Wimped out on commuting in the dark

[Geonz]

Righto... I soemtimes have to remind myself "and if you crash and break your face, how many days will you miss? So maybe skipping this one isn't so bad..."

[run it, ride it]

I recently had laser eye surgery. When I drive at night there are halos on every light I see which compromises my depth perception. I can't pick out the important lights as quickly as I used to. Still, I always notice flashing bicycle lights.

So you're out driving on the highway in pitch darkness with hi-beams on and another car appears in the other direction. Is it not common courtesy to turn off your brights when they turn theirs off? I kill mine when theirs have made it difficult for me to judge where the road is.

I thought it was bad when driving! Only one in thirty vehicles turns down their brights at all when I'm on my bicycle. I absolutely could not SEE commuting in the dark just because of that (well, and the terrifying transport trucks whose drivers weren't expecting bicycles on a country road in the middle of nowhere).

Even with the brightest lights I could find on my bicycle I have people tell me "I almost ran into you. I could barely see you."

Safety first, kids!

[HipGnosis6]

I'll ride in the dark or in the rain but not in both.

I miss my commuter days... even though I had to ride across the Ballard Bridge which is VERY bike un-friendly in the dark....

[xeney]

I commuted in real dark, as opposed to just dusk, for the first time on Friday. And I liked it! I do wish I'd had a better light with me -- my bike was in the shop all week and I picked it up that morning, but I forgot to bring a light so I had to use the extra one I keep in my desk. It's fine but it doesn't illuminate the road at all, and the streets are still a mess from last week's storm. So it wasn't ideal.

But it was still pretty good. In some ways I feel more visible in the dark than at dusk, because my lights show up better. There was not much traffic. And I felt so much safer leaving my office on a bike at night than I do on foot. They've redone our doorways so I can just take my bike out the front of the building at the main entrance now, which dumps me onto a well-lit sidewalk that then goes straight onto the street I use to ride to home. In the past, that front door was locked at night, and in order to exit that way you had to unlock a very difficult deadbolt, which was hard to do while balancing a bicycle. So I had to exit into a dark alley ... which pretty much meant that I drove the car any time I had to work late.

Mostly I commute on foot, but I am really happy to have another way to get to work in the winter. Because my neighborhood is fine for riding through after dark, but not so much for walking.