Philosophically, Standard or Daylight time makes little sense to me, I never really understood why in modern society we cling to ideas from another time. In 2003 why do we adhere to old ideas that we need more or less daylight at the end of the day, do the farmers right now really care? Hell if they do, I’m all for it, after all we are the worlds breadbasket! Once the weather starts to change and the clocks fall back an hour we usually lose a bit of our motivation to ride. The trails and roads are still there and there is still time after work to get out for a spin or a commute. I like to go out on the dirt roads and ride a cross bike with a good set of lights and some warmer clothes. Depending on where you ride, a headlamp can be a big help, for singletrack it’s a good idea. Enough about the crap you need, the important thing is getting out there and enjoying the dark on the stuff we ride we ride in the daylight! My personal favorite is dirt roads I’m not too familiar with. I like the sense of adventure I get when riding on stuff I may get a bit lost on. Darkness skews perception in such a way to put you where you thought you weren’t! My first adventure this year was on a road I had been on just once or twice on a bike before. I left work at about 6 pm and started up the road (county road #3) as I left the lighted area my lights illuminated a narrow path and put me on my way. Home was about 15 miles from where I began. I found a comfortable rhythm, the roads’ pleasant washboard on the switchbacks made for a good line to run through, and the ups and downs kept me working. Winding my way through what passes for a road between subdivisions that aren’t paved. This is a rare treat in suburban America. I was going up one of the many little hills and I saw two glowing orbs in the middle of the road, not sure what to make of it, I looked a bit harder. Only when I was within twenty or thirty feet the two little reflectors finally leapt out of their crouch to my surprise they were attached to a fox! The little guy was out looking for dinner. Perhaps a poodle or a scrumptious cat, not many poodles in Summit County though! He was a very pleasant sort, not sure what to make of the lights bearing down on him without the whir of an engine or the speed of one. Not long after I came across an intersection where my way was not 100% sure to me. I went right and started down what I thought was a shortcut. It would be have been shorter I hadn’t missed my turn to bring me back down to the main road and an easy six miles of bike path home. I went down the road and looked into the valley and saw where I wanted to be. I just couldn’t figure out a way to get down there. A few dead end cul-de-sac efforts to make my way into the valley and I struck out! After a mile of backtracking I found my road and plunged in to the valley, found the main road and went onto the bike path and upped the pace a bit to get home quicker. Being one of my first night rides of the year I really wanted to get home before the lights went south. Sure enough when I was about two miles from home on the darkest part of the bike path the lights started going! Fortunately my light has a low wattage survival setting. I wound my way home on the path and made it before the light died completely. Luckily no mechanicals slowed my ride. Just some poor route finding, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way! I was lucky enough to ride my bike in the dark on a night when there was no moon, very little ambient light, and one cool route to get home! Standard time is bad for some but it can make the bike more fun and exciting. Daylight is cool to ride in but everybody does that, well almost everybody, but to ride at night takes a bit more imagination, a bit more commitment (lights aren’t cheap!) and an urge to see things in the dark. Whatever the powers in state capitals do with this issue is fine by me. I know that parts of Arizona and Indiana don’t subscribe to this, but those of us in the areas that have it let’s just use it to motivate us to ride our bikes under different circumstances. Enjoy the wheel!