I needed to take some hats to get embroidered last night and my contact lives about 10 miles away in hills out in the country by where we live. Typically, we bag all orders and bike the 20 mile loop so we get miles in on the bike instead of driving. I’m on my own tonight so I’ve got to go by myself…
I didn’t get out the door until about 7:10 (after my 8-5 job, I had to make 8 hats before leaving) and about 4 miles into the ride I see the sun is setting FAST. I could have turned around, but that would have meant getting in the car and driving the loop and I hadn’t exercised that day. So I pedal harder and decide to take a “shortcut” to get there.
I managed to cut about 1/2 mile off and by the time I drop off the hats, the sun has set and I am in the hills, riding a triathlon bike with no reflectors and no lights.
I start the descent and think, “I could die on this road” and look down to see 37 mph on my bike computer. I don’t want to slow down so I hold on and hope there’s nothing in the road.
I make it to the highway and think, “OK, there’s a shoulder here, I should be fine” which works until a huge semi passes me right on the line and then blows a tire which really scares the crap out of me.
I’m done! Lips quivering, I call a buddy and say, “Um, can you come get me!?!” Thank goodness for cell phones and good neighbors.
I with you on this one. I suffer from a mini depression for a few weeks at the beginning of fall and end of the summer . Also when the first prolonged period of rain fall. I think its because it means no more riding in shorts and short sleeves, no more riding till 9pm and its time to put away the nice race bike.
Right now my concern is lack of light in the morning. On Wed mornings I do 90K of pretty hard riding before work, starting typically at 5:50 am so that I can end the ride at the office around 9 am (the ride includes 2400 ft of climbing and many traffic lights on the way back, so it is hard to average 30 kph)…
Anyway, I started the ride in pitch black, but fortunately, the first rays of dawn were out in ~ 20 min.
In a month, I will have the same problem, when the son starts setting around 6:30 pm. Then it will be tough to make it home on the bike before it is dark, so it will be time to crack out the lights and decorate my body and gear like an xmas tree.
Holy crap. Don’t get yourself killed over my little hat!
It’s also staying dark longer in the morning. Pretty soon I am going to have to break out the bike lights for the beginning part of my ride. I’m not looking forward to all of the training in the dark that I will be doing for IMAZ.
I seriously didn’t know it got dark that quickly now. I’ve been riding right at 5pm so it hasn’t been an issue. I don’t know what I’m going to do with winter coming, I forgot how bad it gets. WAH!
No frog yet, waiting to hear back from my embroidery lady. I didn’t see her last night but I did she her brand new white Ford Excursion with pink trim. I should get in the embroidery business!
What makes this even MORE stupid is that I’m recovering from an injury and this whole summer has been about taking care of myself and being smart with training.
I just did my first olympic distance race last weekend and should not have been out pushing heavy gears in the hills at my MAX. Oh, and I had gotten a massage earlier that day from my chiropractor so I should have been relaxing and drinking water.
Yeah, I’m dumb. I think the boyfriend will be on hat pick up and drop off duty tonight while I hang with the ladies and drink wine.
It started getting dark earlier June 22nd - my least favorite day of the year since I moved to the Northwest. I always breathe a sigh of relief in December when the trend reverses and it will soon be light after 4:15pm.
If you want to avoid looking on the internet for an exact time a good way to estimate remaining daylight is to face the setting sun and hold your arm straight out in front of you. Each finger you can fit horizontally between the sun and the horizon is worth 15 minutes.
I agree…went for a swim tonight and by the time I finished the lights had to be turned on in the pool and had to turn my headlights on to get home safely…I guess Labor Day was it for long night bike rides until next summer…seems like it went quick this year.
