Night riding feels amazing

[Specialeyes]

Climbing at night I find easier. You’re more certain to pace it better when you can’t see a false summit or think it looks not as steep as it is. You have to go on feel which is a good skill to pick up.

I find this too - it's easier to focus just on the road in front of you at night, rather than worrying about how far the crest is, and as a result the top just appears anyway without you worrying about it

 

[mudsticks]

I’m tempted by this but bit concerned about safety issue. Presumably with decent lights and right clothing people find it ok?

I think it depends where you ride.
I'd not want to do it on main roads with lots of traffic.

But at night in quieter wiggly lanes its almost safer, you can see things coming from miles off.

But yes lights and high vis also maybe, so they can see you when nearer.

 

[Cymro74]

Definitely will try a dusk till dawn next year - would be about 14 hours right now!
I have hub dynamo light set just above front wheel, which is perfect for highlighting potholes well ahead. Also have a cateye 1300 on handlebar for tricky lanes, but I only use low light level to avoid losing night vision. Other safety measure is just going a bit slower.

 

[Sixmile]

I got a wee Kom on my way home tonight so maybe I'm faster in the dark too

 

[Tripster]

Ahhhh the cool crisp air on your cheeks, often silence except for the woodland wildlife..... That whiff of dog crap spread across the garage floor that you rode through because it’s pitch black and you missed it

 

[bladesman73]

I love it. Go out 2 nights per week around 8pm for an hour or two of night riding. It just feels faster!

 

[ColinJ]

I absolutely...





... hated it!

It isn't too bad riding back at 23:00 in June/July but I have done a few 200 km audax rides well into November and riding back through freezing fog when I was tired and it had been dark for hours left me dreading getting a puncture. The killer for me (and the young men in question nearly did kill me!) was this...

I nearly got squelched up there*** riding back towards Rochdale on the North West Passage in the dark in Feb 2007. Jenson Button #1 was being chased by Jenson Button #2 at extreme speed. The first car passed within about 2 feet of me. His rival was so tight up his *rse that I don't think he even saw me and passed within a few inches of me. The shockwave blew me sideways off the road. It was a very near miss and it really put me off night riding.

*** Actually, it might have been the hill before, between Blackburn and Haslingden

On one of the audax rides I was cycling down a very black lane in Cheshire using a pretty inadequate front light so I couldn't really see anything except for a small patch of light on the road in front of me. I heard some weird noises which freaked me out and then 2 ducks almost flew into my face as they took off from the invisible mere to my left!

I only do short rides in the dark now.

 

[slowmotion]

Ahhhh the cool crisp air on your cheeks, often silence except for the woodland wildlife..... That whiff of dog crap spread across the garage floor that you rode through because it’s pitch black and you missed it

You forgot the doggers in secluded lay-bys.

Edit: Oops! The ever-vigilant @Drago got his notebook out first.

 

[PaulSB]

This article may interest night riders

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...ckdown-in-pictures?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

 

[Mo1959]

I enjoy both riding and running in the dark too. So peaceful and atmospheric, and I actually feel safer into the bargain..........plus I run so slowly these days, it's less embarrassing when there's hardly anyone about!

 

[Randomnerd]

Love night riding.
Wiggly routes I’ve already travelled by day are transformed. Maybe I don’t go as far or as fast, but I get a really deep connection with my place, without the “noise” of everyone else.

 

[Tripster]

You forgot the doggers in secluded lay-bys.

Edit: Oops! The ever-vigilant @Drago got his notebook out first.

I said the cool crisp air on cheeks......arse cheeks

 

[Bazzer]

I love it. Sometimes sensory overdrive. But Mrs B doesn't like me going out solo since a bad off at 1.30am a few years ago.
Now if I go solo in the dark, I have to tag it on to a longer evening ride, or, before lockdown, take the more limited pleasure of a 5.20am commute.

 

[Tripster]

I love it. Sometimes sensory overdrive. But Mrs B doesn't like me going out solo since a bad off at 1.30am a few years ago.
Now if I go solo in the dark, I have to tag it on to a longer evening ride, or, before lockdown, take the more limited pleasure of a 5.20am commute.

1:30am is for Badgers, burglars & prostitutes

 

[Bazzer]

1:30am is for Badgers, burglars & prostitutes

It was a badger running from a hedge, on what had been up to then, a lovely quiet country road. Like hitting a wall. Leg broken in two places as I hit the tarmac. Now in the dark, particularly on roads where there is no pavement, so far as is practical, I ride in the middle of the road.
I suspect a burglar or prostitute might not have had the same consequences.