I did a lot of night riding in Baltimore when I lived there... easily the best time: lighter traffic, less buses.

Hey Neighbor!

I'm in Roseville actually.

Nice to meet you! I live in midtown, and it is the most cycling-friendly part of Sacramento. I see more bikes down here than anywhere else. In fact, one day I was waiting for a friend to drive down to meet me at a restaurant on 20th and L. I was sitting on my bike on the corner, and I saw someone get pulled over by Sac PD. It was my friend, who accidentally ran the stop sign at 24th and Capitol. The officer let him go with a warning to watch out for cyclists and pedestrians.

I used to start my commute at 4:10 for my 5 AM shift. I didn't give it a second thought and never had a problem with police. It's in the middle of the city, so mountain lions weren't a problem either.

It was just another trip to the office.

Riding alone at night is great, and I recommend it to anyone. You don't really need any real reason to get out there, apart from the fact that you just feel like it at that moment (another benefit of living alone, but that's another thread). I've seen all kinds of animals and heard all kinds of bird calls at night that just aren't there during the daylight, and while people worry about the "car" issue, I find it much less of a problem at night simply because there are much fewer of them around.

At first, i thought riding at night would be kinda cool... And it would force me to buy more toys for my bike (headlight, tail light, helmet light, etc.). The first and only night ride I did was rather bittersweet. It was in October around 9pm and everything went well for the first 5 miles. The lights worked great, there was no sun beating down on me... as such, i didn't have to worry about sunblock... there were hardly any cars to worry about... Iit was great. It was just me, my bike and lots of open road... but then shortly afterwards, things went bad...every couple hundred feet, there were patches of flying insects everywhere! I couldn't avoid them. It got to the point where I was using my water bottle to get them off my face! Instead of riding my normal 20 mile route, i had to cut it short and turn around! Now that it's relatively cool in Houston, I'm gonna try another night ride soon... Hopefully, I won't have the same bug problem this time around...

I ride my bikes (pedal and motor powered) at 3am all the time. IMO that's the best time for me to straddle a bike. You see things (changes in the environment) you wouldn't see during the day and as one person mentioned the sound of birds chirping and singing at that hour is something you won't experience at any other time. Note my area is urban and near a beach, Pacific Beach in San Diego. For me it's 1000x more enjoyable to ride at that hour, it's almost spiritual - and oh - I pedal in the middle of the street in the car lane at that hour. I once rode my pedal powered bike smack dab in the middle of the freeway in the fast lane at around 4am on a Saturday morning. I had the freeway to myself. Because you only live once. And I'm still alive to talk about it. You'll find some of the best, most unique lighting systems at the Burning Man Festival. I don't care for cars. I like motorcycles, bicycles, and mini-bikes. Ride safe :)

At certain times of the year the bugs can be a problem, especially if you live between two major river systems like I do. You just have to learn to adapt. Wear glasses and don't ride with your mouth open. There are times I won't leave the driveway without a can of bug spray. If you have a flat while riding along the edge of a swamp on a hot, dank night you will appreciate having a can of OFF. I know from experience.

I love riding in the city at night it is the best feeling in the world bombing down some street you never or rarely have gone down. Taking up the entire street and riding as if it is your own driveway is awesome. I am living in an area right now that I have to ride on busy country roads and it has made me nervous and I hate riding em the day let alone at night. I let a friend borrow my cygolite and I was left with my PB half watt accidentally it was an alright experience better than expected still I prefer city riding to country riding.

I love commuting at night, I feel safer then than during the day.

I terrorized the streets after 1 a.m. for years on my way home from work, oftentimes extending my commute longer than its 16 miles. (I lived in a pretty small city and traveled mostly back-roads.) I never thought anything of it.

In the boondocks of Illinois, vehicles always seemed to give ample birth when passing that late at night, and there was always less than a dozen cars in both directions. I never felt threatened. Of course, I never rode on Friday or Saturday nights.

Critters are pretty active at night, though, and startled me quite often before I upgraded to a nice light setup.

