Winter commuting

[TYGA]

Summer is sadly drawing to an end and along with it the early sunrises. I am fortunate in that the majority of my commute is off road so no worries there, the first 3km's however is on the R44 between Somerset West and Stellenbosch.

 

Anyone that knows this road will be testament to the fact that other than the generous yellow line it is not ideal for riding in terms of vehicles speeding, many on and offramps, tractors, pedestrians etc and even less so in the dark and to say I am not comfortable riding there before sunrise would be an understatement.

 

My question to the seasoned commuters out there is what do you use to make sure you are visible and in using it, how safe is it REALLY or are you just fooling yourself into thinking the schoolmommy yacking on her phone is going to spot you before you become a hood ornament on her Prado?

[cat-i]

... even less so in the dark and to say I am not comfortable riding there before sunrise would be an understatement.

 

My question to the seasoned commuters out there is what do you use to make sure you are visible and in using it, how safe is it REALLY or are you just fooling yourself into thinking the schoolmommy yacking on her phone is going to spot you before you become a hood ornament on her Prado?

 

 

i found a strong headlamp works - even in daytime. i point it to driver-height, and it seems like i'm now a bit more visible at traffic circles.

 

the other usual stuff - bright wind-jacket, red flashinglight or 2, a reflector on my backpack ... i also pretend to be totally invisible, which helps - and i get totall off my bike at traffic lights - standing next to it, and sometimes walk over rather than ride - it's often quicker, and for some or other reason i seem more visible when doing that.

[EigerSA]

Visibility and weather are my winter commuting bugbears.

 

On Thursday last week I started off with just my baggies and a loose Mr.Price sports shirt, the sun was out early and it was nice and warm and looked to be a perfect day. About 30 min before knocking off for home, the weather looked ok'ish, the sun was still out but their were a few dark looking clouds hanging about. 8km Into a 18km commute, the clouds took over and the heavens opened up, within 2 min I was drenched. The rain then stopped, but temperatures had plummeted, which meant I rode the last 10km's home wet and against an arctic headwind.

 

So aside from just lighting, you got to think about clothing as well. My cycling bag now houses laptop, two A4 notebooks, change of clothes (including shoes), a towel, full emergency repair kit, a few odds and ends and now, wet weather gear. Starting to think panniers might be the way to go.