When do you ride?

[Dogmama]

While I know there are good lights available, as we start to lose the daylight the temperatures here (Massachusetts) also seem to start to slide. And to be honest, a lot of the drivers here are a bit nuts, and riding in minimal (or no) daylight conditions scares me. (OK, I know, I'm a baby...).

--- Denise

If you're a baby, make room in your crib for me! I don't do the bike-with-a-light thing either. Drivers around here are unconscious.

I ride before work and on the weekends in the morning. After work, it's about 110 degrees outside...

[alison_in_oh]

I work 8:30 to 5 M-F. I commute by bike (just 10 minutes there/13 minutes back). I'm home by 5:20, I walk my dog, change, and get back out the door by 5:45 to 6pm. I either meet the Tues/Thurs group ride at 6 or I just tool around on my own; daylight nowadays means I have about 2.5 hours of riding available to me. I ride 3 to 4 weeknights depending on how much rest my body demands.

I ride both days on the weekend, and I try to make one of those a ride of over 3 hours. My husband took me on a 5 hour (4:30 on the bike) tour of Cleveland's Emerald Necklace this weekend, my longest ride yet!

[Geonz]

I commute - 7 miles one way unless I go the 15 or 20 mile route (less likely now taht I have to be in at 7:30), and we have Fridays off (that's why we have to be in at 7:30). I also ride with the bike club on evenings and weekends. I have lights for when it's getting dark early, but IT isn't Massachusetts -- a few of the riders are nuts but most are decidedly and delightfully MIDWESTERN. We had 32 riders in a line going down the road (at 12 mph - not the tour de france!) Saturday and people just managed to get past us. I'm thinking next week I'll break us up into groups of ten or less so cars can pass one clump at a time...
I know I can get out and back and do a "lap" of a 10 mile route in about 40 minutes so sometimes that's what I squeeze in between One Thing Or THe OTher.

[CorsairMac]

I ride to work also - about 12 miles round trip and I've added a lunch ride of anywhere from 10-14 miles. I eat at my desk while still working and then take my "lunch hour" to ride. Then I ride on the weekends: either MTB or really long rides depending on time and mood!

[bikerz]

Hi Shadon (from another Bay Area rider...)

My goal is 3-4 times a week - I have 2 regular rides I do on weekdays - a short (~1 hr) primarly up-hill ride from home, and a longer 1.5 to 2 hr flat ride along the bay. Then I try to get a longer ride in one or both days on the weekend - hopefully to a new place (I haven't been riding that long, so there are lots of new places!) Sometimes I squeeze a 5th ride in, when I really need it for mental health!

[JanT]

I do what others have said--commuting sometimes, and night riding sometimes:

I'm a teacher, so have the summer off; however, here in Phoenix, it means getting up even earlier than I do to go to work! I usually try to hit the road before 5:30 am. When I go back to work, I'll sometimes get up at 2 or 3 a.m. to ride with the lights. It's an amazing experience, with the roads quiet and the lights of the city almost seem magical. You feel like you own the city! I live near enough to the desert that after a few miles, I can hear the coyotes. If you've never lived in the desert, you should know that it is still 85-90 degrees in the wee hours of the morning. However, I rarely ride at night during the winter! I'm a real wimp, and 40 degrees is just too cold when you add the bike's wind chill factor. That's when I try to get out and run a few miles. We also have an exercise bike in the living room, but I rarely use it because it's a recumbent and employs different muscles and makes me sore.

[SJCzar]

I try to do the work commute two or three times per week (30 miles roundtrip). If I don't do at least two days, I put in a ride or two after work.

I ride Weds. nights with a group from the ski club I belong to. That ride is usually around 17-19 miles.

I try to get in a least one longer ride on the weekend. I should hit 1,000 miles on my new baby after this weekend.