PatrickGSR94

Everyone is different, but I agree that I would not want the sun rising in the 4 AM hour during the summer either, which it would in the Memphis area. Not as early as in Chicago, but we're also near the eastern edge of the Central time zone. Conversely Atlanta has much later sunrise times, and their sunset times are about 45 minutes later than hours year round, since they're on the far west edge of the eastern time zone.

I have to leave the house at 6 AM to get to work, shower and be ready by 8 AM. It's pretty much dark when I leave the house for about 10 months out of the year, except for right around the summer solstice. I love Spring Forward because I get to ride home in daylight, and hate Fall Back because I have to ride home in darkness for at least part of the commute. Riding in the early morning in darkness is much less stressful with little traffic than riding at 5 PM in darkness with rush hour traffic.

Steely Dan

i leave work around 5:35pm.

yesterday's sunset was at 5:12pm, with civil twilight lasting until 5:42pm.

there was light at the end of the tunnel!

it only gets better from here on out.

The Darkness is losing the war.

it always does.

alan s 

It's caused by the Earth orbiting the Sun. Been going on for a long time.

Steely Dan

according to my sources, it is the sun that orbits the earth. and it's been going on for ~6,000 years.

mcours2006

...I also try to keep my long rides less than 150 km to keep from riding off the edge of the earth.

This is the dead of winter...we're still a long way from the end.

Steely Dan

going by daylight, it's not the dead of anything anymore.

we're actually now closer to the vernal equinox than we are to the winter solstice.

the equinox is only 6 weeks away and spring forward is only 5 weeks away!!!


do you see the light?

do you see the light?

have you SEEN the light?

alan s 

Wikipedia is not always correct.

mcours2006

...yeah, I know. But it's still dark when I leave home and still dark when I arrive at work. So no different than in winter solstice. I'm usually home before five, so no difference there either.

Steely Dan

well played.

cyccommute 

According to the tenets of Last Tuesdayism, the sun has only been orbiting the earth for either 7 days or for about 10 hours...depending on whether the earth was created last Tuesday or at midnight last night.

Last Tuedayism is not to be confused with the heretical tenets of Last Thursdayism. Those people are just wrong. Who would want to start on Thursday? Even those Last Tuesdayers who claim last Tuesday instead of last night are treading on dangerous ground.

Steely Dan

ahhhhhhhhh......... it's back!!!!!

mentally prepping myself for my first night ride home of the season in a few minutes.

on the bright side, after tonight, only 89 more night rides to go.

Darth Lefty 

RidingMatthew

i rode home last night in the dark and misting rain. yay not really.
I do have to say that adding my Orfos flare pro lights to the bike have been nice even if they mean I have to mess with wires and battery packs. (ugly and messy) The front light I really like because it is like a LED bar that many off road vehicles have but for my bike. I can see much more of the general front area of the bike. I have not noticed all that much difference with the rear light but it is a bright! it seems slightly hidden by rack and panniers.

89 more rides is that work days or ?

Steely Dan

standard time now only lasts for 18 weeks, and i have a standard M-F five day work week, so 18 x 5 = 90 total night time commutes per year.

given my start time of 8:30am, i always have plenty of daylight for my morning commutes year-round, DST or not.

and during DST, my afternoon commutes always have plenty of daylight too, it's only these 18 weeks of late fall/winter where i have afternoon commutes in the full-blown darkness of night.

and as i've said before, it's not so much that i dislike riding in the dark, i just find it depressing to leave work and already have it be full-blown night. it's a psychological thing.

one perk though, it feels like i ride faster in the darkness of night. i don't actually ride any faster, it just feels that way, for whatever reason.

RidingMatthew

@steely_dan_ that is what i thought was the case. you leave at 5or later?

Steely Dan

my office has set hours, 8:30am - 5:30pm M-F.

and with the sun setting around 4:30pm in chicago after fall-back, that means my ride home starts after twilight as ended.

by mid february, when the sun sets around 5:15pm, i start to get some twilight back in my afternoon commutes.

and the light only increases until the big jump of spring-forward in early march, so it's not a full 18 weeks of COMPLETE darkness, but the change at fall-back is always quite jarring.

no motor?

Every fall I start to notice my headlights starting to illuminate the road ahead of me until I need them to see, sometimes all on the same trip. And then I need them to see from start to finish until it's time to quit riding and wait for spring.

JoeyBike

Strangely, I seem to get more respect after dark since I guess I look like a motorcycle with my light setup. Even more strangely, I still prefer commuting during daylight hours!

LPcreation

I had my first dark ride home on my commute last week. Riding through the woods on the bike paths scared the bejesus out of me!

crazyravr

I love riding in the dark.
#1 . When on the road for some reason I feel safer. I am well lit up and I know drivers can see me better, and I have noticed that. Especially the drivers pulling out of driveways and turning at lights.
#2 . Going on the bike path through the woods, where it is unlit, its very challenging as you really have to pay attention so you dont end up in the ditch.
#3 . Very few people are out and about after sunset and I dont have to deal with people walking and texting or headphones on not hearing my bell.