I ride to work and on errands 12 months of the year, rain or shine. This time of year, I go into work in darkness, at 5:15 am. I have three blinking red tailights including one on the helmet, a white blinker and two very bright lights up front including a torch of a spotlight on the helmet that can light up the entire cabin of an approaching car if I think he hasn't seen me. I think I am at least as visible at night, as I am in the day. Which is imperfect visibility in both cases, so I'm as paranoid at night as in day.

But I hear you about not wanting to get up and go out in the dark raining cold weekend mornings for a "fun ride". I did it all last year, got pretty tired of my Saturday and Sunday mornings feeling just like my Monday mornings. So this year I have joined a gym and am doing the spin class 2X or 3X week. I am still learning how to make the spin class work for me as a cyclist with 49 y/o knees, since it is primarily taught for tight, bouncy girls half my age who are happy to pop in and out of the saddle while doing pushups on the bars . . . But if the instructor's commands are not entirely useful, the scenery makes up for it.