7 Ways Starting Your Ride at Night is The Best Choice

Just like some of us naturally start our day full of excitement (the morning people), some finally wake up after the day ends, touring on two wheels, which also has two modes (or moods). You can start in the day, especially from a city, and pace your ride with the sun. Or, you can begin to at night, when the world around you is pulling up their blankets to sleep.

When I started riding my bike from Delhi to Himachal, we would try to start early in the morning. 3 to 4 AM would be the most preferred time. It had benefits, like cool weather, little traffic, and no functioning red lights within the city. But it also posed a few problems.

For example, we just couldn’t sleep at night, and in winter, we would encounter dense fog outside the city and lose time on the road. So, why not use the night as well? We won’t sleep anyway.

During summers, as we move forward during the day, traffic will gradually grow worse. I’ve also found myself stuck in lousy traffic right before my destination several times. So far, this disposition is uniquely associated with morning rides.

However, that does not mean night rides are free of challenges. Here’s the complete list, as promised in the title:

Benefits of Starting Ride at Night

You may try starting your long ride out of your city at night, depending on which benefits and disadvantages plague you the most:

1. More Likely Low Traffic Load

In Delhi, night traffic is usually low, especially after 11:00 PM. However, this condition is not applicable universally, even for all corners of Delhi. During the holiday season and long weekends, a hujoom (group of revelers) migrates from various corners of Delhi to the hill stations.

This hujoom is usually unpredictable but mostly leaves during the day or will stop at night in the middle and continue the next day. However, their movement can create problems at certain chokepoints on the highway.

Under standard times, you can try leaving at night on Friday and reach your destination on Saturday morning. We have often reached our destinations too early in the morning and struggled to find a good stay. But that is not as big a problem as being stuck on the road.

2. Cooler Temperatures

The night ride is best for the summer season. No sun means cooler temperature. However, this may not be true within the city borders. You need to be patient and leave the concrete jungle as soon as possible; the cool summer breeze of night is yours.

Do carry warm layers for your riding jackets, as temperatures may get colder for your comfort if you are climbing. It might apply to the Himalayan destinations. Carry raincoats if you are riding somewhere in the south or coastal regions.

3. City Lights

If you have been riding during the day for most of your riding career, try going out at night. It is a different perspective, with shimmering lights and the night sky illuminating the world you have never seen before.

You may find the distant lights without a surrounding context quite nostalgic. They represent the civilization in the vast, dark expanse of the universe. Are you feeling lucky yet? Let’s move on.

4. Less Distractions

Night roads with little or no traffic make for the perfect biking getaway. Less distraction means enjoying your ride and the road in peace. Watch out for those pesky little critters trying to sprint across the road, though. Many highways still lack the effective barricades to stop them.

Overall, my experience was better at night, even with the critters, except for that one time when I ran over a puppy trying to beat me on a small village road in Gujarat. However, that was also a ride I started in the morning and was just wrapping up to stop for the night. 

5. More Exciting Watering Holes

If you encounter hunger or thirst on a night ride, stop at a dhaba or restaurant serving at night. The environment is warmer and friendlier than the day. During the day, everyone is in a hurry to go from one place to another, but at night, only the special kind ventures out on open highways.

6. An Uncommon Perspective

While most of your experience would point to a different experience altogether, I must point to the uncommon perspective it brings. You could go through the same places during the day, and you might overlook as many details as you would during the night. In the day, places are bubbling with people, which can hide several aspects of it. 

Like the farm behind the market, the large Peepal tree, with a small temple, and the river or water channel under the bridge. If you are lucky or time your ride right, you could catch the river flowing on a full-moon night.

The small sleepy village with tiny trails of smoke coming out of the houses we often see in paintings, you will find them only at night. They don’t look as nostalgic during the day as at night.

7. Overall, a Unique Blend of Experience

Not only the road but even your destination may feel different when you reach it after riding through the night. Many times, we have caught small shop owners and dhabas just waking up and lighting a fire in the courtyard before going about their business. We have been treated well with immediate hot tea, cookies, or at least a cigarette.

So, it’s not just the place; people also give you a different experience during a night ride.

So, what do you think? Should our next ride start at night?