CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Any other early birds here?

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  1. nobrakes
    Member

    Family / work commitments etc mean it's hard to find decent time on the bike during the week. I have taken to getting up really early (4.45) and going out for an hour before breakfast. Secret is getting to bed early! The sky this morning at 5 am was incredible, not a cloud to be seen, crescent moon, millions of stars (very little light pollution down in the Borders). Didn't meet one car on the road. I can however confirm that my new Trelock LS950 light doesn't quite cut it when you're careering down a bendy single track road at 30+ mph in the pitch black. Might need to think about a helmet mounted reinforcement for downhills. It is otherwise brilliant.

    Any others on the forum as big a lunatic as I am? :)

    Posted 7 years ago #

  2. chdot
    Admin

    "Any others on the forum as big a lunatic as I am?"

    Undoubtedly.

    (Though perhaps in different ways.)

    Posted 7 years ago #

  3. crowriver
    Member

    I had occasion to be cycling on London Road before 7am last Friday (picking up parcels from Telferton post depot). Save for the occasional half empty bus, this "busy arterial route" was almost deserted. Notably more busy on most roads after 7am.

    So yeah, if you want quiet roads any day of the week, get out and ride before 7am. Very nice to not have to worry about impatient drivers. Only problem is, as the nights draw in, that it will be dark before 7am soon. As it is, sunrise is around that time just now, so you get the pre-dawn light sky on a clear day...

    Posted 7 years ago #

  4. paddyirish
    Member

    Funny you mention it, but a pal and I have been trying to do a Strava gran fondo each month for a while now. We have run out of weekends in September, so "had" to do one this morning before work. To do 115km, we reckoned it was a 4am start- headed west from Dalgety Bay to Dunfermline-Alloa and Stirling and then hugged teh coast back via Grangemouth, Boness, Blackness and Hopetoun House to the FRB, where he went back North of the River and I headed on into work. I was 3 mins late for my 9.30 meeting.

    Ride was excellent, riding in pitch black is really atmospheric, especially on the Dunfermline-Alloa Railway, where there was either a heavy dew or a slight frost. Saw rabbits, hares, squirrels and a number of sea birds. Heard foxes and owls. sky started turning orange, shortly after we started heading back east, about Fallin, and sunrise happened around the Kincardine area.

    A bit silly, but totally worth it. Says the man who will be asleep at his desk this afternoon.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  5. nobrakes
    Member

    wow @paddyirish, that makes my hour look puny in comparison! I am doing it several times a week though...

    I agree that the country is amazing under an open sky at night, a totally different feeling altogether.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  6. gembo
    Member

    Much nicer riding towards the dawn than setting off at dusk. Also if you are up before everybody else the world kind of belongs to you for that brief period until everyone else gets up. I guess Night Owls have the same feeling if they stay up until 4a.m when everyone apart from Paddy Irish is asleep. @PaddyIrish, that Gran Fondo Jersey will be worth it.

    Lanark road is very quiet at 6.30a.m. not really that busy until after 7.30am

    Catching a 7a.m. train at Haymarket up until about last week means a lovely empty road in not too bad visibility. Dark now though.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  7. threefromleith
    Member

    6am is my usual start time for commuting to work. I never used to find Ferry Road very quiet at that time with lots of vehicles about.

    Last year I switched back to riding the NEPN as the potholes & general road surface conditions on Ferry Road were becoming truly appalling. The NEPN is very quiet at 6am; the odd jogger, early dog walker or cyclist but I mainly have the path to myself. It's lovely! In the last few weeks when it's been dark I've seen a hedgehog, a badger and lots of foxes during my ride in.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  8. DaveC
    Member

    I very rarely get up early for work, but I do ride during the night or through the hours of darkness at times.

    Riding through the night, no lights on in any town/village houses, and no other vehicles on the road is nice. Riding in the very remote countryside is different, relying on your light as your only source of what is out there. Funny though, very remote houses almost always have one light on, especially on remote farms a mile of so off the road you are riding on. I do wonder why they leave a light on all night. Is it so they can find the loo in the wee hours, or is a beacon to strangers/neighbours in distress?

    I mentioned to a friend's wife about Dalmeny House having one single light on in an upstairs window. She too had seen it on her winter rides home from Edinburgh, and was smiling until I asked her if she had see the 'Grey lady' at the window, at which point she stopped smiling and stared at me wide eyed... ;o)

    Its certainly refreshing to ride through the night, just relying on your own light, the only person moving through there through the night, particularly when I'm up near Durness or Lairg for instance. Moving fast over high up remote lands, npthing else out there, perhaps only the moon light showing your way, if its bright enough to ride by. Its such a liberating feeling!

