Daylight Saving Ends....Bugger!!!!

Beach Rd has resembled a ghost town the last few days.
Fairdinkum, 2 spots of rain and a bit of wind, and they all go missing.
WEAK!!! :p

Yep, wait for poor weather and you have got the whole show to yourself. Very few hardcore riders out there.

Al R 1955 said:

Hi
Not Happy Jan!
As if getting dark around 7pm was not bad enough, but 6pm and getting darker by the day really depresses ya. Soon dark will decend by 5pm
If you calculate how far you can ride to be back by dark, & get a flat, you are coming home in the DARK.
Well, I guess it will be time to try my old 2.4/10 watt headlight on the new bike. Battery probably "shot" cause it was dying last year so another expense. Have done plenty of Ks at night the last 3 years (April to September) but I need to mentally prepare...... having this whinge is step 1
Bye

Ah... I feel better now.

But on the upside it was getting light at 7am and riding out in the morning in the dark (and getting out of bed for that matter) was zero fun. At least it's light now and I can get a decent ride in before work.

I commute as well so clearly the downside is riding home in the dark or partial darkness but you can have it both ways and my preference is for loading my commuter up with lights not my race/training bike. I also tend to ride with the most durable tires and thorn proof tubes in winter because as you point out changing in the dark is not much fun.

--brett

Think yourself lucky to have daylight savings in the first place....can't have it up here in Queensland..don't want to fade the curtains😕 go figure.....

Definitely sucks big time.

I've just got into riding and doing my commute from home to work and back (60km round trip) has been a great experience.

With the end of daylight savings its thrown my regime right out the window...

I'm actually consdering driving to work as to start work earlier and finish later and taking a long unch break to get in some riding time...... but this will see me going from 2 x 30kms rides per day to 1 x 40km ride...

Am I going to be shooting myself in the foot here i.e. should I stop being a wuss and just use my lights and ride in the dark?

Cheers
Ant

on goes the reflectors & dodgey mudguard. Dust off the long sleeves & leg warmers.
Stock up on batteries & chain lube.

charliechops said:

Think yourself lucky to have daylight savings in the first place....can't have it up here in Queensland..don't want to fade the curtains😕 go figure.....

what time does the sun come up in Brisbane in the middle of summer? 🙂

I love commuting at dusk/night. The cool night air meaning you don't sweat like a pig even when sprinting up a hill, not bothering about speed or heart rate because you can't see the little contraptions, and on the shared paths there are no random pedestrians or dawdlers... there's even fewer excuses not to take the long ride home from work 😄

Then again I don't mind riding in the rain either (well at least, after the first few minutes) ... the hot shower at the end feels soooo nice, more than makes up for that first 5 minutes of misery!

ahhhh....riding into winter, sorts the hardmen from the fair weathers. 😄

i like marx's no nonsense approach 🙂 if you're commuting then muddies are definately a wise investment, and as for lights, get the best you can afford and then some. the thing that makes you visable to other road users should not be where you save some bucks. if im heading out at dawn or coming home in twilight i'll use a front flashing light but if its serious dark riding then i'll crack out the cateye daylights. they're heavy but they do the job!!! and i always have a flashing red rear....make sure you keep changing the batteries too, no point in having a light if it cant be seen.

the only downside i find to winter riding is cleaning the bike when you get home. i can handle the cold, mind you it doesnt get too cold here in melbourne, and the rain is bearable with a little caution but the stripping down and cleaning is a pain. emptying water from inside your rims is 1 of lifes great pleasures 🙄 🙄

Was commuting home last night and noticed it got dark very quickly. I left the CBD in OK light and by the time I arrived in Sandringham it was well dark. My feet were really cold so may have to find the booties.

Did also notice cars seemd to give those on bikes a wide birth, maybe has something to do with the comments made by Mr Webber in the past couple of days, or I'm giving them too much credit and I was just fortunate not to come accross any idiots in there tin cans.

WrxAnt said:

Definitely sucks big time.

Am I going to be shooting myself in the foot here i.e. should I stop being a wuss and just use my lights and ride in the dark?

Cheers
Ant

Stop being a wuss, imagine living in euroupe when winter means snow, sub zero temperatures and its daylight from like 9-5 (and possibly a lot worse). Now that is [censored]. It took only six weeks of french winter to realise what a whinger i really was!🙂

Get out there, cold weather= more clothes, darkness= lights, easy.

