Late nite rides home?

[Ultrawolves]

I'm a waiter, Often I ride home 18 miles past midnight here in Indy....Ive been doing this commute over 16 years and I get messed with from time to time.. Yells , thrown objects the normal Hillbilly driver stuff...A year a go I got locked up for a night for fighting a couple of drunk Guys (I was on top and using my pump when the Cops pulled up)...

Lately Ive noticed alot more weird driving in my city at night.. IE Kids in hotrod Drift cars, speeding Drunks, Police cars speeding lights off and on...

I'm getting nervous, I'm starting to use the sidewalks on the off trail sections of my ride..I know my mind gets the best of my while I'm peddeling....

I of course have more lights and reflectors than the UFO in Close Encounters.. But I really think between Meth, Crack, Booze and Gasoline addiction the streets are going to hell at night....

Somebody talk me down... Anyone else Commute late at night?

[poison idea]

the grass is always greener -

used to do a 12 mile commute after getting done at 1130p. i'm pretty sure all night commuters gotta deal with assh0les in SUV's, drunks, teenagers. it really really grates on you. the best part was the hookers and crackheads and drunk hoodrats that would yell at me. the dark certainly does play tricks on you.

though it was going to be golden when i switched to daylight. my commute now is a fraction of the length, but infinitely more stressing. half asleep housewives on the phone with frosted up windows, school busses, rush hour.

i use the ipod to drown my fears/focus the mind and try to forget that i'm an insect. if you can't be safe, be oblivious.

[tryandgetme]

dunno, opposite experance here. I LOVE riding at night...the streets clear out, cars thin out, air is cool, you can go as fast as you want without getting held up by cars...they roll up the streets here at night, not a soul bothering me.

[myron]

Funny how different the 1am dark vs. the 5am dark. It's a whole different world.

[rockyrider]

I find there's more deliberate ignoring of the traffic rules and regulations in the morning, it's almost like the traffic laws don't come into effect 'til 7AM. I see people blowing thru traffic lights without slowing down, rolling stop signs at 20mph+, pretty much ignoring things like lines on the road, I've been passed by people doing better than double the speed limit where the guy's passing me on a double yellow line... This seems to be mostly impatience, arrogance and narcissism in the morning, can't blame it on the drugs and alcohol. Well ya' hope not.

It's bad enough to be in a car and see this kinda crap, but on a bike I feel paranoid about every car I see at that time of day (I forgot to mention cars driving without lights in the dark on roads without a lot of streetlights. Even though there's not as many on the road at 6AM, they all seem more dangerous.

[spidercyclist]

Find a better route home. I change my route home and I've had half the trouble that I used to. I still go through parts of town that are kind of scary. I try not to stop for anything or anybody. Always stay away from the police. The police are not your friend, no matter what anybody says. The police have a job to do, and they are not your friend. Always carry mace, or a heavy chain or u-lock, and don't stop unless you have to. Remember, your best weapon is a quick mind. Have a good night.

[Spalls]

Let's face it, given the current state of automobiles, associated electronic entertainment, and ever-present coffee (or worse), a driver can be pretty well isolated from the world outside the windshield. I get a sense that an awful lot of people are just cruising along carrying on their lives, and the driving is just an irritating activity that takes their attention away from the phone, the tunes, the DVD, the GPS nav unit, or the last couple glugs of the frappamochaccino. Traffic regs and awareness of others are just not too high on the priority list. I have enjoyed my pavement bike a lot more since I almost completely cut out riding around drivers.

[dave66]

can't say i have ever laid a beatin on somebody with a pump [but i would have loved to have seen that on cops!] but i have had some adbentures on the ride home....but as i don't work late it is usually becuse i have been out somewhere late. ottawa is a quiet city and i ride thru some of the nicer areas so i guess that helps as well.

i do commute in the early hours [on road by 530] some days and folks for the most part appear more alert out in the burbs [where i start] while those downtown [where i end up] are brain dead. the way people rail about the sloth in the suburbs, you would expect the opposite.

[real_ss_budgie]

yeah im always riding from work after 12 and getting hassled by drunks, tossers ditching water balloons or eggs..i try to sidestreet it home and if i see a car approaching from the rear i'll quickly snipe down another street..turn it into a game.

i had one lout throw a stubbie at me..i did a U-ie and a battle ensued, until i pulled out the mull and pipe..he said sorry and was my best friend.

stubbie; beer bottle
U-ie: u turn
:rolleyes:

[robcycle]

...until i pulled out the mull and pipe..:rolleyes:

Mull and pipe?

