dark morning cycling

[arimajol]

This summer I got into pre-work rides, at around 6:30. Motivation is seriously waning as the sun doesn't come up until closer to 7 now. Anybody else struggle with this? How do you beat the dark morning laziness?

[velofinds]

Yes, me. A good night's sleep is probably the biggest difference-maker for me, i.e., early to bed and early to rise. If not, it's much too easy to ignore the alarm and go back to sleep.

Having a ride partner also helps keep both parties accountable.

[joosttx]

I find the opposite problem. In the summer we start riding around 4:45ish to catch the sunrise. Right now we leave around 5:55am. I find getting up earlier is really motivating. No one is up or moving around. There is a peaceful beauty. Currently, by the time 6am rolls around plenty of people are up and heading to work, etc, etc and the motivation for me is gone.

[AngryScientist]

I find the opposite problem. In the summer we start riding around 4:45ish to catch the sunrise. Right now we leave around 5:55am. I find getting up earlier is really motivating. No one is up or moving around. There is a peaceful beauty. Currently, by the time 6am rolls around plenty of people are up and heading to work, etc, etc and the motivation for me is gone.

i agree with this, generally. add that i've got kids and a dog, and my house is usually a complete zoo. my favorite time of day is on the weekends, getting up before the rest of the house is awake, grinding beans, having a nice quiet cup of coffee and heading out the door. i know in an hour all hell will break loose in my house.

dont get me wrong, i love my family, but i also savor the peaceful beauty of silence.

also, as mentioned, here in the NYC metro area, you get to see and experience things differently in the twilight hours before the traffic winds up.

[Cbh]

I started pre-work rides this summer too. I find I have the lowest chance of blowing off the ride if I have everything ready the night before-bottles in the fridge, tires ready and everything out and ready to go. I also think about the regret I’ll have if I skip and it’s worked for me so far.

[KonaSS]

Well, I start my pre-work rides around 4:30-5:00, so it is always dark when I start. BUT - I do like it better in the summer when it gets light around 5:30, midway or so into my ride. It is more challenging when it isn't getting light until about the time that I am done.

But to me the biggest problem this time of the year starts to be the temperature. I am a pretty dedicated cyclist. I ride in the dark, I ride in the cold (down to single digits if I have to). But when it is dark AND cold, I start to lose motivation really quick and start thinking about the trainer.

My dark and cold temp has historically been about 50 degrees. This year I am going to try and push it down to 40. :fight:

[C40_guy]

What time does Zwift open in the morning? :)

[82Picchio]

Use your bladder as an alarm clock. As I age, I seem to need to pee earlier and earlier in the night. On Monday last week, my bladder got me up at 3:15, so I left for my ride at 3:51 - yes, a.m. I managed 43 hilly (4705' climbing) miles by 7:00. I would not recommend leaving so stupid early, though most of my morning rides begin before 5:00.

[OldCrank]

1) Hang kit out the night before
2) Charge the lights
3) Set up coffee maker - smell helps the clock radio get me out of bed
4) Shake fist at dark sky and get pedalin'

oh yeah, the temperature is coming down too!

[KJMUNC]

I do 90% of my riding between 5am and 8am year round, so I feel your pain.

As others have said, prepping gear the night before helps me stave off any feelings of "I'll just go back to sleep" when the alarm goes off...makes me feel like it was wasted effort if I don't put it to use.

I need a solid 6.5-7hrs if I'm going to get up and ride more than recovery, so getting to bed by 10:30, ideally by 10pm, is the only way I make it happen consistently.

No easy way about it....just gotta make the decision in your head and stick to it!

[onsight512]

i agree with this, generally. add that i've got kids and a dog, and my house is usually a complete zoo. my favorite time of day is on the weekends, getting up before the rest of the house is awake, grinding beans, having a nice quiet cup of coffee and heading out the door. i know in an hour all hell will break loose in my house.

dont get me wrong, i love my family, but i also savor the peaceful beauty of silence.

also, as mentioned, here in the NYC metro area, you get to see and experience things differently in the twilight hours before the traffic winds up.

100%, all of this. ^^^

The early morning, before the rest of the world is awake, is my favorite time to ride.

[mktng]

I commute to work by bike. Lucky enough to be able to ride my ""good"" bikes daily. I put in the CAT6 efforts on my commutes. 30km each way.

Get my workout in for the day going to and coming back.

Point is. Don't give yourself a reason not to ride, and the weather/light outside won't stop you :)!!

Sent from my Mi 9 SE using Tapatalk

[SlowPokePete]

Around here everything's better super early...

SPP

[Ozz]

...I find getting up earlier is really motivating. No one is up or moving around. There is a peaceful beauty. Currently, by the time 6am rolls around plenty of people are up and heading to work, etc, etc and the motivation for me is gone.

+1

It is great to be on empty roads in the middle of the city....I usually see lots of raccoons and the occasional deer as well on my loop around Mercer Island.

Get to bed on time, put out kit night before, and have lots of coffee!

[pdonk]

After a very successful summer in terms of riding before work, I have also lost complete motivation to ride in the dark/cold/damp.

During the summer I was relying on my internal alarm clock to wake up and be out the door by 5:15, now I have trouble waking up before 6:30 most days.

My summer tricks are like others, have everything out and ready to go, so all you need to do is get up, get dressed and hop on the bike.

May try to get a few more early morning rides in, I really want to break 3000km this summer and it is now looking like I won't without a concerted effort to steal some rides.

early morning rides, especially in my neighborhood are interesting due to the people you see, plus the traffic lights are better timed for a constant pace.

