Tips for Night Riding and Commuting

Almost every morning since we moved to Houston, I have been riding in the dark to work. At 6am, there are not many cars on the roads, and only a handful pass me while I ride. Because of daylight savings time, I am now riding in the early morning light at 6:15am, but my commute home is at dusk and dark. This has proven to be much more unnerving than the morning commute. In the afternoon, it seems like everyone has to leave right at 5:00pm. The streets are horribly congested for 30 minutes, and then the congestion lessens again. From this night-time riding, I feel that I have learned a few rules of the road that people should follow when riding at night, more specifically for commuting.

Notice the 4 bike lights, reflective tape, light clothing, but yet still generally looking Pro.

Ken’s Golden Rules of Night Riding /Commuting

1. Never leave the office right at 5:00pm.

That is when all the cars leave the office, and is the most dangerous time to ride during the winter. People are on the smaller bike friendly streets because they are not on the highway in traffic yet. Everyone wants to get home and they don’t care about anyone else’s safety. Time is their main concern. They are calling their spouse to see what they are up to and if they have left the office yet. Leaving at 5:15 or 5:30 will make you life so much easier. It also shows to your boss that you have commitment, if you leave later than they do!

2. Have at least two sets of lights.

If the car hits you because you can’t be seen, then you were asking to get hit. One single light can easily be mistaken for a street lamp in the distance. Two blinky lights are weird and people take notice to things they are unsure of. I have two front blinky lights totaling to 5 LED’s and two red blinkys in the back. It is best to have lights on the side so that you are projecting light out of every direction. I am going to use a battery powered Christmas light set to help with this.

3. Don’t be pro

Night cycling is not the time to be pro. During the daytime, you would NEVER catch me dead in dayglo. Dayglo cycling kits are not pro at all. They look ridiculous. But during the night, I want to be seen, because getting run over because you can’t be seen is not pro either. Wear reflecting clothing, gloves, vests, ankle bracelets, whatever it takes to get noticed. This goes for reflectors as well. Reflectors are not pro in normal training situations, but at night this is acceptable for safety reasons. Besides, if you WERE pro, you wouldn’t be riding at night because you would have a real job during the day. Damn…..

The only exception, IMO, is a rearview mirror on the bike or helmet. This is so ungodly NOT pro that I cannot bring myself to buy one. And they don’t work either.

3. Know your route.

Night riding is not the time to discover a new route, mainly because of potholes. Things that you can see from 50 yards out to you in the daytime might be only visible for 5 yards at night, equating to a half-second reaction time. Ride your route during the day, taking mental notes of all obstacles in the road and a way to know where the obstacles will be in the dark. For instance, when I pass the Churches Chicken on my ride home, I know that there is a giant pothole about 100 yards up the road that I will crash into if I don’t avoid it.

4. Be obnoxious, not timid (never ride on the sidewalk!!!!!)

I have been honked and yelled at for being in the street while riding my bike. The common trend between all these people is that none of them have hit me! I know that if they are honking, they have seen me and are avoiding me, and all I have to do is stay calm, and they will go away. The two times I have been hit, the driver said “Oh sorry man, I just didn’t see you!” Don’t be afraid to take up a lane, or ride a little out of the bike lane so that cars will not get too close to you. Legally you can always do this. The worst thing you can do is get scared and ride on the sidewalk. Cars will not see you and will definitely turn into you.

5. Don’t listen to people who tell you you’re crazy

When you tell people you ride an hour each way, the response you get 9 out of 10 times is, “That’s crazy, I would never do that in Houston!” Don’t be surprised by this. Houston, like most cities in the US, is completely set up around cars, so much so that people can’t imagine another form of transportation. They can’t think of a situation of why it would be a priority to ride a bike to work. They think that it is incredibly risky. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I have seen numbers that show that the rewards of lower cholesterol lower heart disease rates, lower obesity rates clearly outweigh the risk of getting hit by a car. And that’s with not even mentioning the fact that you are not stressed out by driving in traffic. I think people get jealous as well. I get to spend 2 hours a day riding my bike instead of an hour of sitting on the 610 loop in stop and go (mostly stop) traffic.

6. Use Murphy’s Law

There might be situations where something goes wrong, and you should be prepared to get out of the situation. For instance, if I get a flat, I can fix the flat, but I don’t carry supplies for getting 2 flats. But I do have some extra change to catch a bus back to my house. Also, the weather might say one thing, but it could change fast. You need clothing and supplies to adjust to that.

7. HTFU!!

Harden the %^*& up. Just go out and ride your bike. It doesn’t matter if it’s dark, rainy, and cold. Don’t let that keep you from something you love. Remember that if you don’t go ride now, you’ll be one day older when you do! I know a lot of people that like the idea of riding to work, but stop at just actually going and doing it.