Commuting - ANyone else ride home after Midinight shift?

Yesterday, I rode home after 12.5 hours work after Midnight shift.
I have always felt more alert on the bike over the comfort of the car. Cushy seats, warmer temperatures made me feel sleeper than the commute home on the bike.
Yesterday, was sort of an exception. Felt pretty tired about 6 miles from home. Can you fall asleep on the bike? Felt like I could..Stopped at a safe intersection, sat on a curb for about 10 minutes and rested my head on my knees.. Felt better and made it fine, the rest of the way home.
Pretty dedicated cyclist? Usually more alert on the bike - not yesterday. Anyone else expereince this?

Yeah, it happened to me a couple times. Until the new year my night shift ended at 5 a.m. One morning I remember leaving work and riding for about five minutes and thinking I was just going to close my eyes for a second. In my case it was just a case of having been really exhausted after the shift, but obviously something we have to guard against. I remember bein surprised that merely climbing on the bike to ride didn't wake me up sometimes.

Adding up your 12 hours of work, an hour or so each way on the bike, then doing all the normal activities at home, it's pretty easy to get into a situation where you're not getting enough rest.

I don't know whether anyone's put any information out about eating/nutrition and how depleted your energy stores are after nght shifts, but maybe a snack within an hour or so of going home would help.

I now ride home between 1 - 2 a.m., which brings a new set of problems. I'm wide awake but there's probably a pretty increased chance that I'm sharing the roads with drivers who've been drinking.

Albart, I presume. Usually I wake up pretty fast this time of year, to the cooler air. 26 miles home. Usually,I feel pretty good and when I get into bed,I really sleep well.
When I get to work , I take a recovery drink..When I leave work, I gobble down a power bar. Have a gel pack with me for an emergency melt down. Have not had to use it. Usually just a couple minutes off the bike and I feel somewhat energized.
Reason, I can take the ride...We work compressed a week. Often our week is just two days. I am bad, never sleep much anyway. Biking or not..On days off, I should try to sleep in..Not me, the bike calls.

I'm like originalbart, I work second shift and ride home after midnight, but the time I get to Minneapolis the bars are letting out and the streets are filling with intoxicated people.
they say the riders on the Paris Brest Paris often fall asleep on their bikes, and crash. I can only imagine what that would be like to wake up with road rash, and a good nights sleep.

I don't work midnights but I've been on a bike tour where I was on a stretch of road that was flat, straight, and I started falling a sleep. I almost went off the road a couple of times (there was absolutely no traffic). I decided to pull over and take a little nap. This was like day four or five and I must have been in a little bit of a rut. It's no fun.

Years ago working 2 nd shift i was needed to work late and had 2 jobs so after being at work for about 20 hours,on my ride home i had a flat coming down a big hill so that woke me up a little, but found i did not have a spare tube so started walking home took about a hour and just a few blocks from home the sun was coming up and every few steps i would slip into a walking sleep and stumple and wake up,got home and slept for almost two days