RidingMatthew

Ride home was not too bad. slight sprinkles but warm. i did not bother to stop and put on bag covers or rain coat. My headlight started blinking to tell me that it was low. I was worried about it dieing on the way home but I made it.. it did seem weaker than usual.

hooCycles

I made a similar remark to my dad when I started driving, that I thought driving at night was easier since cars were easier to see. He replied "Not if they don't have their headlights on." This really stuck with me and affects the way I view nighttime driving/riding. This is not to say that both of them cannot be done safely at night... just don't take lights on cars for granted.

Daniel4

I'm still hopping on my bike in the morning during daylight. By Monday, it would be sunrise and by the end of November I will be arriving at work when the sun rises.

If I'm disciplined with stopping work and going home on time, even when the sun sets at the earliest, I should make it home in daylight but just when the sun is setting.

GovernorSilver

First official night-time commute was great. There was a driver who almost pulled in front of me when I was riding on the sidewalk towards the bridge I have to cross to get home, but my lights got her attention just in time. The way that bridge MUP is set up, there's no way to get to it without riding on a sidewalk or crosswalk - it's either ride that or go the other route which is less desirable to me for various reasons.

I had over ridden a good chuck of my evening commute route at night several times already, so I was already comfortable with riding it at night.

chas58

I can see if you have a lot of pedestrians or traffic, darkness would be a PITA.

I go out of my way to go on low traffic routes (any time of the year), and with the darkness there are fewer pedestrians on my route. Besides, with a light over 500 lumens at night, people tend to think I'm a moped or something and clear out of the way.
Or, in strobe mode they think I'm an emergency vehicle.

downwinded

I worked over every day this week and it was full darkness when I left work. Turned my headlight from flashing to steady and rode. Not really a big deal. The MUP does have some Ninja peds which kinda makes riding on the street a better option.

One evening, while waiting to cross a busy street, one of the guys in the office came down that street and turned beside me, waved and went on to his house a couple of blocks down. The next morning he told me that he saw me sitting at that intersection from "a mile away" (a figure of speech, not literally). I replied, "Good! what was the first thing you noticed to let you know a bike was there"? He said the reflective stripe on the tires caught is eye first. The big hoops/circles really popped. The only other side reflectors I have are the factory reflectors on the wheels and the stripe on my trunk bag. Thought that may be of interest to everyone.

takenreasy

I ride in morning daylight 12 months and darkness on the ride home after the clocks change. The only thing that seems to bug me is after a while it feels like I have tunnel vision. The sensation of seeing only my lighted little spot in contrast with total darkness makes the ride home feel like I've been on the bike for hours sometimes.

chas58

Yep, a light with a nice wide beam spread - or better yet, one on the handle bars and one on the helmet works great against tunnel vision.