Singlespeed420

When do you guys usually cycle? I love to ride evening to night the most. Its calm and exciting. Like I'm at a night club but my family is always worried about it. They tell me I'm weird for riding at night lol.

rsbob 

First off - I don’t know you well enough to deem you weird, so will leave that alone.

I understand the excitement and calm aspect, but the danger from vehicles - I am assuming you are riding on the streets - not gravel or mountain biking - grows exponentially during dusk and night, so I share your family’s worry. If you are off the streets and on trails, I just hope you have excellent lighting to illuminate obstacles and always carry a phone.

I used to commute in the dark on MUPs and streets, and always felt ill at ease in the dark - probably overblown on my part.

frogman

I also like riding in the evening and come home after dark. I combine my photography hobby with cycling and enjoy taking pictures from just moonlight lighting. Not while I am riding though, haha. I ride over to Napa River or by the Carquinez Straights in our area, set up my camera on a tripod and take timed exposures. Something about the moonlight that is so fascinating. BTW, my family thinks I am weird also.

raceboy

For some reason, cycling in the fog, a light rain, or early evening are all hypnotically zen to me. Still, they are decidedly more dangerous, so I only ride in those conditions when I have to—mostly because I planned my ride badly, haha.

Lazyass

I'm an early riser and I usually start at 0500-0530 before sunrise and ride for 1.5-2 hours. No traffic and the wind doesn't pick up until late morning and I like riding in the dark.

Branko D

On weekdays almost exclusively at night because it is when I am free to ride. Sundays or holidays I do a long ride during the day if at all possible.

I find safety better at night (not dusk, though) because you can see light reflections on the ground and there are less pedastrians, traffic and random stuff going on the roads. My typical easy ride loop is about 40km total of mostly flat road to a neighbouring town and back which is s sort of main road, and for hard rides I go on local roads with climbs which see minimal traffic at night.

Typical time I set out at is about 8:30-9:00 PM. People get used to the weird 😉

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wolfchild

I like to start my rides very early in the morning between 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM..

JohnDThompson 

Before I retired, my work shifts started at 5:30AM, which meant leaving the house by 4:30AM to have time to ride to work, change into work clothes, etc. It's a nice, quiet time of day to ride. Little traffic, interesting wildlife, nice sunrises. Now that I'm retired, I'm not eager to get up that early anymore. Besides, it's warmer later in the day.

rumrunn6

I get it. nite riding can be magical. used to have a cat that only liked going out when it was dark out. once the sun came up he came in

delbiker1 

I like to ride early in the morning. In colder temps, I do find myself now waiting until later, as I am doing at present time, Something I did not do much this year, but, starting my day off with a quick ride to the Bethany Beach boardwalk for sunrise is always a worthwhile endeavor. Once in a while, I will send a picture to my sisters to start their day with some beach vibes. They all live in the Midwest and love it here in coastal Delaware.

WhyFi

Well, you picked the wrong user name, didn't ya?

_ForceD_

I prefer riding during daylight hours, afternoon. But I (and my family) don’t think riding at night is weird (Edited to clarify that I do it, and my family doesn’t consider it out of the ordinary ‘for me.’ None of them ride, and generally think most of the stuff I do is weird. But they aren’t dumbfounded by me riding at night.). I ride at night frequently…especially in the wintertime since daylight is so short (if the roads are dry and free of ice). I’ve been known to roll out of the driveway at 10:00pm. I’ll go for 15-30 miles on the side roads and side streets. I have good lights, and reflective gear, and can easily be seen. I’ve got routes on which I may only encounter a handful of cars at night.

Dan

BobbyG

I bike commuted for 28 years, which meant every winter I would ride home in the dark. I started out with very modest lighting and ended up with lighting and visibility strategies that made me very visible.


Even with all the lighting, on dark side streets and other unlit portions, I got the same fun, exciting feelling I did as a kid, reading under the blankets with a flashlight.

