I find the best time for me to ride is about an hour after a meal. Lately I've been riding late in the afternoon, and I just don't seem that into it. I've noticed my blood sugar drops faster this far out from a meal as well.
This time of year, the best time for me to ride is probably one or two in the afternoon during the heat of the day. In the morning it's just too cold.
I see guys out really early, which is a great time to ride because of the absence of traffic, but I don't know how they do it in this cold. Cold and dark is a lot different than cold and sunny. Either way, five miles is still a pretty good after meal ride, and it's not long enough to get really cold.
Anyway, riding about an hour after a meal is probably the best way to maximize the exercise benefit in relation to blood sugars. That's when I'm going to be highest, and riding cuts down on these spikes. Of course the flip side is that you have to be careful to monitor your blood sugar in the next few hours so you don't have a low. By monitor, I mean be in tune with the signs that your sugar is dropping. For me, I get a dull headache about half an hour before I feel that low sugar flush.
I have come a long way. Five miles would have killed me in June. Today it's nothing. The human body is pretty resilient and it's pretty responsive to even a little bit of activity.
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