How do people do the LEL?

[oreo_muncher]

I like night riding but I’ll choose scenery over night given the choice. Returning south in 2013 I hit Brampton just before nightfall. I stopped to eat and realised I’d be crossing Yadd Moss in the dark. I’d crossed Yadd Moss in the dark going north. I looked at my contingency, realised I had enough time to sleep at that moment. So slept till about an hour before sunrise. Got up, had breakfast and rode into the dawn of a new day, taking in the scenery I’d missed northbound.

Why do you like riding in the night?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Why do you like riding in the night?

It is a very peaceful relaxing time to ride. You get to ride under the full moon lighting up a silvery road or in dark areas where you can fully see the Milky Way or meteor showers if lucky. There are badgers, bats, owls and other night time creatures about. The world is silent apart from the swoosh of your tyres and the creatures of the night. There’s no traffic meaning you can ride mostly lost in your thoughts and be transported into this other world. If you ride through the night you get to experience the coming of sunrise and the dawn. Hills are not so daunting and without vision of how long they are, are tackled at a sensible pace. If you are atop a dark hill you may gaze down upon the lights if a town or city below. It’s just a magical time to be out, whilst others sleep

 

[oreo_muncher]

It is a very peaceful relaxing time to ride. You get to ride under the full moon lighting up a silvery road or in dark areas where you can fully see the Milky Way or meteor showers if lucky. There are badgers, bats, owls and other night time creatures about. The world is silent apart from the swoosh of your tyres and the creatures of the night. There’s no traffic meaning you can ride mostly lost in your thoughts and be transported into this other world. If you ride through the night you get to experience the coming of sunrise and the dawn. Hills are not so daunting and without vision of how long they are, are tackled at a sensible pace. If you are atop a dark hill you may gaze down upon the lights if a town or city below. It’s just a magical time to be out, whilst others sleep

Or you can hit a pothole going downhill and crack your head open... But your version of events sounds better

 

[DCLane]

Or you can hit a pothole going downhill and crack your head open... But your version of events sounds better

Not with decent lights. It's quieter, potentially slower as you're having check roads ahead a bit more, but generally a better ride imo. Although I tend to ride at night on an event but only locally in the dark when commuting.

On the last night of PBP I came across a Croatian rider whose light had broken and whose Garmin had been stolen (he'd left it on the bike overnight). He was navigating by starlight; I offered to ride with him and we shared my front light for about 8 hours

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Or you can hit a pothole going downhill and crack your head open... But your version of events sounds better

As above good lights and at night you can use the whole width of the road. Pot holes tend to be, though not exclusively towards the edge of the road. So ride towards the centre. If road seems rough then just slow down to a speed you can see and avoid things in the road. Normal riding really, don’t go so fast you can’t taking avoiding again. This means having your lights angled correctly to light up the road ahead and not just 10m in front in your bike. Then look ahead to choose your line, no pothole should be a surprise.

 

[Ajax Bay]

you can hit a pothole going downhill

You can hit a pothole going downhill in the daytime too, in fact I assert that it happens far more often than hitting one at night.
Surely a prudent rider like yourself will be 'saved' by the head cover you're wearing, unlike @YukonBoy who relies on skilz, not what he's wearing.

 

[oreo_muncher]

Not with decent lights. It's quieter, potentially slower as you're having check roads ahead a bit more, but generally a better ride imo. Although I tend to ride at night on an event but only locally in the dark when commuting.

On the last night of PBP I came across a Croatian rider whose light had broken and whose Garmin had been stolen (he'd left it on the bike overnight). He was navigating by starlight; I offered to ride with him and we shared my front light for about 8 hours

Still don't know if to go for the wahoo or garmin edge 500.

 

[oreo_muncher]

You can hit a pothole going downhill in the daytime too, in fact I assert that it happens far more often than hitting one at night.

Why do you think that?

 

[Ajax Bay]

Because the vast majority of the time, people cycle in the daylight: maths init.

 

[PMarkey]

+1 for decent lights especially for the badgers I nearly hit one on the trike the other week on the pistyll packin momma 200 as it shot across the lane in front of my wheel

 

[Ajax Bay]

Why do you like riding in the night?

Not a direct answer to this but @Blue Hills has kindly 'liked' my comment on another thread:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/nightriders.254894/page-2#post-5789850
Riding from Weston-super-Mare to Weymouth (about 100 miles from dusk, the last section of a longer ride) last Friday night was great (though it would have been (even) more fun if it had been a bit warmer (or I'd had 'footwarmers' in my shoes - I did consider taking a pair but decided not to (volume/weight)).

 

[Blue Hills]

Not a direct answer to this but @Blue Hills has kindly 'liked' my comment on another thread:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/nightriders.254894/page-2#post-5789850
Riding from Weston-super-Mare to Weymouth (about 100 miles from dusk, the last section of a longer ride) last Friday night was great (though it would have been (even) more fun if it had been a bit warmer (or I'd had 'footwarmers' in my shoes - I did consider taking a pair but decided not to (volume/weight)).

I can recommend Lidl's sometimes offered (and doubtless by others) thickish warm synthetic black toasty socks - not cycling specific but very handy. Used with a pair of ultra thin otherwise useless summer poncy cycling socks as a liner they are even warmer. Should be able to get them into your normal shoes. They are also good if cycling in the wet - for if it's solid rain the water will inevitably get through overshoes and your shoes somehow.

 

[Ajax Bay]

When you're riding through a warm day and a cold night, sock compromises have to be made, to manage both extremes and consequences. I have the option of some Aldi socks (no doubt like the Lidl ones you recommend) or some Merino wool percentage ones (I think 'On-One ?PlanetX'). The space in footwear to accommodate thicker socks is an issue: I have the option of using a pair of shoes one size up if I need to go 'thick'. Having suffered frostbite in several of my toes and frostnip/NFCI in both feet bitd (see avatar), this is an important issue for me.
The footwarmers I use (well not last year or this, yet but bought a box of 10 in 2017) are this sort:

I find they give me about 5 hours warmth, after which they get pulled out and binned.

 

[Blue Hills]

What's really needed i suppose is some way of converting all that movement (up to 100rpm) into heat.
If anyone cracks it, send me 10 per cent of revenue.

 

[Pale Rider]

Used with a pair of ultra thin otherwise useless summer poncy cycling socks as a liner they are even warmer.

Agreed - if one won't do, use two.

My warmest sock arrangement has been the simple expedient of putting on two pairs of whatever ordinary socks I had to hand.