given my location and commute times, i have full daylight for all of my morning commutes year-round, even on the winter solstice.

but going home is a different story. as soon as DST ends, my post-work commutes are suddenly thrown into pitch black night.

not dusk. not twilight. just straight-up 100% night. and it stays that way until DST is reinstated the following spring.



we fell back on november 1st.

we'll spring forward on march 13th.

which means today is the halfway point of The Darkness!!!!

there's light at the end of the tunnel; a reassuring thought on this cold january morning.

I kind of enjoy riding in the dark. My light system is really good, and I feel like I'm actually more visible than in daylight with 3 taillights and 2 headlights. That said, I also enjoy riding in the daylight again when spring gets here.

About a minute more daylight, per day. It's not a lot, but somehow it just gives you a more optimistic feeling doesn't it?

I don't mind riding in the dark in the early morning hours. Afternoon/evening darkness is a different story. The difference in traffic volume is like, well, day and night.

+1 I also notice a little more traffic on the way back. However, I'm "cheating" by doing a park and ride for the winter. I used to ride from home a few days a week summer and fall, but prefer the extra daylight for that. This morning was a cold one. Was about 11F for me with numb toes (with two pair wool socks, shoes, and shoe covers). But on the bright side it will be 28F later today. Woohoo!

My traffic flow is the same way. Little in the morning darkness but picks up in volume in the afternoon/evening ride home. The morning ride in the dark is more relaxing to me. Fewer cars and they tend to give me more room on the stretch of highway I have to take. Not sure if they don't feel as rushed at 6am or if they are trying to avoid the crazy guy riding in winter.

I sacrificed the extra hour of sleep when DST ended so I won't have to lose that extra hour of sleep when DST starts again. I appear to my family waking up earlier and by the time I am sitting on my bike, it's twilight (nautical twilight but not yet civil twilight). I have to discipline myself to close up at 4pm so I can get home before dark. It's still a challenge if I have to go to the gym because I will be riding home in the dark.

Same here. Morning darkness is OK, evening dark not so much.

I'm not sure why, but on my commutes home during November, I really hated it when it went full-dark about halfway home. On the opposite side, I really love it when the sun rises about halfway into work.

Yep. But it's raining

Was thinking the same thing. The challenges of winter are cold, road conditions, and darkness. For me darkness lasts until about mid February. My goal on most days is to get home by 6:00 and by that time of year it won't be completely dark yet.

To me that makes a big difference. February can still be really cold and is usually more snowy than January, but it's my favorite winter month. By the first thaw in March I am very much done with winter but very often it is not done with me.

lucky.

being located at the eastern edge of the central time zone, chicago is full-on night when i leave work at 5:30 pm, from "fall back" all the way to "spring forward".

i wish we had DST year round, or could just move chicago to the eastern time zone. being located on the extreme eastern edge of a time zone sucks.

the only consolation i guess is that i never have darkness in the mornings. still, riding home in the darkness of night for 4 months every year gets me down.

it's not so much that i dislike riding a bike in darkness, it's more about how getting home from work in the darkness of night negatively affects my mood.


but as of today, The Darkness is half over. there's now more darkness in my rear view mirror than on my horizon. that's cause for celebration!

That's funny, man. The web page I just visited before this one was a chart of Sunset times per month - so glad we're on the right side of this curve. Happy days ahead.

Same here, I seem to be given more room by cars when riding at night than during the day, which I guess is due to my lights being more effective at that time.

Why don't you just wake up and get out on the road early? Many people here posted they don't mind going to work in the dark but don't like coming home in the dark.

A lot of people also complain about the early darkness in the evenings when they switch back to standard time. And then they go on to say they like DST because they like waking up early. So why not wake up early during Standard Time come home during the light and stop complaining?

Probably goes without saying, but not everybody's schedule is flexible enough for that.
I for one can't just leave an hour early from work when the time changes.

because i'm not self-employed and my firm's office hours are inflexible. 8:30 am - 5:30 pm, M-F, 12 months a year.

That's too bad.

Riding in the dark is fun. I can adjust my work schedule, and usually ride in daylight going into work. Coming home is dusk into dark. I would have to leave very early to ride into work in the dark, and that's just not gonna happen. I don't walk the dogs until 630 am, usually not ready to roll until the earliest 715, and by that time the sun is already peaking up

Everything you said except I have three forward lights and two rearward lights.

I am currently riding in morning darkness for my commute and light for my trip home. Although I would if I had to, I prefer to not ride in the evening darkness.

My normal work hours are 7-3, so I get to ride in to work in the dark for several months, but never ride home in it. (except when I need to stay late or cover other shifts)

Riding home at 11pm is fun... it's so quiet, and traffic is light. On these nights I always make sure to ride down Munger road so I can cross the haunted tracks!

A normal commuting day has me leaving at 6 AM and getting home by about 6 PM, hopefully a little before. The "normal" office hours are 8-5 but they're a little flexible, so I will work through lunch and leave at 4:30 to try to have at least a LITTLE bit of light left when I first leave. But it's full on night when I get home.

At this time of year I steadily get more and more light earlier in the morning and later into the evening. But then when the time changes in March I'll suddenly be in the dark again in the mornings, until about late April to early May.

I'm also on the eastern edge of the Central time zone. Atlanta folks have it good - solar time difference is only like 20 minutes from us but it's an hour by the clock. Our sunset time right now is 5:03 PM, while in Atlanta it's 5:43 PM. That sure would be nice for me. Although their sunrise isn't until almost 8 AM right now.

Over the past six years I've grown to dislike the tunnel vision effect of riding home in the dark. January into February has become my awakening period for commuting. This only to be knocked down by the spring headwinds no matter which direction the travel.

My bike light is adequate and kind of blue. Would prefer brighter and warmer... the former is now quite available thanks to MTB night riding people, the latter I don't think anyone advertises.