What a difference a little bit of light makes during a commute. The sky was lighter this morning at 5:30 am and I was able to get away with my low beam. Halfway through my commute the sun started peaking out of the horizon. Sunrise, what a beautiful sight. The birds were chirping, the air was cool but not cold, the scent of plants and trees in the air and there were hardly any cars on the roads.

I definitely feel more energetic this today. Now, if we can only get rid of daylight savings.

MMMM at 4:20 am today the wind was blowing anywhere from 25 to 45 mph it was raining any self respecting bird was hunkered down trying to stay dry and warm and I was driving my truck to work since I was in fear of getting blown off the road. I scoff at your sunrise and denigrate your cheerful attitude simply because I WAS TOO WIMPY TO RIDE. OK glad you had fun. I'll ride tomorrow

FIFY.
This morning was attrocious here in Redmond, too. Similar wind, less rain though. I took the opportunity to drive in and re-stock my locker with clean clothes.
I get one extra ride day from now on, since my Friday committee meeting has been disbanded and I no longer need to zip 10 miles across town at mid-day. So I'll make up the missed miles.

Definitely nice, except I ride at 7:30, and a month ago when *I* was at this timing, it sucked because I'm riding directly into the sun in the morning. Hard on my eyes, hard for drivers to see me.

You gentlemen need to perform a backbone check. A little wind and you jump in your cars? Hah - I spit at the wind (well only if its a tailwind ). I slogged down the Sammamish River Trail this morning averaging about 12MPH - dropping to near zero when the gusts hit. I normally maintain a 20MPH pace down the trail.

To the OP, it was light, and I think that the sun was actually shining but my eyes were mostly closed because of the grit being blown into them by the wind...

I admit to being a rain wimp. I don't jump in my car, but I do ride the bus on rainy days. Fortunately in Sac that only happens Nov-Apr and less than once a week even then.

The wind I suffer thru. (Or enjoy immensely on those days it's at my back!)

I'll have to admit I became a wimp this whole winter and spring when it comes to rain. I mean, I have all the necessary rain gear, but I just didn't feel like riding in the cold while its raining. The only rain riding I've done so far was when it started to rain during an organized ride. Maybe next time.

In the mean time I heard there will be a cold front coming in starting tomorrow. Geez.

When the wind gusts are strong enough to blow me into traffic (or traffic into me!), I pack it in for the day. Novelty Hill and Avondale Rd. are really dangerous when the gusts are up over 35mph. Novelty Hill gets littered with tree branches, which means swerving traffic not paying attention to who might be on the shoulder in front of or next to them. Avondale is high traffic, lots of trucks/trailers, and not much room to manouver in a few spots. No place to go if the wind blows somebody's trailer at you.

I like daylight when riding home, but I kind of like riding to work in the dark. I get the feeling that I'm getting a jump-start on the day when I ride in when it's dark. If it's light out I feel like I've slept in too long.

Funny, but I kind of feel the same way. It's got so it's light on my morning commute now. That means there's a lot more people out and I don't have the road to myself any more.

At least you're in the south bay where it's a little warmer. I'm up in the East Bay by the water where I feel the chill from the wind. Kind of neat though, my work is north by the bay and I live south away from the bay. When I leave, it is still dark but mild temp. When I arrive and get off the train, there is daylight but I feel a slight breeze and colder air.

Just wait for our summer pattern to arrive. Dark gloomy cloudy morning with no sun until almost noon. If that doesn't mess up a person bio season calender, then I don't know what will.

Ugh, I know what you mean. I sometimes commute from Palo Alto to SF to Pittsburgh and the temperature changes can be drastic. It'll be nice and warm in Palo Alto and when I arrive in SF and have to bike from Caltrain to Bart it can be very cold.

Oh, colder mornings and warm afternoons means stashing all that cold weather gear into my jersey pockets to soak up all the sweat as I go home. Not looking forward to it.

I did a backbone check and its still there although this morning it was a little on the limber side. I leave my hous around 4:05 am and the fact that my night vision really sucks and I mean sucks has a lot to do with me not riding in the rain. Don't mind getting wet going home but I get claustrophobic when I can't see. I'll live to ride another morning.

Couldn't agree more!

I did the rain and wind commute yesterday. It was challenging. Today, much nicer... however, still cold - 37 degrees (that's fine for February, but not May.) I love the daylight, too. It's light enough to ride by 5:30 am!

Funny my mention of liking to ride in during darkness yesterday. Today I was set to roll at my normal time (5:30) and noticed my tire bead had rolled out of the rim! (It was on the outside of the rim for about 4 inches). I knew it was off radially a bit but hadn't looked at it closely. Anyway, I had to bring the bike back in, let the air out, re-seat the tire and pump it back up which delayed me about 15 minutes. So I had to ride most of the way in the light.

I made up for it this evening though. After work I went to a transportation meeting (our bike club likes to represent at these so they don't forget about us). I was running late so I took a fairly direct route on major roads, using my best VC mojo. That was kind of fun.

By the time the meeting let out, the sun was going down and most of the ride home was in inky blackness.



Nice.

I am enjoying the daylight as well in mornings. It had just become light for my entire morning commute when daylight savings began, which put me in the dark again for another month. I don't really mind riding in the dark because I have a good light system, but it's nice actually being able to see the flowers, the houses, the sunrise, birds, etc. This morning I saw two male cardinals squaring off in the street. They were flapping their wings at each other and then flew about 25' straight up, staying about 1" apart face-to-face, and then hovering like that. You won't see things like that in the dark.