rumrunn6

meaning, this time of year, get out early so you're back home or back at your car before dark. kind of amusing that I repeat my Father's words. I shud tell him

wolfchild

I commute and I have no choice but to ride in the dark... It's impossible to avoid riding in the dark at this time of the year.

bobwysiwyg

Unless you're retired.
Sorry, couldn't resist.

dh024

Where are you commuting if you are retired?

bobwysiwyg

I don't which is why I omitted the reference to commuting.

Notso_fastLane

It's dark on my morning commute, but even in the summer, I'm up around the same time as the sun (I get to work at 6 am). On the plus side, it's still mostly light out for the commute home.

Now that it's getting colder, I'm commuting exclusively in the velo, and it has a great lighting system (low beam/high beam, turn signals, rear and brake light), so it's not really much of an issue.

bpcyclist

I almost always ride in what most people would consider the middle of the night. Out when it's dark, usually home before it's light. I personally think it's safer than riding during the day.

dh024

Interesting statement - is it because there is less traffic?

bpcyclist

Mostly. I also have a weird theory that is probably going to make some people think I am insane. That theory is that, with excellent lights front and back and good reflective clothing always worn at night, I believe I am more visible to vehicles than I am during the day. A lot more. During the day, I am just another object among zillions of daylight-hours objects out and about, all of which reflect basically the same mount of light. Cars, dogs, buses, benches, pedestrians. Me. It is difficult to stand out during the day in my opinion. I do use a good blinking daytime/flashing/whatever you wanna call it light and of course my good rear light and that does help. But still, it doesn't stand out like an army of killer lights and reflectors do in the deep of the night. Those you can see from forever away. I guess what I'm really saying is, if a driver fails to see my flashing source during the daytime, which absolutely happens with regularity, there is nothing about my appearance that causes me to stand out from an adjacent building or a tree or anything else. I am very small and almost invisible. I am just another item. Regardless of whatever crazy color clothing I have on. I have been hit or almost been hit way, way more times during daylight than at night, for what it is worth. If you're an experienced rider, you know what I'm talking about. For some strange reason, they not infrequently just totally and completely do not see us during the day. It's just weird.

Anyhoo, this is primarily why I ride at night. It's also much more pleasant here in the city, for obvious reasons. The only negative is, if I want to do something long, say, more than 50 miles, I have to leave the city, unless I want to do a bunch of circles in town, which I don't. That can be tricky here, as the trails and roads these routes take one on tend to go through heavily forested terrain where there would be little chance of quick help, or any help, for that matter, should something bad happen. I'm 55 and I now appreciate that bad stuff happens. Lastly, this is going to probably sound really ridiculous, but this terrain I am talking about is fairly heavily populated with cougars, We have had a few cougar deaths here in the Pacific Northwest in the last couple years, including one of a pair of mountain bikers in Washington state. Cougars love to chase. It is a primeval instinct. They are nocturnal. I just think it's a bad potential combo for me to be cruising around Mt. Hood at 3 in the morning by myself, just in case.

So, that's way more than you asked about. But you brought up what I think is an interesting topic. Thanks for that and be safe!

ironwood

I guess it depends on where you ride at night. You might be more visible on a dark road with little traffic and you have good lights and a lot of reflectors. On the other hand, in an area with a lot of lighted signs and traffic, you might not be visible to a driver, especially to older drivers. Then there is the problem of drunken drivers. Somewhere I read that after eleven PM, half of the drivers are probably drunk, or high.