Allen

The last few work nights I've been putting in some late hours. I've got to say biking at night, in the summer rocks. It's not hot, still about as humid as a swimming pool, but nice and cool. Tonight I came across none, zero, nada, zip, no traffic in my six miles home. Got to feel the cool air pooling at the bottom of the hills, and heard frogs in the creek. 'Cept for the darkness obstructing the view, I'm thinking it might be better at night.

gear

Shhhhh, don't tell anybody and we'll share the roads just us two.

You left out the best part, you can use all of both lanes just like the pro racers do.

Dr_Robert

I love my night commute. Get yourself a good blinkie for the rear, and off you go.

Sometimes I trackstand in the middle of the road, just because I can.

-DR

chephy

Night riding in general rocks. My most memorable rides have been night rides.

pedalMonger

I love riding at night. Have a mini vacation due to the 4th being in middle of the week and now my sleep schedule is all messed up (I always revert to being a night owl if I have a few days where I don't have to be up early), so will do some more night riding over the weekend.

markhr

nice - quiet time in London is 03:00 to 03:30

Az B

Just watch out for crap in the road. Last week I was commuting at about midnight and hit something that slashed my tire in half. I tried booting, but the hole was too big. My wife was out of town, and all my friends were not answering phones. That was a long 5 mile walk. The good news was that I had some comfy shoes in my bag, and it didn't rain.

Az

1ply

And remember, the drunks come out to play at night too. Watch out for drunk, phone talking, iPhone watching yahoos at all times

I do know what you're talking about, it's similar here some days at 6:30am. If that's not peaceful enough, I'm going for a little ride this weekend, looks like I'll start at 7.

Oh and holidays rock too. If you could have been out at 7am on July 4th I'm sure you would have noticed the serenity

ollo_ollo

Before I retired, I left for work at 5:45 AM, which meant commuting in the dark from late Fall, through Winter & early Spring. Best commuting ever with very little traffic. The quiet roads let you commune with God & his creation, very satisfying riding. Headlight, tail light, blinkies & reflective clothing keep you safer & help to avoid road debris. Don

jeff-o

Night riding is the best. It *almost* makes me wish I worked the night shift, just so that I can ride at night more.

aMull

Best thing about it is the light or no traffic at all.

rule

It is pretty freaky to do an entire commute leg without interacting with a single car. Mine are like that too when I do them before daybreak or after dark. See lots of critters too.

chevy42083

The rides home at midnight are all I look forward to when working 2nd shift. Also, my friends and I generally gather for night rides when I'm on 1st shift. It's MUCH cooler, although yeah, humidity of a swimming pool (Houston). It's also nice when there's 4 or 5 of us, and we can ride pace line, or just take the whole street (and with all of our lights, we can see very well ).

I was at the LBS yesterday and was checking out next to a guy who's wife was telling him to get some reflectors for his pant legs. He was STRICT and STERN when he said he WOULD NOT BE ON THE BIKE AT NIGHT... THAT'S JUST WAY TOO DANEROUS. I just smirked. He's missing the best time.

paulrad9

More importantly, if you don't ride at night you don't have an excuse for buying a $300 light.

HardyWeinberg

Indeed. Now how do I justify getting *another*?

cgchambers

I can't explain why, but night riding is the most relaxing commute there is for me, maybe it is just the dark or the time, don't really know but very very relaxing.

AndrewP

The headlight beam from the cars lets you know where they are before you can see the car.

cooker

There is one specific night danger I must warn you of:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...6&postcount=11

no motor?

I love the trip home from my girlfriends in the dark. It's quiet and peaceful, and kind of reminds me of the summers I spent driving around at nights spraying for mosquito's when I was in college. Except without the smell and the noise.

Shavit

you said it best Gear:

"You left out the best part, you can use all of both lanes just like the pro racers do."

plus, you get to avoid the opening of car doors, and all the crap (i.e. glass beer bottles) people throw into the bike lanes (or maybe that's just where i am)

kmcrawford111

I envy those who do full night commutes. I do a partial commute at night (when working 4PM-12AM or 12AM-8AM), only about 2 miles, but it's a very nice, calm, relaxing, and cool ride - and it's in a steel mill. We actually have greenery. I take my time with it. It's a great way to start winding down the day after getting off at midnight. Much better than riding in the day when everyone is in such a damn hurry. There's a good chance I would be doing full night commutes if I wasn't engaged. My fiancee thinks it's too dangerous, and I'm being compliant at least for now (makes whipping sound). It's hard to argue with her given how careless drivers can be (at least here). At least she's OK with me riding inside the plant. It could be worse, but then again I might not be able to tolerate worse. I also do little night rides around my subdivision.


Understanding that this might be biased for being posted here, do you feel that night commuting is generally safer or not?

CommuterRun

On miles long stretches with no streetlights, on a bright moonlit night, you can turn you headlights off and ride in the moonlight.

You can also ride in the middle of the road, treating the road reflectors and painted lines as a slalom course.

Artkansas 

Buy a bike just for riding at night! N+1

Artkansas 

One of the most curious night rides I had was in L.A.. I was pedaling along from downtown to the Wilshire district when all of a sudden all the car alarms went off all around me.

Earthquake!

mike

I tend to agree with you. I like the serenity of bicycling at night.

That said, it is a little like enjoying a quiet swim with sharks. "Hey look, we have this beach all to ourselves - I wonder why nobody else is here..." Riding at night is a bit more dangerous - not only because of motorists, but also because of poor visibility of road conditions and road debris.

Of course, here in the north, night riding in winter includes 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM, so even the day shift folks get to do "night riding".

I always feel like I am bicycling twices as fast at night because things seem to be flying past me so quickly. Its cool.

Enjoy.