Do you guys commute in the winter? - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

11-06-2003, 07:54 PM

I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets dark at 6
PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's dark when I get
home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if anyone is brave enough
to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I being
sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite and a bunch
of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.

11-06-2003, 08:09 PM

"Slider2699" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:GHEqb.114544$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].co m...
> I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets
dark at 6
> PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's dark when
I get
> home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if anyone is
brave enough
> to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I
being
> sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite
and a bunch
> of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.
>
>

Up here in Seattle, I get to see both sunrise and sunset during my
commute this time of year but it will be full dark both ways by the
Solstice. I don't think it's that bad but it depends on what kind of
roads you have to ride on. Very little of my ride is on major roads.
I don't do it every day, but about half the time I ride to work.

I wish it would rain now because it would raise the temperature in
the morning by 10 or 15 degrees...

11-06-2003, 08:39 PM

"Slider2699" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:GHEqb.114544$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].co m...
> I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets dark at
6
> PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's dark when I get
> home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if anyone is brave
enough
> to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I being
> sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite and a
bunch
> of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.

Lots of people commute in the dark routinely. Many of them actually feel
safer, because their lighting and reflectors make them visible to other
traffic to a degree not really achievable in daylight. I'm one of them.

My 13-mile route takes me from downtown through industrial areas to the
suburbs, on secondary, arterial, or residential roads, so there is street
lighting (although sometimes rather ineffective) most of the way. I use
bright (15- or 24-watt) headlights, multiple blinkies, lots of reflective
tape, and a large reflective triangle.

I might feel less confident on unlit rural roads during commuting hours;
it's been too long since I've ridden in such circumstances to say how I'd
feel now. I never had a problem with it when I was younger.

RichC

11-06-2003, 08:46 PM

Slider2699 wrote:
> I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets
> dark at 6 PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's
> dark when I get home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if
> anyone is brave enough to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I
> being a wuss or am I being sensible by not riding in the dark? I have
> a dual beam Vistalite and a bunch of blinkies but I'm not sure that's
> enough.

I recently put a bunch of reflective tape on my bike - the 3m scotchlite
stuff is amazing. Works much better in most traffic situations than LED
blinkies (which I also use, front and rear). Makes me feel a bunch safer.

11-07-2003, 12:00 AM

I do. 55 watt light. I go faster at night than in the day actually,
cause its nice and cool.

On Fri, 07 Nov 2003 03:54:14 GMT, "Slider2699" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
wrote:

>I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets dark at 6
>PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's dark when I get
>home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if anyone is brave enough
>to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I being
>sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite and a bunch
>of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.
>

11-07-2003, 04:40 AM

In article <GHEqb.114544$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com> ,
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] says...
> I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets dark at 6
> PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's dark when I get
> home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if anyone is brave enough
> to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I being
> sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite and a bunch
> of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.

What are the roads and traffic like along your route? That *is* a
long commute, especially in the dark...

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

11-07-2003, 05:52 AM

"Slider2699" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets dark at 6
>PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's dark when I get
>home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if anyone is brave enough
>to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I being
>sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite and a bunch
>of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.

Something to consider is that you probably show up better at night
than during the day. I commuted in Florida for years, much of it in
the dark and enjoyed most of the night riding. A good light and
blinkies on the back make all the difference.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
Home of the $695 ti frame

11-07-2003, 06:03 AM

"Slider2699" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in
news:GHEqb.114544$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].co m:

> I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets
> dark at 6 PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's
> dark when I get home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering
> if anyone is brave enough to commute 20 miles in the pitch black.
> Am I being a wuss or am I being sensible by not riding in the dark?
> I have a dual beam Vistalite and a bunch of blinkies but I'm not
> sure that's enough.
>
>

I live in Wisconsin. I try to commute all year long - my commute is
about 14 miles, each way. But, I found that I don't like riding when
there's snow on the roads. Just no fun having your front tire twist and
turn in the automobile tire tracks, feeling like you're gonna slip and
fall at any given time, right under a bus, semi or car! So, in winter,
I only ride when I'm 'relatively' sure there will be no snow on the
roads.

I know, I'm a wimp! The snow stops me, but the cold or dark doesn't
usually stop me. I am usually riding at 4:30am, and going home at
4:00pm, so it's dark both ways. Not a big deal. I have the VistaLite
15 system (one 5-watt aimed at oncoming traffic and one 10-watt aimed at
the road) on the front, red blinkie on the bike rack, and red blinkie on
the back of my hellmet (sic). And, I bought a bunch of the 3M
Scotchlite reflective tape, and put it on my bike frame, my battery, my
tire pump, and even my flag stick (yes, I have a US Flag waving behind
my bike - best accessory I ever put on the bike!). I feel pretty safe,
riding at night, but think I could use better lights to see with, on the
front of my bike. Some of my commute is in the suburbs, where I might
go stretches of up to a mile with no street lighting, and it would be
nice to have a brighter light on the road, to see the upcoming glass, or
whatever.

I have been told, by one motorist (who is also a bicyclist, BTW), that,
even though she thinks I have ample light, it's really hard to judge my
distance and speed, as I come toward her at night. She actually passed
me, going the opposite way, turned around, caught up to me, stopped me,
and chatted with me! Good thing to hear. I think I'm going to add a
couple white/amber blinkies to the front of my bike, too, just to be
safer.

On another occasion, a guy pulled up next to me at a stop light, rolled
down his window, and said, "Thank you for having so much light on your
bike." That was really cool! He basically told me that he could see me
from 1/2 mile away, and it's nice when you can see a bicyclist so well,
because many people have nothing at all on their bikes, and wear black,
so a driver won't see them until it's too late. So, apparently, the
combination of blinkies and reflective tape is good enough from behind!
I'm still considering buying a reflective vest, with the SMV triangle on
it. Can never be too safe!

Well, that's my situation. YMMV.

--
Smile!!

__O
_-\ <,_ Eric Babula
(_) / (_) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

11-07-2003, 06:29 AM

In article <Xns942C520B4AC33ebabulacare2com@207.250.5.36>,
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] says...

....

> combination of blinkies and reflective tape is good enough from behind!
> I'm still considering buying a reflective vest, with the SMV triangle on
> it. Can never be too safe!

I've seen reflective vests all over the place, but never one with the
SMV triangle; where do you find that?

Last night I was running a couple of errands on the way home, and as I
was turning into the parking lot of the shopping center, there were
two cyclists waiting at the light to exit the parking lot. It was
full dark and raining. They didn't have any lights or reflectors
which I could see from the side and their clothes were kind of a
medium color: not black, but not high-vis either. The only reason I
got a good look at them was that there was a street light on that
corner, and they were properly positioned in the lane at the front of
the line of cars waiting for the light. As I first approached the
intersection, I thought they were going to go on through the light,
but they did not do so. As I passed them, I did something I very
rarely do: rolled down the window and called out to them. I said
"You guys need some lights." I hope I came across as encouraging them
to keep riding, just to do it a little more safely in the future...

Nice writeup, BTW!

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

11-07-2003, 06:34 AM

> >I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets dark at
6
> >PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's dark when I get
> >home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if anyone is brave
enough
> >to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I being
> >sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite and a
bunch
> >of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.
> >
Well, her in Norway where I'm living it's also getting dark now. This
morning I did 35 miles most of which was in pitch darkness. Using a dual
beam NightSun XC I've no problems with the darkness and traffic. It's still
no snow on the roads so have not put on the studdied tires yet but wil as
soon as the conditions are there. Temperatur this morning at 5:30 AM was 32F
which is not bad at this time of year.
Hjalmar