Night riding

[cosmicbike]

I love it. Chilly evenings out on the bike instead of indoors with the telly on. I picked up a pair of Hope Vision 1 lights on the cheap last year and they are great. Best places for me are those with no light pollution, so I head out Chobham way on familiar roads.
Back home to a warming cuppa, wonderful.

 

[pjd57]

One of my regular runs is across Glasgow to the football. Just under 8 miles from my house to Celtic park.

I really enjoy it at night. Coming through the city centre after 10, midweek is a different experience.
Still plenty of people around but not much traffic.
The weather isn't much of an issue , unless I get soaked on the way there.
Doesn't matter if it's wet coming home , getting changed for bed anyway.

 

[MountainSide]

I like to have two lights front and back at night. One on flash, one on steady. Can normally check the rears are working (in the dark) by looking over my shoulder but prefer not to rely on one. I prefer lights with standard batteries rather than built-in ones so I can just replace the batteries when the capacity drops and of course have spares. Most lights that take alkaline batteries work well with rechargeable Nimh and the "pre-charged" batteries (very slightly more expensive) have very low self-discharge rates. Lights are now SO much better than when I was young when the incandescent bulb would start to dim after just 5 minutes on size D batteries and they never lit up the roads like todays lights do! Quiet narrow country lanes are great at night as you can see car headlights from a very long distance and if necessary pull over at a suitable place. There is a big hill near me, with no light pollution and it is great to cycle up in the early hours and watch meteor showers.

 

[hoopdriver]

I have been going out at 4:30am for many years now, all year round. I usually put in a 30 mile ride and am back at the house making coffee by around 6:30. Given my early start I am riding in the dark, at least some of the time, about nine months a year and in autumn and winter my whole ride is at night. I love it. I have the streets and roads and lanes all to myself, ride by moonlight and starlight, see foxes and badgers out about their business, and enjoy the pleasure of being out and rolling while all the rest of the world is asleep.

I’ve an excellent Lupine headland and a very bright rechargeable taillight, and ride on Schwalbe Marathon Plusses as I’d just as soon not have to deal with flats in the dark and cold. Often I bring a camera to capture night images. It is a wonderful time to be out on a bicycle

 

[Alan O]

I used to love night riding in the days when I was surrounded by Hampshire and then Dorset country roads. But living fairly near the centre of a well-lit city these days, it doesn't have the same appeal now.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I used to love night riding in the days when I was surrounded by Hampshire and then Dorset country roads. But living fairly near the centre of a well-lit city these days, it doesn't have the same appeal now.

Actually, I’m the opposite, I love city night-riding!

 

[Blue Hills]

Sounds like a good choice, especially if you already know the roads.

One thing that's worth noting for night riding is that you really need a good set of front lights for seeing where you are going. So provided you have that you're fine. I find that a well-designed light with around 300lumen output is pretty much perfect, but it does require the well designed part - putting the light where you need it.

I really enjoy night riding, it's something I want to do more of.

You don't need to spend a lot these days though. I can ride through the night with a Lidl light that cost around £12. Takes 4AAs which of course can be swapped - I have two sets of AA 2900 rechargeables which will easily see me through a long night even with a lot of full power use. The beam pattern is pretty good, I assume because of the German standards.

 

[Blue Hills]

I used to love night riding in the days when I was surrounded by Hampshire and then Dorset country roads. But living fairly near the centre of a well-lit city these days, it doesn't have the same appeal now.

Well night riding in cities has its own special appeal I think. I like summer night riding through London. I imagine its even better in other cities because there will be less people and the lack of good night time public transport in many of them will give you a real sense of independence.

I have a 100 mile plus night time ride arranged for October - my only concern was avoiding some bits of urban canal when troublesome folk might be abroad but I think I've sorted this.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I'm thinking of giving this a go soon.

Me too, I have told myself that I still need to maintain my weekly average all through winter & as I ride off road there's no way of putting that big ride in on Sunday's to claw it back so I see no alternative, but whether it happens is another matter.

 

[Sjw]

Me too, I have told myself that I still need to maintain my weekly average all through winter & as I ride off road there's no way of putting that big ride in on Sunday's to claw it back so I see no alternative, but whether it happens is another matter.

I'm gearing myself up to it. Bit of prevaricating going on though

 

[hoopdriver]

Actually, I’m the opposite, I love city night-riding!

I don’t usually ride in the city, living down on the coast, but I have a great memory of coming back from a cycle trip in Orkney and arriving in Kings Cross station in London late at night on a Saturday and having to ride across the City to Charing Cross station and my train the rest of the way home. I loved that night time city ride - all the activity, the theatre and restaurant crowds, the music, the late-night urgency of a city on the move. If I hadn't had to catch that last train south, I’d have ridden around much longer.

 

[Donger]

After my experience doing London to Brighton Overnight a few years back, my advice is to distrust the official blurb about battery life of your lights .... and take spare, fully charged lights with you. Make sure that your lights actually light up the road in front of you, and are not just good eneough to allow others to see you. Also wear your brightest reflective kit. I wear the emergency vest that I keep in the car.

Night riding can be strangely exhilarating, and I plan to do another night ride soon. I was recently reminded of a curious aspect of night riding - that because you cannot see beyond the light spot on the road in front of you, it can sometimes be difficult to detect gradients, or even to know whether you are going up or down hill at times. It also might pay to do your first night ride on a road that you know well. One on which you know where the hills and the potholes are.

Enjoy!

 

[Racing roadkill]

I prefer riding at night. The lights on the bike, flush rodents out of the hedges, and Owls know this, so I’ll often find myself with Owls for company, which is nice.

 

[iancity]

Another thing to remember, I dont think anyone else has mentioned it, is sunglasses ! I was struck the first time I went out in the dark how many pesty bugs flew towards my light (and up a bit!). Get some clear (or even night vision) lenses, Thank me later

 

[si_c]

You don't need to spend a lot these days though. I can ride through the night with a Lidl light that cost around £12. Takes 4AAs which of course can be swapped - I have two sets of AA 2900 rechargeables which will easily see me through a long night even with a lot of full power use. The beam pattern is pretty good, I assume because of the German standards.

Anything built to German standards is golden - plenty of light on the road where you need it - that being said I do prefer something a tad more powerful, so I've got a non-german standards compliant dynamo front light, which puts out about 800lumen.

In addition I have a Fenix BC-30 which is brilliant, in some ways it's better than the dynamo light - only problem is that the light doesn't last more than 5 hours on a decent output, but it uses 18650 batteries which are easy enough to carry spares for.