    Posted 7 years ago #

  9. crowriver
    Member

    It's been a while since I've ridden through the night, or even much after 11pm. I agree though that there's a special atmosphere in the wee small hours, especially on a clear night with stars bright in the sky.

    In my experience most roads are pretty much deserted after around 10.30pm, even main A roads. This situation continues until well after 6am the next morning. So the hours of darkness really do provide good conditions for cycling, assuming you have a decent main light. A full moon will mean you can see quite a lot too once your eyes attune.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  10. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I'm considering Night Owling or Early Birding tonight to watch the Clinton/Trump drunken mud brawl. May well go for a cycle afterwards while we still have wheeled vehicles.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  11. nobrakes
    Member

    @DaveC I have noticed the single light on remote farmhouses too - I passed a couple this morning.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  12. HankChief
    Member

    My weekend commitments now seem to mean that I will be constrained to pre-dawn starts if I want to keep my run of centuries each calendar month going.

    I do enjoy them though - last month's here, especially as things will always seem to get better - whether it is the light, the temperature or the chances of help if needed. I've done some dusk ones before and they are quite the opposite.

    Hoping to get October's in on Sunday if anyone fancies joining me. No fixed plans but must be back by noon.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  13. crowriver
    Member

    "It's been a while since I've ridden through the night" - what am I talking about? Did exactly that in June on the Ride to the Sun. I suppose three months is a while, right enough...

    Posted 7 years ago #

  14. chdot
    Admin

    This morning

    Posted 7 years ago #

  15. nobrakes
    Member

    Nice @chdot. Went out at 5 for an hour this morning but it was really windy and drizzle today. Not so nice.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  16. threefromleith
    Member

    If anyone hasn't tried riding through the night, you can always wait until next year & sign up for the EdFoC Night Ride 2017!

    Posted 7 years ago #

  17. HankChief
    Member

    Hoping to get October's in on Sunday if anyone fancies joining me. No fixed plans but must be back by noon.

    No takers - you really missed a treat. Headed out West to the Crow Road. Mossmorran Flare, a clear sky and inverted clouds made it a special one - (& I was back by 11.45am)

    Sunrise

    Crow road

    Crow Road

    Posted 7 years ago #

  18. gembo
    Member

    Stunning pics hankchief, we were over in the kingdom from 8 a.m and lovely it was, if chilly

    Posted 7 years ago #

  19. HankChief
    Member

    I was danger of missing my cut off due to stopping to take too many photos.

    Minus 2 for me in Cumbernauld. Warmer up the hills.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  20. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @HankChief

    +1 for minus 2. Great stuff.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  21. nobrakes
    Member

    Great pictures @HankChief! I had a similar view on Saturday morning coming down from Heriot to Innerleithen - beautiful sunshine with clouds below. Got to Innerleithen and was shrouded in freezing fog for the next 10 miles, feet went completely numb.

    That last picture is amazing.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  22. nobrakes
    Member

    Posted 7 years ago #

  23. paddyirish
    Member

    Perfect morning for an early one today- another Stirling Gran Fondo with a 4am start. Mild, calm and a lot of wildlife, including a bunny with a death wish, a lot of deer, owls, squirrels etc.

    Sunrise at more or less the same spot on the ride as last month, due to clocks changing, so a great opportunity to get out.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  24. nobrakes
    Member

    I have noticed a preponderance of pheasants to try and knock you off your bike by running suicide missions at your wheels early in the morning. Alas I fear the 'tally ho, which end of the gun do I point' brigade will be taking care of that in the near future.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  25. paddyirish
    Member

    Dalmeny Estate has been full of them, dopey as...
    Makes me think of Danny Champion of the World - now that is a name for a Strava Segment.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  26. paddyirish
    Member

    Decided to take advantage of the super moon and do another silly commute via Stirling. Very impressive lighting - could clearly see 400m on straight open stretches on the Dunfermline- Alloa old railway at 5am (my light's range is ~20-25m).

    Unfortunately had my back to the moon as it was going down, so only got a couple of glimpses as it got bigger.

    Not so much wildlife to report (bunnies + a wren), but a lot of debris across the paths/roads made it a more careful ride.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  27. Upopy1
    Member

    wow, such amazing photos. I rarely get up so early but after seeing your photos I really start thinking that I should do so!!

    Posted 7 years ago #

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