Summer evenings . . .

[ThunderGuts]

Since passing my test last autumn, I had been looking forwards to the long, warm and sunny evenings of summer. Prior to this, my favoured (solo) ride time was early on a Sunday morning before anyone else is really out.

Last night, sun was out, it was warm, so around 7pm decided to go for a ride around the Peak District (Glossop, Chapel, Buxton, Whaley Bridge, Goyt Valley etc.). Turns out summer evening rides, at least around here, are not necessarily quite as idyllic as a I thought . . . the sun was forever blinding me so I was riding around looking like a hunchback desperately trying to tilt my head enough to shield the glare, I felt a bit knackered from work and I couldn't believe the number of maniacs (boy/girl racers) around, hooning about in Corsas etc., overtaking in 30mph areas, wrong side of the road etc.. Maybe something has changed, or there was some "event" on last night, but I don't recall ever encountering these lunatics in years gone by when I've been out cycling/driving on summer evenings?!

I think I'll stick to my early morning rides in future
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TG.

[The Artist]

Try heading in the opposite direction

[Sister Sledge]

Funny you should say that but we were down at Saltburn yesterday evening and many chip shops had ran out of potatoes, everywhere was packed - literally nowhere to sit in pubs and the roads choked up with traffic.
For a mid week evening it was unusual.
The sun is at that horrible angle in the sky and is quite annoying.
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CCM 404 DS

[MarJay]

Helmet with internal sun visor for the win.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[ThunderGuts]

[Bhud]

Summer evening rides are where it's at, for me. It's just far too hot for me to go out wearing some gear, so I wait until it's cooled a few degrees.

What I find I need to watch out for with car drivers is, if there's a certain combination of factors present, they're likely to be a risk.

Between 6pm and 8pm, you get a certain sort out on the roads who aren't real "car people". Stereotypically, there's a stench of pot wafting from the car, the car is an older sort, basically a shiny banger (clean except for the windscreen) with more spent on dubious mods than on necessary maintenance, etc. The sort of auto equivalent of a neon-lit bar with selling cheap wine and expensive whiskey. Plenty of warning signs, and yes, they do go out into the middle of the road, they misjudge speeds and distances, take dangerous overtakes neck-to-neck around cyclists, slow cars, parked vehicles, etc. These people can't see a damn thing (all those windscreen wash squirts are for a reason) and their minds are on extracting and drawing out that brief after-work moment - running to the shops for a beer or to the park for some weed because it's back to the grindstone tomorrow morning and the future holds nothing... I anticipate idiocy from such people, and try to stay out of harm's way that way.

I had a pair of Lidl "motorcycle sunglasses" which fit perfectly under any helmet and give wrap-around vision. I lost them but those are really good - pick them up if they ever come up for sale again because it's like giving your helmet a sun visor. I've come to actually like the full-on sunlight though. I take it easy in the direction of the sun, and then on the way back with the sun behind me I open it up a bit.

[ThunderGuts]

[c_dug]

I've always been a fan of sun glasses for properly sunny riding, I've had two helmets with built in sun visors and wasn't a fan of either. The vast majority of the time I wear a dark visor in the day light, which seems to make more of a difference than an internal sun visor, and is enough for all but the brightest of direct sunlight in my experience.

Glasses wise, I've always intended to buy some proper EN166 rated jobbies, better than glass in the eye during a crash Something like these: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/safety-glasses/4897139/

Not actually stumped up yet, but then I commute with the sun to my back in both directions, so it's a rarity that I wear glasses at all.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[1198]

Is it possible to lower the internal sun visor a fraction on those helmets fitted with them? Would that help?

[ThunderGuts]