with it. How far do regularly ride your 20?

Wayne S wrote:

For fitness they say what ever one does, should be done for about an hour with the same pace.

Average person should be able to do a 5k "paved" walk in an hour. 5k is just over 3 miles. That is what most charities set their walks at.

A person is not going to get to much fitness on a bmx sitting for 3 miles. It might take 6 miles or more of sitting on a bmx just to equal 3 miles of walking.

HavokDJ wrote:

They aren’t comparable, walking and running are strictly cardio while cycling is actually a strength exercise that incorporates cardio elements.

I kind of that the same until I started a lot of uphill mountainbiking. That is some serious cardio!!!

Wayne S wrote:

For fitness they say what ever one does, should be done for about an hour with the same pace.

Average person should be able to do a 5k "paved" walk in an hour. 5k is just over 3 miles. That is what most charities set their walks at.

A person is not going to get to much fitness on a bmx sitting for 3 miles. It might take 6 miles or more of sitting on a bmx just to equal 3 miles of walking.

HavokDJ wrote:

They aren’t comparable, walking and running are strictly cardio while cycling is actually a strength exercise that incorporates cardio elements.

BillyBigRigger wrote:

I kind of that the same until I started a lot of uphill mountainbiking. That is some serious cardio!!!

I think you misunderstood lol. It still has cardio elements as in it’s still cardio, but cycling is primarily a strength exercise. Any workout can give mild cardio but cycling just happens to give both.

I use a heart rate monitor when I run to keep my pace in check. When I ride my 24, it stays about the same as my jogging pace but spikes on hills (obviously) where I’d generally walk to keep my heart rate down. With the 20, I’m holding a higher heart rate when I pedal because I can't use the seat, but as such, I cruise more. 48-something gearing on the 20 means I move slower as well. All told, the 20 is a win - I get a better workout per unit of time and it takes a few more minutes to get where I’m going so I log more time as well.

Once the weather improves, I’ll be riding my 20 to work and getting some session time in on lunch. Should be awesome.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback.

HavokDJ wrote:

They aren’t comparable, walking and running are strictly cardio while cycling is actually a strength exercise that incorporates cardio elements.

BillyBigRigger wrote:

I kind of that the same until I started a lot of uphill mountainbiking. That is some serious cardio!!!

HavokDJ wrote:

I think you misunderstood lol. It still has cardio elements as in it’s still cardio, but cycling is primarily a strength exercise. Any workout can give mild cardio but cycling just happens to give both.

BMX riding is a very good exercise, but don't quit your gym thinking bmx is sufficient.
It doesn't even come close.

Take squatting for example. You would break your chain before getting the same resistance you would get by squatting 150kg

falloftroy20 wrote:

I ride my BMX to work, its the funnest thing in the world. Only 2-3 miles though when I used to live farther it was closer to 4. Don't have to sit in traffic with a bunch of dickheads or take the bum riddled and piss stained subway. Fuck commuting up the ass with a drinking straw.

Amin to that!
Best way by far to go to work and back home!
If only more ppl would do this, and make the streets safer...

Generally speaking, exercising for your health is about getting your heart rate up for an extended period of time. Anything counts. I mow my damn lawn and shovel snow with a heart rate monitor on - just keep the pace up, keep the heart rate up, BOOM 45 minutes of cardio taking care of chores.

While it’s not perfectly cumulative, riding the 20” (or 24” for that matter!) to work gives me an hour a day of elevated heart rate; albeit segmented into several sessions. It’s not the best strategy for improving endurance but is great for eliciting cardioprotective benefits and fat loss. And hell, you gotta get to work anyway!

Enjoy your bike and know that your enjoyment is improving your overall health.

For a midweek session, I will ride to the train station, take my BMX on the train (a small 20'' is great for this, I have a spot in the carriage where I turn it up onto the bars and front wheel and lean it against the wall) then leave it in the back room at work. After work I head to to the skatepark that's a couple of blocks away, ride for an hour or two, then get back on the train and ride home from the station.

I think it's about 6km (4 miles) all up. Plus it's a big hill climb (and slightly scary bomb back down) to the station, the only reason I'm still running 25-9 gearing.

The other skatepark I can ride to is 1.5km (1 mile) from my house for but some reason I don't like riding there as much. I guess the roads are busier and crappier.

The farthest I've ever gone on my bike is from Rancho Cucamonga to the Pomona Fairplex. If you are an Inland Empire local you would know that that's pretty far (about 13 miles).But on a regular basis I ride like 6 miles or sum

Not a hardcore rider by any means. Just like to rip around town & swing by the skatepark on late night summer rides. I usually ride about 8-10 mi a night on my 20”, hopping curbs and half-azz manuals n such. 20mi a day on my mtb/trail bikes

Well damn. Rode with a pretty rad homie Saturday he gps’ed the ride. We did 21 miles on bmx street riding and spot searching.

BillyBigRigger wrote:

I kind of that the same until I started a lot of uphill mountainbiking. That is some serious cardio!!!

HavokDJ wrote:

I think you misunderstood lol. It still has cardio elements as in it’s still cardio, but cycling is primarily a strength exercise. Any workout can give mild cardio but cycling just happens to give both.

am-shaegar wrote:

BMX riding is a very good exercise, but don't quit your gym thinking bmx is sufficient.
It doesn't even come close.

Take squatting for example. You would break your chain before getting the same resistance you would get by squatting 150kg

Oh believe me I won’t, I worked too hard on this body to quit powerlifting. Just saying it’s still a strength exercise cause you are working against resistance but it also works as cardio.

farthest, maybe 1/4 mile. fuck pedaling far on a bmx lol

adamnmexican wrote:

farthest, maybe 1/4 mile. fuck pedaling far on a bmx lol

No streeting my G?