Touring - When is the best time to ride?

Just about any time obviously.

I mean the times that you feel are the absoloute best. For me I love riding on summer nights, all night long. You can ride whithout a shirt and never get sunburned. Just roadrashed. The feeling of the warm night air swirling around me as I bike effortlessly through the night, with nowhere to go.

Just about any time obviously.

Goes without saying. However I like riding mid-late afternoon usually, with the sun up and miles of beautiful scenery stretched out before me and endless blue sky. I do like ripping down the streets around here at night though coming from/going to a party or back from the bar. Its cool hearing the muted hum of the tires on the pavement the click pop of the gears changing and the laughter carried in the breeze as you pass house after house full of drunken college students. I get the occasional "hey its bike guy!!!" since thats kind of my trademark, to roll up to a party on my bike with my backpack on full of 32oz High Lifes and a pair of shoes for me to change outta my cleats. Ahhhh college.

Wait what was the topic again? :p

I used to bike pissed alot, then I kept running into parked cars at very high speed so I let off the booze a bit, come to think of it I have not fallen off the wagon for a while now.

4am- I love riding in the pre-dawn hours when it's the most quiet and still, and then watching the sun slowly slink over the horizen and burst into the sun. Those colors... just wonderful to see!

Koffee

I like riding on Sunday mornings while people are in church. The downside is that if you are still out on the roads while people are leaving church, your chances for encountering an incident becomes higher.

My only comment is that the worst cycling times are near sunrise and especially sunset, when visibility through windsheilds is low due to glare. I can often hardly see through my windshield at those times, and I'm straining to look for cycles and peds. When you get the frustrated brain-dead commuters driving home then, it makes me very nervous to be on the street.

Maine has some lovely roads near the sea. In the cool of the morning, occasionally among other cyclists. it's a lovely way to pass
a summer day. Weekdays, commuting to work seems to make any day go smoothly; I don't know why. Just sets me up to have a good day.

I have to agree with Koffee on this one. I am always one of the first riders out on a bike tour. I like to ride about 10-12 mph and watch the sunrise. Then stop for breakfast before the crowd hits the local eateries. I work midnights, so seeing the sun rise is a special time. I usually only see it on vacations. Just the opposite of regular folks who sleep in on vacations.

I like riding on Sunday mornings while people are in church. The downside is that if you are still out on the roads while people are leaving church, your chances for encountering an incident becomes higher.
So what percentage of people living in your community attend church?

Today was a perfect day for riding. Sunny, mid 70's temperature, light wind, lots of green pastures and wildflowers. One of my best rides ever. Did 68 miles of pure bliss. Come August with 100 deg temps, I'll need to remember today's ride.

So what percentage of people living in your community attend church?

It seems pretty high... But the roads become very hostile once church lets out. The worst encounters I've had with vehicles are the ones driven by church-goers leaving the parking lot on their way to sip down mimosas at brunch.

Early mornings and late nights are the best times to ride around here -- anytime when it's likely to be a little cooler, so rain is good, what passes for "winter" around here is good. All of my tours in recent years have been in areas with cooler climates than where I live, and that is no accident.

Just for the record, myself and a friend of mine are considering riding a night century at some point of this "winter".