Sigh, thinking of stopping my commuting for this year.....

[Nigeyy]

Well, it starting to come to the time of year over here that I'm thinking of stopping my commuting for the rest of the year for a couple of reasons:

1. it's starting to get dark around 5:40pm. That means I have to leave the office at around 4:30pm or earlier to avoid the dark, quite depressing really. Though I really don't mind commuting in the pitch dark coming into work (I usually cycle between 6:00am and 7:00am) I don't like commuting home in the dark at around mid to late afternoon due to the amount of traffic -I just don't trust the drivers I see for driving in the dark.

2. It's getting colder -won't be long before we'll get ice. And I hate ice! This morning when I set off I had to scrape the frost from the windshield of the car. It's not that I can't put up with the cold, I just don't like hitting ice on the bike.

Also, and to a lesser degree, when I cycle along a road that I have to take, I'm starting to cycle just when the sun is coming up right in front of me -which means solar glare for drivers behind me -makes me just a tad nervous. Though I can avoid this by leaving a little earlier or much later, it's just inconvenient and there's just not much I can do if I get to the stretch of road at the wrong time.

I reckon maybe 1-2 more weeks tops..... In some ways I have to admit I'm a fair weather commuter!

 

[palinurus]

Riding into low sun at this time of the year I don't like (especially when I can't see much , even with my cap pulled right over my eyes). I'm using my Dinotte taillight on flashing mode all the time at the moment for extra visibility, don't know whether it works tho'.

Don't mind the dark too much, but prefer it once it gets proper dark. Luckily it isn't often icy where I am, and even if it is the major roads are usually clear.

 

[fossyant]

Phew, that's one thing I'm lucky with - sun rise and sunset behind me on my way to/from work.....

Admit...watch the ICE, but still keep it up when it's not too cold, but our weather in the UK isn't that severe - seeing some of your posts last winter makes me think we get away with loads over here...

 

[hackbike 6]

I would scrape ice from my car window,if I had a car.

 

[fossyant]

I still scrape ice off the missus car, then get on my bike......leave my car to defrost by mid morning........ all on it's own............

 

[dodgy]

Riding into a sunset / sunrise does worry me. The driver who killed Mel Vasey used that as an excuse when he killed him last year

 

[J4CKO]

Must admit, I do get a bit alarmed sometimes, the sun thing can be quite bad but I just make myself think about the best course of action, if I have sun in my face, so will the drivers so extra caution, if it means stopping, then I stop and take a proper look, sometimes you need to break the journey down into steps, and then break each task down further and be sure of exactly what you are doing, I find problems come when you are chasing numbers on the speedo or leaving things to chance, getting lazy.

I think you can have quick but lazy cyclists, no matter how much exercise they get, if you just plough everywhere taking gambles then you are asking for trouble, even when you are mega careful you can get issues, so I think for the OP, keep going a bit longer but try and examine the things you are not happy with and evolve stratergies to ddeal with them, a different route perhaps, but if you still arent happy then instead of stopping drop it down to once or twice a week.

 

[BentMikey]

I might sometimes delay my ride home if the sun is too low.

 

[rnscotch]

I don't have that problem it's dark when i leave home and it's dark when i leave work, ice is my only concern.

 

[Nigeyy]

Aah, there's the crux of the problem, the only practical strategy I have is to stop commuting (can't avoid the road into work as even though it's the not only one, the other alternative is worse! Can't avoid cold weather and ice due to the season, and can't avoid darkness as I'm stuck to certain commuting times due to family commitments). Believe me I don't want to, but that's the way things go -until the Spring that is.

Course, it doesn't stop me from cycling at lunchtimes (which coincidentally I'm doing today). Though I might now have to stop posting in the commuting forum....

...so I think for the OP, keep going a bit longer but try and examine the things you are not happy with and evolve stratergies to ddeal with them, a different route perhaps, but if you still arent happy then instead of stopping drop it down to once or twice a week.

 

[Maz]

A change is as good as a rest, I suppose. Maybe you could still do some cycling at weekends to keep yourself fit.