Riding In The Dark

I had to go to Pueblo for work, today, and we got back to the lab late enough that I ended up leaving about half an hour later than usual. So, it got dark considerably before I got home, and I rode about half of the trip in the dark. I must admit I enjoyed it.

Of course, I ride in to work in the dark, every day. But, predawn darkness is different than early-evening darkness, for some reason. Maybe it's just that most people aren't up, yet, when I go in to work, and people are all over the place when I'm on the way. I don't know.

Maybe it's this:

Riding in the dark when normal people are still up reminded me of the times, 10 or 12 years ago, when all of us then-employees at the bike shop would go riding through the Denver Tech Center at night. One difference, though, is that we intentionally avoided using lights or reflective clothing, instead going in stealth-mode.

This was because we were trying to avoid being seen by the security gaurds, police and random late office workers as we poached the parking garages, steps, walls and other urban terrain on the (private property) business parks. Of course, this meant we had to be very careful about traffic, staying out of the roads and on the sidewalks/parking lots/bike paths as much as possible.

Anyway, I think that any time I ride in the evening, after dark, I feel like I'm "getting away with something". That's probably why I like it so much.