I love riding home late in the evening because it is mostly deserted, and I'm not normally sober. I wouldn't encourage riding around loaded, but once you're doing it, it can be fun. Just watch out you don't T-bone a cyclist. They don't have headlights :rolleyes:

Also, on the subject of makeshift bike weapons, a quick release post and seat will put a hurtin' on 'em :p

-Rob.

[tryandgetme]

Mull and pipe?

it's english, but it's a totally different language.

[myron]

it's english, but it's a totally different language.
I think he meant a rollie of mull,top night for a burn eh mate?

[rockhound]

stubbie; beer bottle
U-ie: u turn
:rolleyes:

We call them U-ie's also...

[Jahnov]

I hate to admit that I think about what I could possibly reach for as a weapon. My lock is choice #1. Krypto NY Chain when weilded like something from Gladiator, THAT will bring the HURT!

I ride home around 7pm at night. Not super late. But the sun has fully set in Montreal around 4pm. It's dark-evening-rush-hour. I've had to start wearing the snowboard helmet and goggles for the cold, and usually (thankfully not now) there is less than half the normal space for riding because of snow build-up (no sidewalk for 90% of my ride). Buzzing me is becomming a sport. I'm really getting pissed off, especially at some of the cars I see every night.

A currier I spoke with once told me he had two bottles on his bike at all times. One filled with water and the other with rocks for those cars that needed a lesson. He got so much satisfaction out of denting suvs.

[Ripp]

I was riding home from a friends about 1 or 2 am, slightly drunk, on the local rail trail with no light. In a dark (pitch black) section right before the turn off to my house I just caught enough of a hint of something on the path that I unloaded the front wheel just before it struck the full set of truck tires (w/wheels!) some jokers had laid side by side across the trail. Luckily for me this was before I bought a "town" bike and I was riding my MTB with suspension as I was able to get over this obstacle after hitting it at a pretty good clip, had I been on my ridgid Bianchi commuter (cyclocross really) bike I would have most likely crashed. Bastards were no where to be found either, and yes I moved the wheel tire combo off the trail. And I don't ride without a light anymore either!

[LoneBiker]

When I was 20 and 21 I worked a closing shift at Wendy's, every night after work, getting out at 12:30-1:30, I would bike 14 miles to home. Ive had several scares and close calls(ever run over a live possum?, or almost run over a fox?)
The thing i noticed the most was when I started biking at night was my vision, which was bad enough to need glasses for driving, but after months of staying out for an hour in pitch black riding I noticed my vision improved greatly. At 22 I passed the vision test and got the restriction removed from my license. Anyone else notice this benefit?

[Zinger]

I used to late night bike home, back in grad school. The trick was to leave the lab at 11pm, 1am, or 3am. Drunks commonly call it an early night at midnight, and the bars in Tallahassee closed at 2am, so it was good to be off the road around those times. The rest of the night was pretty safe.

As for the rest (crack addicts, frat boys, etc.), stealth and speed are your friends. If they don't see or hear you coming until you're past them, they're not a problem. I had some reflective tape on my bike and helmet, but my lights could be switched off quickly -- and they freqently were.

But around here? 24-hour casino traffic ("Gamblers Drink Free!"), debris haulers, general yahoos... no way I'd risk it these days. But that's just my location.

[50 Mission Cap]

I just try to be as visible as possible. I got a great deal on a new HID, and it seems to work.

[Mad Scientist]

I don't work past dark (usually), but I have ridden home from parties at my buddies house at night. From dusk to midnight can be a bit sketchy sometimes - people rushing home, heading out to the bar and whatnot. But in the wee hours of the morning, everything seems to die down. Some of my favorite rides were heading home after crazy parties between 3-5 am. Cool Summer night air, post-buzz calmness, not a soul in sight. Transcendent...

[LoneBiker]

Just had to get contacts again, originally biking at night had a great impact on my near sightedness, kinda like that tibetan eye chart thing, it really works, your eye is a muscle, so exercise it. I thought I was going blind, things were getting worse with my vision, and last Sundays optometrist visit proved it. Im not going blind, but astigmatisms in both eyes are the culprit. $200 later and I have glasses and contacts and focus is much better.