[82Picchio]

Here's some motivation:

[82Picchio]

Snip: May try to get a few more early morning rides in, I really want to break 3000km this summer and it is now looking like I won't without a concerted effort to steal some rides.

I hate to break it to you, but summer is over :-(

[pdonk]

Snip:

I hate to break it to you, but summer is over :-(

Ok. This riding season. Here I can stretch it to November.

[sparky33]

This summer I got into pre-work rides, at around 6:30. Motivation is seriously waning as the sun doesn't come up until closer to 7 now. Anybody else struggle with this? How do you beat the dark morning laziness?

Yes. Motivating for a mostly dark morning ride is hard.

A break from the morning ride routine that's been going since early spring seems totally fine. It'll come back around if not sooner then later.

[pdonk]

This thread motivated me to do a 50k ride. Had it all. Rain headwind, got misplaced and a missed train.

Left house at 5 am. Home at 740.

[XXtwindad]

i agree with this, generally. add that i've got kids and a dog, and my house is usually a complete zoo. my favorite time of day is on the weekends, getting up before the rest of the house is awake, grinding beans, having a nice quiet cup of coffee and heading out the door. i know in an hour all hell will break loose in my house.

dont get me wrong, i love my family, but i also savor the peaceful beauty of silence.

also, as mentioned, here in the NYC metro area, you get to see and experience things differently in the twilight hours before the traffic winds up.

Brilliant. Truer words have rarely been written on the "Paceline." I read this as I was savoring my morning cup of coffee. Also known as "sanity."

[XXtwindad]

Here's some motivation:

Wow! That's basically one of my daily rides. Where's the starting point?

[Lewis Moon]

I'm up and out the door at 4:20, 3-5 days of the work week. This allows me to get 25 - 40 miles in before sitting down at my desk. Riding in the dark has its own perks and beauties; Rolling past businesses just opening up and getting ready to start their day, a lot less traffic, the sun starting to pink up on the horizon, javalinas, coyotes, great horned owls, other like minded souls out for a ride or a run.
Frankly, I wouldn't trade it. Riding early to commute to work allows me to get a good ride shoe horned into a busy day.

[arimajol]

Thanks for all the commiseration and motivation! Being held accountable is super key for me as discipline is not a strong suit. This summer I rode a lot with a buddy who is a teacher and since his school started up, in on my own, which definitely factors in.
I'm also just super antsy about not riding because I have been out of town most of the past 3 weeks for work and then vacation with no bike access, and now this week it has been rainy every single day.

[XXtwindad]

Here's some motivation:

That stretch of Skyline would be a bit dicey for me pre-dawn. No stoplights and cars (and motorcycles) like the twisties. Also depends on whether you're going "up" or "down" perhaps. Down might be the safer bet.

[Pierre]

This summer I got into pre-work rides, at around 6:30. Motivation is seriously waning as the sun doesn't come up until closer to 7 now. Anybody else struggle with this? How do you beat the dark morning laziness?



We have a group here in the west end of Toronto who ride at 540-7am multiple times a week. At this point in the season the rides are completely in the dark. Two important suggestions:

1) get kick-ass lights especially front to combat the isolation factor (and to be safe of course)
2) find a group to ride with or creat one. It’s SO MUCH easier to get out of bed knowing others crazy people are out there waiting for you.
3) use a tool like Slack to generate conversations around upcoming rides to build excitement/momentum again to make sure you don’t cop out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[82Picchio]

Wow! That's basically one of my daily rides. Where's the starting point?

Other than "my house," there's a group that meets fairly regularly at Park/St. James (across Park from Leimert) at 5:30. We always meet on Fridays, go through Piedmont, down into Rockridge, then up Russell and Tunnel, eventually descending to the donut shop in Montclair around 7:00. Other days, an email goes out, but the meeting time and place are always the same. The routes vary too. Some people join at College/Broadway at 5:45. I alway leave early for extra miles and climbs.

[82Picchio]

For motivation, I propose we post screen shots of our pre-dawn rides, as they appear on Strava. That way we'll have departure times for our virtual group ride. I'll start tomorrow.

[pdonk]

My ride started at 459 am. Pic taken at about 530.

[Drmojo]

This thread motivated me to do a 50k ride. Had it all. Rain headwind, got misplaced and a missed train.

Left house at 5 am. Home at 740.

that was my life 2010-2015 commute
up at 4:45
train
ride 28 miles 3k ft climbing
return and catch train-or NOT
some days home by 8:30

ah glory daze

[dziekiel]

I am on morning kid detail, so I have to get it in late at night after everyone has gone to bed. Pros and cons, but the energy level at that hour is typically a little subpar...hoping in a few years when the kiddos are a little more self sufficient I can tap into the wee hours...

[citycyclist247]

I do night rides. There’s a park I can do laps in (Central Park).

[CAAD]

Up at 5am roll at 5:40 to meet the group at 6:40. 5 laps around 23 miles in total of high intensity 28mph average suffer fest. Tuesday and Thursday mornings all year. Temps dip below 50 degrees and there might only be 5 of us from the usual 20-30. During the summer I refuse to do the evening rides at 6pm and 95+ temps and the over 100 heat index.

[Joe.kozlowski91]

Early to bed, early to shred.

[joemull]

1) Hang kit out the night before
2) Charge the lights
3) Set up coffee maker - smell helps the clock radio get me out of bed
4) Shake fist at dark sky and get pedalin'

oh yeah, the temperature is coming down too!

having my helmet/shoes/gloves/shorts/jersey picked out helps a lot. also water bottles, air in tires, lubed up chain make it easier to snap in and roll out