Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - pre-dawn riding appreciation.

i had to get up at six to register for classes today. did my thang, got all my classes and decided to go for a ride as the sun was just starting to rise. so cold but so worth it.

and i even brought out the misfits for it.


and now i just smoked a bong and i'm going back to bed cause i have no classes today.
peace.

Hell yeah...I just started a new job and have to leave a lot earlier in the morning. There's very little traffic and a nice chill in the air, which is nice because at 4, when I leave, it's 90+ degrees.

i love love love it. i rarely ride that early but i have a vivid image in my head of the last time i did. beautiful sunrise. i remember feeling a step ahead of everyone else that day just because of that ride.

now will this 30 degree Illinois go the f!@# away?

I've been doing this for the past 3 years and I love it. Less traffic, peaceful out, and not hot as balls. Granted, when it's the middle of winter I don't appreciate it as much... but still, there is something nice about being up and out while the sun comes up.

God I miss college.

Morning rides are great...especially on the weekends when there is a reduced amount of traffic on the streets, anyway. Pedal for a few hours and then find a place for breakfast...it's the best. For those into bong-smoking like the original poster, it's best to do the "wake & bake" after returning home so safety is increased on the roadways. Have fun out there!

God I miss college.

+ reality

7th avenue through times square at 4.30 in the morning is a frightening and beautiful thing.

I used to head out for my old job at 5:15 in the morning, and
it was always the quietest, most peaceful thing. I loved it, and
it made the rest of the day so much easier. The bad part was
that it meant I got off at 2:30, when all summer long the heat
was just reaching its peak.

Try sunday early morning rides in the summer. You'll own the world for a few hours...

7th avenue through times square at 4.30 in the morning is a frightening and beautiful thing.

it doesn't count when you're riding at 4:30 because the bar closed at 4:00... lucky NY-ers

The best time for it is in summer, when you know it's going to be 99% humidity and 100+ degrees later that day but it's in the 60s and 70s in the morning.

it doesn't count when you're riding at 4:30 because the bar closed at 4:00... lucky NY-ers
lulz. nah. in september, when i was in a vague combination between drunk all the time, unemployed, looking for work, and temping, i wanted to see new york city at odd hours - right before the early delivery trucks start rolling. the city might not ever sleep, but it closes its eyes for a moment - you just gotta catch it at the right time. the witching hour, as it were.

and it was!

I do this every day. Up at 5am, on the road at 6am.
I watch the gas station attendant roll up the window covers.
The ducks scatter out of my way through the foggy park.
The Skytrain whirs overhead, seemingly quieter than when it's full of people.
The odd motorist is sitting in their car, CO2 pouring out the back, as they wait for their window to defog.
The other motorist is bumbling out of their driveway, barely aware of the bicycle that just whizzed by.
I wind up the spin past the silent golf course, hearing only the wind and my heart.
..and I cool down a bit by the river, while mentally preparing for the day ahead.
I <3 the early morning.

i spent most of last summer opening the cafe i worked at, which meant being up by 4 and on the road by 4:30 am. there's something completely satisfying about riding down the median of a four-lane state highway with a speed limit of 50 mph, not seeing a car for miles in either direction.

yeah, I often don't leave the architecture studios until dawn and I love love love the ride home, just not so much when I get home and set my alarm clock for 7am.

And then there's that other kind of morning ride... the ride of shame home at 8am from someone's (who you probably will never see again) apartment with the clothes you had on yesterday looking like something that's been run over by a bus and all the sunday morning people are out with their newspapers and coffee all crisp and enjoying the morning or on their way to church...

Yep, cliche but true, best time of the day. I'm always on the road before 7:15. Often I try and get out before that and you have the whole world to yourself.

Early mornings are a part of my life since fatherhood.

I'd pass on the bong though.

Last August all month I rode 35 kms in the morning to start work at 7 AM. It was rad. I have the nicest memories of that commute.

Every summer I make a point of getting up to get a ride in before work. Even on holidays, it's pretty damn sweet to have that time to yourself to ride, have a coffee and so on.

one weekend last summer i had been in philly for the weekend knowing i had work on sunday morning at 9so i decided to do the common sense thing and stay up all night partying, there was about an hour where i blacked out, i don't remember but my head cleared around and i rode to a septa station, got to trenten and took njtransit and stepped out of penn station around 7am on a sunday, the streets were not completely empty but enough so the ride to work was one of the greatest moments of my summer. also then at work MIA showed up and joined spankrock after an amazing set by gang gang dance so the day itself was also one of the greatest of the summer. i blamed the amazing morning ride for the amazing day. also my company offered me a permanant job that day, really great day...