deacon mark

I get a lot kidding from cyclist that follow me on strava about riding early in the morning. I am retired and like to get up early usually by 4am. I have some coffee and pray the breviary ( cleric) and then head out to ride. Especially now in June the sun is up at 5:24 and usually in mid-west wind in not as much in the morning. I ask because to me this is perfect time to ride. I am retired and widowed so I just love the early mornings. In the winter I go out way before sunrise but I have a good light. In summer I have been now to go as early as 4:30am. II like to be on road by 5am to me 6 is getting late.

I just find cyclist friends think my early riding is pretty much too early for them. I am wondering if any here in the forum have early morning habits as bad as myself? The other good thing is I can get a 50 mile ride in before 8am sometimes and then relax with a huge breakfast after ride. In addition no much traffic to deal with and at 8am school time it picks up in spots.

spelger

i don't like to ride in the cold. here in teh high desert it can be as low as 40 in the moriing in July/August. i hav ebeen riding to work lately but i leave at 6 which is just at the coldest part of the day. 40F on monday, needed a jacket and arm warmers, brought wrong gloves, fingers were cold, then they hurt, then no feeling. i bring clothes to work on days i drive so they are handy if i decide to ride.

if i didn't work i'd probably ride more in the AM but more bundled up of course.

rumrunn6

+1! altho I only do it when I bike commute. the lack of car traffic is a bonus!

Iride01 

I know of quite a few around me that ride in wee hours of the morning like you. I just never can get motivated. Even though I normally wake at 6:00 am, I just never voluntarily start a ride before 11:00 am. Don't know why, any other type of work, chore or whatever, I'll do from the time I wake.

Unless someone asks me to ride with them at an earlier time or it's an organized ride that starts at 7:00 am, I'm waiting till later.

Gunther20

Early morning rides are the best. Sunrise is about 5:25 and this time of year the first hint of light is around 4:45. I can start at 4:30 and ride the first 7 miles on a familiar trail (where I know every bump), then switch to lightly traveled roads. I'm not a fan of the cold so I choose to do this on the hot humid mornings but I've gone up to 50 miles on early morning rides and still made it to work at a reasonable time. The sunrises are pretty cool and I see the same joggers and cyclists every time doing the same thing as me. Either you are a morning person or you are not.

caloso

Pre-pandemic I would combine commuting with training. I would leave the house by 6, drop my backpack at the gym in my building, then head out to do my workout. Ride back to the office, shower, and to my desk. We're (mostly) back in the office, but the building hasn't reopened the gym. I have flipped it by mostly doing my training rides as part of my commute home, but it's suboptimal. Very hot, windy, and of course much more traffic. Looking forward to getting back to my old routine.

VegasTriker

If you lived in the Southwest it is the only sane time to ride, It's 1:15 pm PDT in Las Vegas and the temperature is 109 degrees. It is possible to ride if you ride soaking wet but it only takes a couple of miles to go from dripping wet to bone dry in this heat. It is easy to find water spaced 5 miles apart or less at local parks so while it may seem crazy, it is possible.

Ogsarg

For the last 5+ years I have been riding before work 3-4 days/week between 15-21 miles on my old beater MTB. Prior to the pandemic, I had to start around 4:00 AM in order to get back, shower, etc. before getting on the road. I do this all year round so in the winter that means down to around freezing. Fortunately it rarely gets that cold but high 30's is common in the winter. Sunday is my only day to get in a long ride on the road bike, so the morning rides help to keep the fitness level up.

delbiker1 

I definitely prefer to get out early and get my miles in, especially during the beach season here in south coastal Delaware. I can avoid the heat and the intensity of the sun as it builds during the day, and the wind is usually lighter in the morning. Also, I miss the heavy traffic that starts to get bad at about 9 am. Besides that, It just gives me a good start on the day, gets my energy level up, clears out the gunk build up in my brain, and sets me on a path to accomplish something that day.

Flip Flop Rider

I think it's great for you to get out so early and avoid as many people as possible. I cannot function at 4am

Cougrrcj

I suppose that all depends on where in the time zone you are... Here in Cleveland OH area, the earliest sunrise is 5:53am. But then again we're nearer to the western portion of the Eastern time zone. The wife and I are hoping to move in the next year or so, 250 miles west, and 450 miles south to the Huntsville AL area, at the eastern edge of the Central Time Zone.... Lemme check the info for today (6/16, just a few days before the summer solstice)...Sunrise here in Cleveland was 5:54a, sunset was 9:04p. Huntsville sunrise was 5:32, sunset at 8:01...


I, too, prefer to get a majority of my riding in before noon... BUT I really don't relish riding in the dark, even though I have lights... There are just too many distracted drivers. I will start my cycling commuting season in early May - when the sunrise is 6:30 or earlier. It takes me a bit less than 45 minutes to ride to work, so I'm there around 7:15, even though I don't start work until 8am Why? - because the traffic gets busier if I were to leave even 20 minutes later. More traffic = more chances for unwanted problems. Besides, even when I drive to work, I get there an hour early for the same reasons! I hate traffic!!!

gios

Earlier the better for me. Low sun angle - less sunburn, less traffic. Just before sunrise, when I can still see debris and divots (aka pot holes).

