but it turns out that was done by daylight savings time.

I started commuting at the beginning of September, mainly for the time savings for triathlon training. My commute is 25 mi round trip and I did this 2-3 times per week throughout Sept and Oct.

I live in a smaller town that has grown rapidly and only has 2 roads in/out. Neither of these roads have shoulders. I found a route where I only have to spend .7 mile on this road. It is a 4 lane blvd and is pretty busy. All I have to ride on is a 1 1/2' space to the right of the fogline. It took me alot to get the courage to ride this line, and I was being passed with cars in both lanes and have gotten used to it. All of the other 11.5 miles are low-traffic roads that I feel comfortable on. I found myself loving the commuting days and more frustrated when I drove.

I'm the biggest wuss when it comes to the cold and pretty much have stayed indoors when below 50, but I was determined to continue commuting in the over 39*F days (which is almost all here in TX).

After DST ended and the days are shorter, I got some "to be seen" lights, but I have completely lost confidence in that .7 mi stretch and haven't commuted much this month (although I did on a 42*F day and loved it). With my work schedule and the low # of daylight hours, I would currently have to spend time on that road during low-light hours, if not in darkness.

I did try it out one morning when the sun was just starting to come up and I felt like I was being buzzed unlike any other day previous. I also think that due to the 1 hour earlier, there was more traffic as well.

I really like to commute, but I kind of like living more.

On the flip side, I got a free set of rollers that I'll be riding on during these short days. I'm planing to get back into commuting in March when the days start to grow.

Sorry to see that little bit can't be overcome. We all have limits, and sometimes, it's best to respect them. Others will come along shortly with solutions.

I agree with you on the daylight savings problem. I have to be at work by 7am and leave at 6pm. I'm riding to and from work in the dark. My commute is not too bad and people are surprisingly not as bad as I assumed when I started commuting in Sept. or Oct. as well. Where about in DFW are you?

All I can say is to just grit and do it, the confidence will come. I have a particularly nasty mile on my commute where I have to travel on a 45 mph 3 lane highway, in between the right lane (interstate on-ramp/off-ramp combination) and middle lane (straight lane), or more accuratley, in the middle lane. That is no joyride, cars are wizzing by pretty fast, but I did build confidence, it just takes doing it and asserting yourself, they will get the idea..... And if they don't, hopefuly you won't feel anything.

I have about a 2' shoulder on a 55+ MPH road, it's the last 2.5 miles of my commute. Combined with the somewhat wide lane, it's plenty of room, but I don't know what the rest of your road looks like, other than the 1.5 foot shoulder.

A couple of months ago I decided to trump DST, so I started going in at 5AM, so I can leave at 2PM. That helps a lot; traffic at 5AM and 2PM are a lot less than at 8AM and 5PM.

The only time I'm pretty nervous is if there's enough snowfall to make the shoulder on that 2.5 miles unridable (it gets so greasy and rutted I can't ride it even with studded tires). Last year that put me out of business. However, this year I found an alternate route; it does add 2 miles of gravel road to my commute, but it takes the distance on the busy road down to just a few hundred feet. If I have to I'll walk that distance. So hopefully I'll stay in the saddle more this year.

I drove today. I had a cold, was going to blow off, decided I had too much work, so I drove. Shoulda ridden anyway; I would have felt a lot better during the day. This fall I've really become seriously polarized against driving; on days when I drive, I'm irritable and really don't feel very good. When I ride (which is all but 2 or 3 days a month) I feel great. It's amazing; even if I got too little sleep the night before, and I'm dragging ass at home, by the time I ride to work, I'm ready to go for the rest of the day.

Here is what I suggest: Take the lane.

This is what I do on certain parts of my commute, although not the distance you would. Yeah, you will upset some drivers, but they will stop buzzing you and it will be much more pleasant. This was an idea I got from these forums, and as crazy as it sounds, it actually works.

When you take the lane, the drivers tend to treat you more as a slow-moving vehicle (think tractor) than "something to get by."

If they don't go all the way over to the next lane to pass, move further to the left and they will.

Same here: light trumps cold. Snow trumps rain.

How fast is the traffic on that road? I don't want you doing anything you are not comfortable with, but IMHO you get buzzed because you are hugging the right and giving impatient drivers the impression that they have enough room to squeeze by you. I ride roads like that all the time, crap for a shoulder, if any, speed limits 45-50, which means traffic is going 60+ sometimes. If I don't have enough room to safely stay out of the lane, I am in the lane, usually in the right tire track or even more centerish, forcing drivers to cross into the other lane to pass. I also try to be pretty visible: 3-5 good rear blinkies, wearing a hi-viz reflective safety vest. I rarely get buzzed or honked at, though it does happen sometimes...there is always an a-hole in every crowd. Just something to think about - screw em, it's your road too, and you are only on it for 5 minutes or so.

How is your lighting setup? Go overboard with the blinkies and reflectors, and take the lane, and the cars will give you your space.

I vote with chip () and threephi that you light up bright front and back. Then take the lane and see how it goes. It will be scary at first, but you will get used to it. Remember that cars have two lanes they can use to go around you.

Disclaimer: Don't do it if it doesn't seem safe. Only you know your own comfort level, and the situation on that particular road. Do you know any experienced local riders to consult with? If you absolutely can't do it, your only alternative will be to talk the town into installing a side path through that area.

Gotta agree with the previous posters. Lots of lights/reflectors and take the lane. I go from the White Rock Lake area to Allen and used to have problems getting buzzed, honked and yelled at, almost daily. Ever since I started taking the lane, these occurances are few and far between.

