I'm a year-round early morning commuter on very comfortable routes of usually about 14 miles and often longer, when in training. I don't think of my commuting time as lonely, but rather call it "head" time. Probably work items are my most common head threads, and often mentally composing rough drafts of varous personal or work-related correspondence. I always have a listening device on, mostly a local radio talk show, and the hosts are in a sense riding companions. I think I only once actually stopped to call in while en route but often I am focused on the discussion. Sometimes I will E-mail in a comment, or perhaps call in when I arrive at work. I am known to them as their self-proclaimed "Number One Fan among Boston's Bicycle Commuters."

I'm a reverse commuter so mostly I see other cyclists going in the opposite direction. When I occasionally meet with a rider going in my direction, and he looks like a serious cyclist, I will try to ask if he is a subscriber to Bike Forums, since there are quite a few in the Boston area.

Finally, I find that commuting early in the morning in particularly wet and/or cold weather really makes me hunker down within my own physical and mental (head) space, and I call this state "cocooning."