As you can imagine, the answer to this question is complicated and dependent on many factors. But to give you a quick response, Ive made this chart which shows the distance on miles to the left, and then the average time on the right it would take to bike a given distance.

How long does it take to Ride to your destination

Short Distance Estimation Table

Short distances are mainly done by commuters to work or city riders. So I have to consider traffic, stops, etc.

More experienced bikers generally do long-distance, so I suppose they are more prepared physically. Also, no traffic and problems that bikers face in the city.

Long Distance Estimation Table

Factors to Consider When estimating the ride duration

The commute route

What does your commute route look like? :

• Are there Hills
• Are you going to be dealing with traffic?
• Is there a bike path
• What is your route like?

If you have a route with a lot of hills, maybe some traffic, even a few miles can be pretty rough to ride your bike, whereas if youve got a commute on a route thats flat with hardly any elevation, it will be significatively easier.

So youll need to determine your commute route to estimate your ride duration.

The fitness level

The next question you need to ask yourself is what is your fitness level. A twenty-mile bike commute might not be a big deal if you exercise and ride your bike a lot. But if you hardly ever ride your bike, 20 miles will be rough.

Even if you dont consider yourself very fit, you should still try bike commuting. Start with a shorter bike commute of two to five miles, and over time youll get more fit and go faster and faster, especially if you have the right bike.

The bike type

The next factor is the type of bike are you riding:

• Youll be able to go faster if you have an electric bike because youll have that assistance
• With a road bike, its easier to go faster and is a little bit more efficient
• Other bikes like mountain or gravel bikes will be slower

Depending on which of those bikes you have will determine how much effort you have to put into cycling and thus how much time your ride would take.

Wheather

Will there be a lot of wind? The wind direction is important because you will be slower if you are riding on a route against the wind and much faster if you have the wind at your back.

How to improve the speed

Body position.

One of the most significant differences is the position on the bike.
So the difference between being upright on the tops, on the one hand, and down on the drops, elbows bent, relatively flat back, on the other hand, is huge. And, the faster you are going, the more important it is to be aero and the more benefit youll get.

Pacing

How we distribute our effort can considerably affect our ultimate average speed.
If we imagine our theoretical ride is an hour-long, we have a finite ability over that hour, So if you set off too fast, you will inevitably be going slower by the end.

That pacing strategy will give you the feeling of riding slowly, but in the end, youll be impressed with how quickly you will get to your destination.

Train at a sweet spot

This one will require a little bit of effort on your part. If you get fitter and more powerful, youll go faster on your bicycle, that is a fact. However, to get fitter, you will have to go to training.

Eating while riding

Experienced riders and beginners forget this important fact: Eating while riding is essential when riding your bike for more than 90 minutes.

During your ride, youre using fuel, and the harder you ride, the more fuel you will burn. To improve your average speed, you must ensure that your muscles have enough energy to keep going.

So think about taking an energy drink or gel. It can make a difference in maintaining your speed.

Weight

The less you weigh, the faster you will go on any ride with some uphill gradient.
Just a few kilograms can make an enormous difference,
so you can over-exercise more, cut down your calories slightly, or mix the two.
The other option is to lose some weight from your bike. But that, as you know, is darned expensive.

There are other avenues you can go down even though it will require a little bit more investment. Aerodynamics is even more important than the weight on rides where theres less elevation change:

• Your clothing: Make sure to have a tight-fitting cycling kit.
• Your helmet. You can invest in an aerodynamic helmet.
• And then, when it comes to your bike, you can make many upgrades: aerodynamic wheels, aerodynamic frames, and aerodynamic time trial bars.
• That, of course, helps with your body position too.