Daylight Savings 2011

On Sunday November 6 2011 we are told to turn our clocks back one hour at 2 AM.

Most people kept forgetting if  the clocks were supposed to go backwards or forwards that important day, so we invented the tidy sayings “spring ahead” and  ”fall back”. As well most of us can’t even remember which day we are supposed change the clocks, as the date seems to keep changing. If most of us can’t even remember the date, and which direction to turn the clocks without a slogan, maybe we should just forget the whole thing and have a holiday that day instead.

Since I cycle year round and really like riding in daylight, I never could really figure out daylight savings. First it really doesn’t seem to save any daylight. If its dark now at 6 PM it will be dark next weekend already at 5 PM when we “fall back”. Yes its true that it will be light at 7 AM instead of 8 AM but where do we save? I ride in the same amount of darkness either way?


I guess on the flip side is the summer. In the summer, daylight saving time makes the sun set an hour later, reducing electricity uses for lighting and appliances in the evening, as we can stay outside later, and bedtime comes closer to sunset. But the sun sets later in the summer anyways.  Since its a Government instigated protocol to change our clocks that may possibly explain the confusion.

The other thing I cant figure out is why is it at 2 AM. I mean who gets up at 2 AM to change the clocks? If you have as many digital clocks as I do it’s a real hassle altogether and could take until at least 2:30 so the sleep we gain we actually lost changing the clocks at 2 AM.



Apparently other Countries and even Arizona feel the same way as me. Arizona chose to be exempt from DST. The entire state does not observe DST with the exception of the large Navajo Indian Reservation. I am really happy to hear that because from October to end of November next year I cross from San Diego to Miami by bike.  I should be in Arizona about this time and wont have to change my watch!

So who is in and who is out? Equatorial and tropical Countries do not observe daylight savings time either. Likely as the sun rises and sets the same time each day all year the closer to the equator you are. But China does not observe daylight savings time and last time I checked they were about the same general latitude of North America. China quit getting up at 2AM to change the clocks in 1991.  Some areas of Canada are not using Daylight Saving Time as well, Fort St. John, Charlie Lake, Taylor and Dawson Creek in British Columbia, Creston in the East Kootenays, and most of Saskatchewan . It was not until this year that Newfoundland and Labrador got on board with the rest of us 2 AM clock changers in Canada, as previously Newfoundland and Labrador began and ended Daylight Saving Time at the more decent time of one minute after midnight (12:01 a.m.) local time.

Australia can’t really decide, the northern part of the country does not follow DST, the southern part does. Unfortunately when I cross Australia by bike I will follow the southern route from Perth to Sydney as I continue my global circumnavigation, and likely will have to change my watch along the way.

Either way I will still cycle all winter hoping one day we can figure out a way to change the clocks to really give us more light !

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Blue(DSTobserved) Orange(no longer) Red (never observed)