I can't remember who posted the comment here on BF, but it went something like:
"Act like the alpha-wolf and drivers will treat you as such; act like a gutter bunny and you'll be eaten alive."

for what it's worth, i come home in the dark every day - start late, end late. ymmv substantially and i don't know if you have the flexibility to work around it - BUT if you do, i find traffic here is a whole other story by 7pm. i've also had surprisingly little trouble from the cars that are still around since i put inch-wide strips of reflective taping on everything i could find.

The speed limit on this road starts out at 55 mph and then decreases to 45 mph during the stretch I ride on. Other than at 1 traffic light, there are no cross streets in this stretch. Cars are typically going 50 - 60 mph and are pretty often side by side in both lanes.

IMHO, to take the lane on this road would be a bad idea. Normally, I do take the lane. I've also done some experiments of my own and have concluded that in most situations, taking the lane is the thing to do. I do feel there is enough room for me + two cars, as long as I'm seen with enough advance. Of all the times I've made this stretch during daylight, there has never been a close call and I've been passed by plenty side-by-side cars (even a F350 pulling a trailer side by side another truck). That one time in the dark, I was buzzed by many. There may have also been more traffic as I was on the road earlier than I normally was.

For any interested, this is on Hwy 78 going from Wylie to Sachse.

I have thought it out and have come to a couple of other alternatives:
1) Get off my bike and walk in the grass. I actually did ride in the grass once, but found it too hard to keep my 1" tires from getting eaten by the cracks in the ground (from no rain).
2) I can cross the street, ride through a neighborhood, walk 1/4 mi, cross back into the neighborhood I normally get off the road into

I think I may give #2 a try. I guess a 3'rd option would be to just get up real early and go to work at 5am. My work hours are flexible where this could happen, but oten when I go to work early, I end up getting stuck there until 5 anyway. I also have a hard time getting up real early and usually help getting the kids ready in the morning.

MMACH 5, that is quite a ballsy (and far) commute, do you take Jupiter or Hwy 5, or have some low-traffic route?

Chris: I would take option 2

I leave for work at 4:50am (Pitch DARK)
I leave for home at 7:20pm (Pitch DARK)

My commute is @ 20 miles round trip.

I had a 2 mile (2 lane) road with NO shoulder, riding the White line, Slicker then chit most times.

SO I found a way around it...

Was only 1 mile outta my way and turns out it took me the SAME amount of time to get home!

The narrow road had some hills, the alternate route is pretty flat... and NO CARS!

The piece of mind is PRICELESS!

Geez. You don't have a family do you?

It's Jupiter all the way. Some mornings, I wuss out and ride over to the Lovers Ln train station, take the light rail to Plano and then ride up Hwy 5 to the office. That cuts my ride from 18 miles to 12. However, it does take me about a half-hour longer to take the train. Either way, I still ride all the way home.

Hwy 78 is a bear, even in a car. I don't envy you there.

Camy if you don't feel comfortable taking the lane, don't do it. But I do wonder why we often think it's safer to ride on a road like this when traffic is lighter. If you think about it a different way, maybe cagers are more careful when the traffic is heavy, and that's really a safer time to ride? I really don't know, but I wonder what you and others think of my contrarian idea.

Have you thought about maybe just walking the bike for that short stretch? I think my situation might be similar, my lil poduck town has one main thru street. Four lanes coming in on one side, narrowing down right through the middle and on out the other side.

For about 15 minutes every morning and evening it is steel cage choas as the country buildings and two universities disgorge employees. I usually try to time my arrival to miss this period of mayhem. But if I do, I simply dismount and walk along the sidewalk for the two blocks.

Usually I'm still moving faster than traffic.

I think it all comes down to when the cager sees you and the time they have to plan the route around you. When traffic is light, they see you far in advance (1000+ ft on straight roads) and can then check other lanes and switch without any stress. When traffic is heavy, many times, cyclists are not seen until the car in front of them changes lanes. Many times, they only have about 100 ft to react and the other lane is quite busy and the stress level goes way up. Nothing good ever happens when the stress level goes up in just about any situation.

I don't have alot of experience being the cyclist in this situation, but I have been a cager many times. What goes on behind the cyclist is just amazingly chaotic and I don't think the cyclist ever realizes since all the chaos is behind them.

The situation I'm talking about is when traffic is practically bumper to bumper in both (all) lanes and is flowing at 45+ mph.

camy...I solved that same issue on my commute by driving past the death zone section and staging out of a parking lot. My commute drops down to being about 9 miles each way, but it is really easy to add the miles that I lost back in, and on quiet multi-lane roads, designated bike route neighborhood roads and MUT's.

As far as getting respect on the road...I use a TL-LD1000 under my saddle with both sets of LED's on constant. I have three Mars blinkies, on the back and sides of my backpack, along with a reflective slow moving vehicle warning triangle velcroed under its cargo webbing. In front I have two really bright bike lights, one HID and one LED. Most people think that I am a motorcycle and treat me accordingly. (In fact I get told that all the time at traffic lights or when I ride up to a ped.)

Where there's a will there's a way.

If you feel that it is visibility that is causing you to be buzzed consider wearing a reflective safety vest and adding additional reflectors or reflective tape to your bike. Reflectors are more effective than most blinkies for providing visibility to cars from behind because you are using thier lights. Heres the vest I use
https://alertshirt.com/clas2safves.html
Or you could hook up one of those semi trailer lights like mentioned in another thread.
Craig

um just a woman and 2 kids (and another kid in CA)