FBinNY 

This is to remind folks in more northern latitudes that days are getting shorter. (as if you hadn't noticed).

For me it means there's a need for better planning because I have less time in the day to get everything done.

But it's not only less time and the added risks riding at night. Probably more important, is that the shorter days means more of us are riding near dawn and dusk, where contrast is lowest, and when the low sun that may be in our eyes is equally blinding drivers behind us.

It's hard enough to be seen on roads, we don't need sun blind drivers behind us.

So, ride smart and stay alive.

(feel free to expand in any seasonally related direction ---- Aussies, enjoy your Spring)

cooker

Today they had a sort of joke Stonehenge event in Toronto. The sun set at 6:18 right on the line of Bloor St, a major thoroughfare. Apparently a crowd gathered to watch it. Of course that would be 5:18 if we weren't still on daylight savings. (Or did we already switch - now I forget). Anyway, henceforth I will riding home in the dark. It's the worst time of year for me, because there is also slushy leaf mold on the street, and it's sort of a rainy season. It gets a little better for a couple of weeks after the leaves are cleared and before snowfall.

I rode down Bloor after sunset - much better than it would have been at 6:18.

1nterceptor

This is one one of the reasons I run multiple lights day or night.

Manhattanhenge 2016 by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

Seattle Forrest

It's also the beginning of the rainy season. There's no low sun during rush hour because of the perma-cloud. Every now and then we get a bluebird day this time of year and it's especially dangerous because people here just aren't used to it.

On the other hand, riding after dark means lights. Not just yours but on cars too. It's easier to see that a car is approaching from a corner.

If you see a car with the lights out after dark you should assume the driver is intoxicated, and stay the **** away.

Seattle Forrest

This was exactly a year and a day ago. I was hit by a car immediately after it ran a red light. It was going 35 to 40 mph. Stay safe out there.

cooker

I enjoy riding in the dark as long as it is not rush hour. I ride mostly on residential streets, with light traffic, and the car headlights give you a bit more information about traffic behind you in addition to what you get from sounds and shoulder checks. I'm always well lit (that used to mean drunk ) but still don't take my visibility to others for granted. One slight problem with drop bars is that a headlight on the top bar might be partially blocked to the side by the brake hoods, but I also have a light on the head tube that should be more visible to side traffic. Even so I am more likely to do a full stop and proceed more cautiously through an intersection in the dark in case they don't see me.

winston63 

It was very dark out with heavy rain falling on my commute this morning, that's probably the way it's going to be going home. I'm out on the west coast, in Victoria BC, and like Cooker noted the biggest hazard aside from visibility are the piles of leaves that build up this time of year. I've had more than one fall after hitting a slippery patch and it's something to watch out for.

This morning I encountered a new hazard - a small owl, probably a Western Screech Owl, who was happily standing in the middle of the trail I commute on munching on what was probably a mouse. He didn't seem very interested in moving for me so I gave him a wide berth and passed by! that's a first for me.

JoeyBike

For some of us the darkness has another effect. It brings the thugs out earlier, often during peak commuting time.

So while I am keeping my head on a swivel for road hazards I have to keep an eye peeled on the sidelines too. Delightful.
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Seattle Forrest

An out front mount for your light can solve that. So can a head lamp. You might also be able to mount lights to your fork which not only avoids the problem you mentioned, but also makes road hazards a lot more visible because of the shadows.

This thread has some useful info and pictures of peoples' setups.

JBHoren

I'm LCF for many years, and the rapidly reducing daylight hours (even here, in South Florida) are a reminder that it's OK to not do everything today -- everything can't be a top-priority task, and it's OK to push some things over onto tomorrow's list. I don't like riding in the dark, so I don't. Time enough, tomorrow... or, even, the next day. I want to smell the coffee, not just ride to the store and buy it (actually, I home-roast my coffee, but that's a different thread, in a different forum).

Dahon.Steve

I'm not a bike commuter but I happen to think the best time to ride is after 11:00 PM. The streets are cold but deserted and the cars give you more room. There's nothing like a midnight ride of practically empty streets.

If I were bike commuting, there's no way I would do rush hour traffic. After work, I would head for the gym or find some other activity and start heading for home at 8:00 when rush hour is practically over and it's dark making your lights much more effective.

JoeyBike

I gave up recreational cycling EXCEPT for a couple of months starting in November when I become nocturnal. Yes...late is great! There are some very safe neighborhoods and a few trails I can hit for a 10-30 mile ride. I have a Surly Pugsley that I never use since I moved ten years ago - except those two months when I use it two or three times a week under the stars or even in the rain. Pugs is very forgiving on bad street surfaces and cutting across woodlots after dark.
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cooker

Fortunately I live in a city with a very low crime rate and never think about that, but I'm sure personal safety is an issue for a lot of women biking at night.

Leisesturm

Oh come on! Do you think anyone can see your lights through that??? That being said, I've never understood the "sun blindness" excuse. I've not been behind the wheel of a car where the flip down visor wasn't VERY effective in restoring forward vision. On a bike, not so much! The visor on my Giro helmet is useless against low angle sun. I've had limited success with wearing a short brim cycling cap under the helmet, but I keep telling my SO that my goal is to invent some kind of flip down visor for bike helmets that works as well as the ones in cars. In the meantime, if the sun gets bad, it may be necessary to sacrifice a hand to shield your eyes. At least you aren't as likely to be Captaining a tandem at the time like I usually am. Drivers though have little excuse IMO. Modern car glass has anti-glare coatings, and the flip down visor just plain works. I still worry about them trying to pull the "the sun was in my eyes" cop out in court after they have screwed up and killed someone... ... me.