I had my first after dark ride Sunday. I now have the lights to ride at night.

Riding at night will be a requirement for me this summer because of the 100 degree plus heat indexes we get in Texas. I am working to ride a double century by the end of the year. Sunday i did 90 miles in 11 hours 15 minutes clock time. That is not fast enough to do a Permanent popular. It was fun just the same.

I've not ridden much at night, does anyone else have problems with meeting traffic, that throw their lights on bright? I know what they are doing, trying to figure out what you are, but it's blinding.

It's not a problem for me as of yet. OTOH I usually look to the side of the road rather than the approaching car, so if someone were to flash me, I may not notice. When I ride at night, usually there are not that many cars. If I do take a road with lots of cars, I light myself up so well that the opposition usually will give me a wide berth. I like a ride at night.

I ride with my light on medium. If a car won't dim it's brights I wave my hand in front of my beam in order to blink at them. If that don't work I turn it on high and aim it right at them. That works. I have a Shiningbeam MC-E flashlight mounted on my bars.

I ride from about 4:30 am till about 6:30 or so most mornings unless I have a it more time than I sometimes ride until after 8 am. Here in the winter it's dark till after 7:30 and I love it. N

I love riding at night. I find it makes less difference in a small town (where traffic is light already), but in a large city, a few hours after the bars close, riding through the streets is exhilarating! You own the street at 3 AM.

Also, as a younger man, whenever I could not sleep, or my eyes popped open at some terrible early hour I would go for a spin while the sun rose with the nauseated feeling of exaustion in my belly. Some of the more memorable moments happened while I rode at 5 AM.

Lately I have been hiking and (the last few weeks) XC skiing between 11 PM and 1 AM - taking the dogs for a run when there is no one around to tell me to put them on a leash :D Also I usually partake in an herbal nerve relaxing inhalant while I am out, and my half hour stroll becomes a 2 hour hike as I get lost and try to find my way out of the trail system :)

After my kids are in bed it seems like a great time to get out for some exercise, but often I have trouble deciding whether I should go out for an epic at midnight, or save my energy and possibly ride in to work in the morning. I often skip the evening ride then stay up to 2 AM watching TV anyways and wind up taking the car to work.

he said he played the Bagpipes..

so the answer was no

I've done some night riding on full moon nights at the beach, but in the rural area where I live I'm a bit afraid of all the nocturnal critters that run out into the road at night. I don't want to hit a possum when I'm heading down a hill.

I see, maybe 4 cars on my way home .. the Estuary shore on my right for a couple miles.. wide shoulder.

+ 3 lanes wide.. most of the way..

Dark, Cold and Wet keeps them on the couch , in front of the TV.

Bedbugs are nocturnal too. You're not safe anywhere. Ride on.

I'm safer riding at night than during the daytime.

I love urban night riding...

I feel the same way. I'm in Baltimore City and I enjoy feeling like I have some parts of it all to myself after 2 or 3 a.m. I feel safer riding at this time, but I don't know if I actually am or not. I can't dwell on it anyway because I doubt I could give up the solitude.

Well, at least around here 3AM = less cars which in turn equals less chance of getting creamed. I'm also extremely well lit and 100% impossible to miss at night unless you're putting nail polish on the toes while driving. Or texting. Or...shoot :) oh well, keep riding!

Interesting the distinction made in riding before and after midnight. I ride frequently at night, usually getting home at or before midnight. I have to admit there is a different feel when you get past midnight. Things seem much more deserted.

I think there's another distinction to be made- riding overnight versus riding in the pre-dawn hours. When I commuted I usually left home before dawn. By then, though, the "deserted" vibe is dissipating as the world (natural and man-made) becomes active again. The early commuting hours (say, prior to 7 am) are much mellower than the later hours when people are much closer to their starting times and therefore in more of a hurry. So even though there's traffic, it's not too bad.

Yeah, I've encountered that. I usually react by very obviously shading their lights from my eyes, but they almost never get it and dim the high beams.