Lazyass

It's 5:17 AM right now and I've been up for 45 minutes. I'll be on the bike in about an hour. This is my daily routine.

canklecat

I'm not a morning person and if I'm up for an early morning ride or run, it's because I didn't sleep that night. Not sure why the morning routine didn't take, because I managed for years in the military and working for the government. But after retiring my body clock got out of whack. I live alone, other than my cats, who don't care when I sleep.

Apparently my body clock decided we're a night person. I've gone out at midnight for running and riding and most of my fastest times, from 5k runs to long bike rides, were at night. The only challenge is good lights to watch for critters.

Usually I ride or run in the afternoon, but that's been a challenge the past couple of weeks as Texas (and other parts of the US) have been hit with unusually hot weather. I'm starting a bit later and taking it much easier to avoid heat exhaustion while still getting adapted to the heat. Usually by now I'm adapted to our *normal* June weather, but this hasn't been a normal June.

I did enjoy some early morning fast group rides when I did those, but after injuries and illness in 2018 I couldn't keep up with those folks anymore. So I haven't done any early morning group rides since late 2019. There's another group of folks closer to my age who ride a pace I can manage and start early evening when we still have time to get 25-30 miles in before dark.

PeteHski

I never ride close to sunrise or sunset. Too much risk of being hit by a sun-blinded driver on our narrow rural roads. Only the other day I was reading about a local fatality where that was deemed to be the cause. I also avoid riding in rush hour traffic. So for me the best time to ride is after the morning rush hour in good daylight and little traffic. Say around 10 am an hour or two after a good breakfast.

Bald Paul

That low sun angle is one of the reasons I dislike riding when the sun is rising or setting. It can blind a lot of drivers, and although there probably aren't many out on the roads at that time of day, those that are are most likely sleepy and, with the sun in their windshield, may not see you until it's too late (if at all).
Being retired, I see absolutely no reason to get up at 4 AM unless I have to go to the bathroom. Sleeping in, to me, is one of the retirement benefits I've earned after many years of getting up early to get to work.

OldTryGuy

12:01 AM start time (is my favorite) with the first song on my iPod playlist >>>

ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

7/10 will be my 71st Birthday with my B-day Ride of course beginning at 12:01AM and riding for at least 7 hours 10 minutes plus 1 minute for good measure. Because of a recent ENDO and other medical issues I will most likely not be able to ride my usual 2 times age + 1 mile = 143 total birthday ride but will see how things go. Results will be on STRAVA - Psycho Johnny

canklecat

Ditto, the sunup/sundown precautions. I vary my usual routes to avoid riding into the sun.

An elite level cyclocross racer was killed here a few years ago by a driver who invoked the "sun in my eyes" excuse. No charges. Dead cyclist. The news media carried the usual "Was the cyclist wearing a helmet?" nonsense rather than "Did the driver slow down to accommodate conditions on that road?" If you can't see because you're driving into the low sun, slow down and watch more carefully than usual. Nothing will change until driver education and laws change to place more value on human life than on driver convenience.

canklecat

Another risk to pre-dawn riding: Murderous trigger happy yahoos.

A kid near my neighborhood was murdered this week, gunned down by a driver who claimed the kid was breaking into cars. But the driver didn't hang around to wait for police and give a statement. He took off. The victim's friend described the incident.

Facebook commenters on the news story basically said the victim had it coming for daring to be out on the sidewalk or street at 4:45 a.m. Heck, when I was a kid my newspaper route started then.

When a couple of posters said it's normal for joggers and cyclists to start early to avoid the heat, one person responded joggers and cyclists need to stay indoors until after 7 a.m. and stay out of the way of "normal" people, otherwise they risk getting shot for "acting suspiciously."

Suits me anyway. I've tried starting out pre-dawn and the traffic and drivers get ugly very quickly around 5 a.m.

Yet another reason why I prefer to ride around midnight. Those "normal people" are in bed and out of my way. Even the drunks aren't as bad as "normal people" mesmerized by their cell phones and outsized sense of entitlement.

PeteHski

That’s Texas crossed off my list of places to ever consider living!

CAT7RDR

To avoid traffic I live near a no commercial zone town that I ride a lot in. Thought I would give it a try an hour before dawn last summer. Had all my lights and at first great experience. Then, I swear there were dozens of suicidal cottontails that darted at me from the sides. Very unnerving to say the least.

Might try it again on my MTB to beat the heat but rabbits taking me out is not something I want to share on BF.

skidder

Yep. I'm up @ 4AM for 15-20 miles before work about 3X during the week, then at dawn on the weekends (currently about 4:45AM). The weekday morning rides are a little boring since they're multiple laps on city streets, but all morning rides are blessed with cool air temperatures, minimal traffic and lots of green street lights .

rumrunn6

fwiw - this morning I was reminded by the TV weatherman, that in my area, the earliest sunrise has already happened & the latest sunset is still ahead of us. the longest day doesn't mean that day has both the earliest sunrise & the latest sunset

PeteHski

That’s interesting thanks. Something I’d never considered before.

spelger

you will be lookign hot today. here in reno it was 101 on my way home, damn hot but the climbing was not all that bad. in the morning it was 51 so a 50 degree difference between cold and hot. today left the house it was 53, supposed to be 102 later.

happy trails.