What time of day when the best to ride a bicycle for 2 hours and 20 mins with little traffic on back roads?

Question

I live in a small town. A very small town.

Answer 1

my experience 9-11 am or 2-4 pm

bikingthings

Answer 2

Obviously you avoid the 6-9am morning 'rush' hour I guess.  Farmers are traveling during the day during planting (now) and harvest season(fall), so you need to be aware of that.   Here in S. Minnesota, I ride a lot from about 11a-8pm and dont see a whole lot of traffic out on the county blacktops.    The closer you are to town, the more chance you'll see traffic, too.   Avoid weekends and holidays as there is always increased traffic then.

Answer 3

I have  the same situation.  Early mornings are best for seeing the lightest traffic.  If I can get out at the crack of dawn, that is the ideal  situation as far as traffic.  Weekends & holiday mornings are even better, I'll even try some main roads on those days.

The downside to riding early mornings is that it's colder, which is actually a good thing in the summer, but a drawback during the other seasons.  Another benefit is that  the wind will be the calmest during early morning hours.  So, if you know which way the wind will be during the day, you can start your riding going into the wind, then hopefully it'll pick up  during your ride, and on the return home,  you'll be getting an awesome tailwind.  I always try for this, but sometimes  it works, sometimes  it doesn't.  Lastly, I always try to wear a very bright colored jersey on the early morning rides just to make sure  the drivers see me in the early morning light.

Answer 4

Ashley,

Before and after the typical work day.  For me that is between 5 and 7 am and after 6 pm.  On weekends I find any time before 10 am to be the best.  It really depends on how many drivers like your back roads and the condition of the roads.  You might be safer on main roads if they have a bike lane or paved shoulder vs. back roads that are full of pot holes or have no shoulder.

Answer 5

now don't you think that telling us where you are has ANY BEARING on the answer, rocket scientist?