Jono

Jono L said:

Stop being a wuss, imagine living in euroupe when winter means snow, sub zero temperatures and its daylight from like 9-5 (and possibly a lot worse). Now that is [censored]. It took only six weeks of french winter to realise what a whinger i really was!🙂

Get out there, cold weather= more clothes, darkness= lights, easy.

Jono

You ridin' or you hidin' :eek:

Hahaha I'm not afraid of the cold and wet. When I'm not riding my pushie I'm riding my motorbike out there in the freezing cold and rain.

I'm just not 100% confident about riding my bike on the road in peak hour yet, let alone doing so in the dark whilst wet. I've only been cycling for 9 weeks!

Having been an avid motorcyclist of the last 10 years I'm still coming to grups with the protective clothing factor difference between cycling and motor biking.

Whilst commuting especially on some of the down hill sections there really isn't much difference in max speed acheive on either bike...

On the motorbike I wear:
-- 2 piece leather race suit - made up of 1.3-1.6mm leather, CE Body armour in shoulders, knees and elbows
-- Back Protector - Articulated body armour to protect from spinal injuries
-- Leather gloves with kevlar
-- leather boots with reinforced ankle protection
-- Helmet - Good solid hi tech construction 1.4kg

Yet on the good old pushie I wear:
-- Jersey - zero protection
-- Cycling Knix - zero protection
-- fingerles gloves - hopefully they'll do something
-- helmet - weights 300gms at best

Hahaha and I can definitely say swapping between the two rides requires a real mindset change every time!

Cheers
Ant

when eddy ruled said:

ahhhh....riding into winter, sorts the hardmen from the fair weathers. 😄

i like marx's no nonsense approach 🙂 if you're commuting then muddies are definately a wise investment, and as for lights, get the best you can afford and then some. the thing that makes you visable to other road users should not be where you save some bucks. if im heading out at dawn or coming home in twilight i'll use a front flashing light but if its serious dark riding then i'll crack out the cateye daylights. they're heavy but they do the job!!! and i always have a flashing red rear....make sure you keep changing the batteries too, no point in having a light if it cant be seen.

the only downside i find to winter riding is cleaning the bike when you get home. i can handle the cold, mind you it doesnt get too cold here in melbourne, and the rain is bearable with a little caution but the stripping down and cleaning is a pain. emptying water from inside your rims is 1 of lifes great pleasures 🙄 🙄

Anyone else out there have the pleasure of following someone too cool for mudguards in the rain yesterday? These guys might like the grime stripe running down (up?) your back, but the rest of us end up with dirt in the face.
🙁

jimmay2000 said:

Anyone else out there have the pleasure of following someone too cool for mudguards in the rain yesterday? These guys might like the grime stripe running down (up?) your back, but the rest of us end up with dirt in the face.
🙁

and they would be forcing you to sit on their wheel how exactly?

Today I bought some arm & knee warmers, I guess saying it is to cold for a ride as an excuse just evaporated........ slowly running out of reasons to "wuss" it as you say

WrxAnt said:

I'm just not 100% confident about riding my bike on the road in peak hour yet, let alone doing so in the dark whilst wet. I've only been cycling for 9 weeks!

Yeh fair enough, but you've gotta start sometime!!

Jono "Wet, and Cold" L

sideshow_bob said:

and they would be forcing you to sit on their wheel how exactly?

Well, I didn't want to wuss out and look like I hadn't been in the thick of things. 🙂

The best thing about putting mudguard on my bike, incidentally, was that my shoes no longer got drenched by the wheel spraying all the road water right at my feet – something I hadn't expected.

Also, the light I have at the moment was fine for riding under streetlights, but now I'm riding on a river bike path that is not well lit. Any suggestions for a bright bike light that doesn't break the bank?

Winter in Sydney and Wollongong is the best time for cycling. 17-21 degree days, Blue skies and breezes. The only bad thing is the odd westerly that blows in. We actually get less rain in winter than we do in summer.

The most you need to be comfortable are arm and leg warmers. Early mornings require gloves until about 9 am. The other good thing about winter is that it is the racing season.

I do aggree that more light at the end of the day would be better, but hey like the other poster mentioned, we have it good compared to many european and north american locations.

Maybe we can negotiate a new workplace aggreement with our bosses to release us from work at 11am until 1pm for training time. We can use the excuse that we will be more productive and cooperative given this time off.