FBinNY 

More on the original issue of low sun.

Most of us are aware of the specific hazard of low sun ahead. But yesterday I was reminded of a 2nd way low sun can be dangerous.

When riding with low sun abeam (on either side) we're OK until we come to intersections. Then on one side we're sun blinded an could miss an approaching car, and on the other drivers are sun blinded and may not see us. Even traffic lights don't help because they're easily when the sun is behind them.

As I said, ride smart.

Leisesturm

Do you imagine a ****** can tell the difference between two cyclists speeding by at night as to which one is female? In most cities neither of them are! I suspect female cyclists as a group are very well placed in personal safety metrics. A woman running in a park at night is a completely different matter, and there are more of them than I think makes sense. Still, although a statistical possibility, it isn't actually enough of a reality so as to deter many women from doing it. Regularly. Years ago (2003) I was in your city visiting a woman I met on the Internet. After dinner she suggested a walk. It was about 10:30pm and we went into this park! I was freaking the whole time. She was unperturbed, and we did actually see other people walking around. I lived in NYC at the time where such a thing would would indicate a degree of mental imbalance in anyone not actively involved in criminal mischief.

FBinNY 

I know that threads are derailed onto tangents all the time, so no issue on that basis.

BUT

It's pointless to discuss what others can or should do. Regardless of questions of social and legal responsibility, drivers do get sun blinded in low sun, if for no other reason than the sun acting on filmy glass and turning it opaque.

We can argue about irresponsible, poor or uncaring drivers until the cows come home, or we can talk about what we can do to keep ourselves safer in the world as it is now.

cooker

That Manhattanhenge picture shows the sun on the road right at the horizon. No visor will work in that situation. I would pull over, and I hope others would too. it can be a problem if you are on a limited access highway and it swings into line with the sun, but at least those are typically divided highways.

JoeyBike

Sometimes thugs want to steal something from the cyclist but often it's just gang initiations where the next cyclist passing them gets a roundhouse punch to the head, or a baseball bat.

I live by the "21 Foot Rule" during my commutes, day or night. Look it up on YouTube if you don't know what the 21 Foot Rule referrers to. No, I do not carry a firearm while commuting. I just strive to stay 21 feet away from any person on foot who appears to be just milling around alone (friends are hiding nearby) or with a visible group.

Darkness vastly increases the odds of not seeing trouble until it is right on top of you.
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cooker

I get that and I have occasionally given sketchy looking characters a wide berth.

Roody

I seem to have a lot of trouble remembering how slippery those leaves can be. One year I was riding behind my son when he slid out on a pile of leaves. I had to put it down too in order to avoid running over him. (If it had been anybody but him, I probably would have rode right over him! ) Neither of us was hurt badly, but of course it was not a fun experience. A year later--exactly a year later, according to my journal-- I was riding in about the same place, and even thinking about how slippery those leaves had been. Sure enough, I slid out on the next leaf pile! Some lessons are just hard to learn...

Roody

Good advice. I survived an attempted bikejacking. One guy on foot approached me and I swiveled and got away from him. Then I noticed a second guy on a bike coming out from behind a bush. I took off like a bat out of hell. He chased me about five blocks but gave up when he couldn't catch me on a little uphill. I felt good about outriding somebody who was decades younger than me, but otherwise it was a pretty bad experience. It actually put me off biking for a while. Oh, it was dark when this happened. Otherwise I probably would have seen them sooner.

That said, I love night riding. I like the coolness in the summertime, and the lack of traffic. When the traffic signals go to blinking mode, you can make much better time. I also feel that I have better awareness of traffic. You can see the headlights easily.and you can even hear cars much better because there's less background noise. My city is extremely well lit at night. Sometimes I even wish it was a little darker!

For years I worked second shift, so my commute home was in darkness all year. At first I rode without lights. Bikeforums actually taught me about lights. I strongly encourage anybody who does much night riding to get good front and rear lights. You can get some pretty good ones cheaply these days, thank goodness.

JoeyBike

Glad you got away man. Every friend of mine who commutes by bicycle has a similar story, including myself. No need for details here, you pretty much summed it up. We all got away, some by mere inches. I get taunted around here for comparing my commute to "going to war". No disrespect for our troops who have it far worse than my problems, but there are similarities.

Some of my buds who have good lights run on "stealth mode" through certain neighborhoods so as not to alert the bad guys of their approach from a mile away. I like the idea of using light as a tactical weapon as well. I don't do it but some guys i know have flashlights that have a "disorienting strobe" setting. There are several Websites with tutorials regarding the type of light, beam, strobe frequency that works best. It is not all that intuitive so reading the science really helped me understand it. The shape of the reflector makes a big difference. You can't just order something online marketed as a defense tool. You really need to look at it in hand.

As far as normal traffic goes, I run bright lights day and night. I find that makes a big difference for me - psychologically and actually.
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Roody

That must have been cool. This time of year, the deer are very active, even inside the city limits. A few years ago I was riding on a shortcut path through a wood lot in the middle of the city. I had to brake hard to avoid hitting a doe standing in the middle of the path. She would not give up her ground! She just stood there, blocking the path and hissing at me. I laughed hard for a couple minutes, then turned around and rode back the way I came.

prj71

And the days are getting colder.

Better to just drive the car. Stay safe and warm.