In an effort to get back to fitness and recover from injury I started to commute again but had to shelve due reoccurence of knee trouble. Am now going out for rides on the road bike at anywhere between 5am and 6 am and loving it . Noone about very quiet and crisp. Night riding in the morning!! Anyone else out around this time??
i used to do it and will be doing it again when im fixed
occasionaly get up at 5 and do a quick blast round Win Hill, great in the summer - loads of wildlife out at that time in the morning
I don't like to think of times between 3am and 8am even existing in the non-sleep world!
I like it a lot - there's a really good feeling about coming home and seeing the sun just starting to rise above the hills.
Just happen to be waking up at that time at the mo so getting out and riding. Never really ridden off road in the dark but can imagine it must be great fun. On road whats nade a huge difference is I now have a dinotte tail light - ridiculously expensive but for the first time I feel that I'm highly visible on the roads. The other morning I hopped on to a cycle path adjacent to the road and a car passed alongside but had still pulled over to the other side of the road such is the brightness of the light!!
been known to be on the hill for 5am, but its usually a more civilised 7 on the hill.
oneone onenone
whats the injury??
i try and do a few pre dawn starts in the summer and also mid winter (as the mud is all frozen!)
used to commute home after 2am finishes, which was quite hard with my body clock getting into sleep mode, especially mid winter & after a 12 hour shift
qwerty
good call on the mud!
I often get up early but rarely feel like riding until later on for some reason.
Me too, but I have a young family. Irrespective of how I start, at that time in the morning I don't feel good for the first hour of riding!
I like doing this if camping with the family in the Lakes especially. It's kinda eerie at this time - makes you realise that even in the Lakes there's a lot of background noise you don't register later in the day. Not a soul around. It's brilliant.
I normally do the FtD on Cannock Chase at about 6:30am Sat or Sun.
Having young children is the main factor.
It is nice to have the place to yourself as from 8am on its usually rammed.
The car-park is locked until dawn in Winter, & I once had a pedantic forestry worker put cones around my car because I'd dared to park on the grass verge. Seemed a bit juvenile. I'd even left my pass in the window to show that I wasn't just trying to get out of paying. 😐
You can't beat being out early in the morning.
I commute by bike three times a week, it's 13 miles and 80% off road which takes me between an hour and an hour 20.
So leaving home at 06:30, watching the sunrise and seeing lots of wildlife is a great way to start the day. So much less stressful than driving.
I occasionally do a Pentlands commute at about 7am if I know I've got a heavy day ahead of me. It prolongs the positive feeling I get from the commute that little bit longer so is definitely worth it.
Keep meaning to do this one morning, but as yet not managed to. Work families and other trivialities keep getting in the way!
I've been known to be up in the Pentlands at 6am, but don't think I've ever been out earlier.
I used to do it in my previous job and have once or twice gotten out of the door before working from home for the day since then, but the motivation is missing when I am not heading to the office. My new office is about 50 miles away so it's not really commutable any more although I will do it once just to prove to myself that I can. (I sometimtes take my bike on the train and ride home tohgh)
If I can get myself out of bed I never regret it as you have all mentioned the great aspects of early morning rides, but I'm not naturally an early morning person so usually eh pillow wins out over the cold morning air 🙄
I get up to commute to work at between 5:30 and 6:00 a couple of times a week if possible, it's on the road, and this time of year is extra fun as bleary eyed Brickies in Transits try to put me through hedges in the dark, I think I'd have to be out the door around 4:30 to do it offroad...
But even on the roads the quiet bits are lovely, when there is nobody else about and you can spin along looking at the sun rising, (saw a stunning one week before last, extremely pink)stuff like that makes me glad I got up.
Conversly last Friday, in the pitch black, with drizzle and various arseholes forgetting to dip their lights was just a trial, that horible near total blindness where you pray you are still traveling parallel with the kerb...
Sometimes I hate being up at that time and putting myselft through it, mostly though it seems worth it. I tend to get in an hour early for work place presentiesm points, and it means I clock up an extra 80 miles a week on the bike, while I wouldn't say I'm fit, I'm definately a bit fitter than I would be if I drove 5 days a week....
if I ride I leave at 6:45
high power off-road lights make it bearable and cars remember to dip their lights if you use these
once the sun comes up it is OK
riding home in total darkness is not fun