Here's a couple of night ride videos from my perspective. The camera makes thigs look darker than they are.



Here's one riding in before dawn:


I'm not some kid; I'll be 60 in January, so these videos are from my mid to late 50s.

If you like riding at night, great...just be visible, use a mirror or mirrors and I use an AirZound airhorn in traffic.

rsbob 

When I commuted during the winter months in the dark on the MUPs I really enjoyed the solitude. I could ride 15 miles on a MUP and see maybe a dozen other commuters. Most learned to cover their headlights to not blind oncoming bikes. But anyway, when Spring sprung, I was always a little bit resentful of all the daylight cyclists then starting to crowd the trail. I enjoyed the solitude and the quiet. Where I live now, there are gravel MUPS going through the forests but there are also cougar, bear (but should be entering their sleepy faze) bobcats and packs of coyotes, so am not inclined to go out by myself. Always trade-offs.

Iride01 

11:00a till almost dark is my preferred time period to go cycling.

JayKay3000

I ride when I get the time. Night, day makes no difference.

Oakman

I have a pre-sunup route I ride regularly with good lighting and very little traffic. I love riding at sunrise. Of course sunsets are pretty good too!

Deal4Fuji

As far a group rides, mornings on weekends but our small group of year-round weekday riders ride at 5:30 since several are working daytime hours. Once DST ends we're starting & ending in darkness but we always feel like we're actually safer as far as being seen by motorists because we're all lit up with both front & back bright lighting; however we know we're taking a risk from deer, possum, racoons and other animals that might come out from the side of the road. We're on country roads not heavily traveled.

When I pull I'm in the middle of the lane to give a little more room to react, not everyone does this like I wish they would, when I'm drafting I still stay to the left to the point I'm often not even getting the full draft, but we're riding at probably 80% of what we would do in sunlight. We're not riding everyday, usually 1 w/e and 2 or 3 weeknight ride depending on everyone's schedule.

Ride for Pizza

Unfortunately, same. It's been so many years since I had enough free time that something else wasn't dictating my ride time.

I think evening was my preferred though. Then get home, have dinner and relax after a nice hard ride. Don't need to do much with tired legs.

Pantah

I, too, will ride whenever I get the chance, time of day isn't a big issue for me. That being said, in a perfect world, I'd start work later and always have time in the mornings for my runs and rides, long as it isn't freezing or the fog isn't too thick, the latter of which delays me in the mornings more than anything else.

Phil_gretz

The lockdown and telework orders have changed my riding habits. Now, our typical riding hours are between 4:00 and 5:00 pm, unless impending weather forces some adaptation.

Prior to becoming a full time bike commuter, I also enjoyed an evening/night ride after a long work day and long car commute home.

Once bike commuting, my rides were in the dark or early light, which I liked tremendously, Afternoon rides home were usually before darkness..

pdlamb

Favorite time to ride? When I have time to ride. Bonus points if it's in a comfortable temperature (mid-day in winter, early or late in summer).

When I was commuting, and hopefully, when I am in the future, I disliked pre-dawn rides but enjoyed riding after dark. I have enough lights and reflectors, and a couple of pretty decent commuting routes, that I rarely had problems with cagers. I can really only remember one in 15 years, who shouldn't have been driving anyway. Daytime buzzes and catcalls were more frequent.

55murray

I'm surprised by the number of folks stating evening into dark rides. This is when I ride, I leave an hour prior to sunset and ride from 40 to 100 miles. I have to ride then though, as I have zero tolerance for direct sunlight due to a medical condition. I never, ever see any other roadies out there.

prj71

If want to ride at all...Work forces me to ride in the evening in the dark during fall/winter/spring. I'm usually done working around 5pm.

Ride during the day on weekends

Reflector Guy

I like a good ride after getting home from work. That mostly ends with the time change in November but I might still do a short ride anyway in the dark. Tonight for example; yesterday's crazy high winds are gone so it might be quite pleasant tonight. Other than that, it'll be weekends only until Spring!