Some advice on Night Cycling?

[ufkacbln]

Don't take this as a negative, as it is not meant that way.

Do beware of Chavesque activities at chucking out time. Cyclists can be a bit of a target or boozed up morons in Chavriolets.

Apart from thet I think you have things about right, my only other suggestions would be t make sure you are confident in your route as navigating at night has decreased visibility removing many landmarks and reference points, secondly with any long route have a couple of escape routes should anything adverse happen

 

[Cubist]

Can't help adding to the lights v hi-viz debate.
1. At night hi viz yellow on its own makes no difference**. Use good lights front and back.
2. It doesn't matter what colour your clothing is, under darkness and headlights no one colour other than possibly white will make you be seen any quicker. Use good quality lights front and back.
3. Reflective detail IS worth wearing. I just dropped Cubester off at the MTB club, and followed the group up the road in my car. Cubester was wearing shoes with reflective heels, tights with reflective strips on the lower leg, a rain jacket with reflective piping on all the rearward facing seams, and reflective piping on his gloves. He literally glowed like a silver outline. His good quality lights, front and rear helped too.

**Hi-viz jackets with scotchlite strips however are excellent.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

On average, there is no evidence to show that helmets make a significant difference to cyclists safety. This is supported by data from countries that introduced helmet compulsion laws that showed that although helmet wearing shot up after the law was passed, there was no corresponding drop in cyclist head injury rates.

Look, be quiet about helmets, pro and anti. This thread is about night cycling, not helmets. Although in fairness I should point out that you've made some good posts on night cycling too.

 

[al78]

Look, be quiet about helmets, pro and anti. This thread is about night cycling, not helmets. Although in fairness I should point out that you've made some good posts on night cycling too.

Sorry, whilst I appreciate helmets are an emotive subject, I feel that if someone asks for some advice on something and someone else responds with something that is best highly controversial and in all likelihood false then it needs to be pointed out, out of respect for the OP if nothing else.

Anyhow, I have made my point and shall say no more on the subject.

 

[Sam Kennedy]

Woot another person from Newcastle on here
Where abouts in Newcastle do you live? If you really wanted to, you could come out with the Gosforth Road Club on the weekend

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

Where I cycle, the roads are unlit, so it's important to see as well as be seen. I work on the low-flying UFO principle when cycling at night. I have acres of reflectives on the bike and on me. I also have a minimum of three rear lights and three front lights. One of the best things I have to aid 'being seen' by oncoming motorists is to use an LED headtorch on my lid. It was noticeable, from the first time I used a lid-mounted light, that I was seen by oncoming traffic sooner than when I wasn't wearing it. Lights were dipped sooner. It's also exceedingly useful for lighting up signposts and for highlighting the verge. Plus, if an oncoming driver doesn't dip headlights, you can do a swift and brief direct look to where the driver would be - it grabs the attention. Also useful when there's traffic at a side road - again a swift/brief look at where the driver would be grabs the attention to let them register your presence.

Oh, and at Christmas I wear flashing Santa earrings...

Edit: mustn't forget... always check that your lights are working before you set off. Replace batteries if lights are dim, and always, but always, take spare batteries with you (if you're not running a dynamo setup)

Another vote for some sort of head-mounted torch. I find this especially helpful off road and on narrow lanes in the dark: you get light where you're looking, rather than just where your front lights happen to be pointing.

Not sure how much of an issue that'll be on your planned route but it's also useful for all the things wafflycat pointed out.

There's a use for a helmet: you can fix the light on it.

 

[siadwell]

As well as the advantages of using a headtorch as outlined by Wafflycat, research by Honda has shown that vertically separated lights on motorcycles improved perception of their speed and distance by motorists (see "flashing cycle lights" thread).

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

And you can at least see what you're doing to fix stuff on the bike, should you have to ..

 

[g00se]

And you can at least see what you're doing to fix stuff on the bike, should you have to ..

Big reminder from this post - take as many tools and spares as you can comfortably carry. And a fully charged mobile.

 

[Crankarm]

Spare tube and pump which should be a given. Several front lights one of which should be pointed at the area directly in front of your bike so you can avoid potholes, poor road surfaces, dead animals any other debris ready to unseat you or knacker your wheels.

As for Hi-Viz, it is a good idea in theory, but sadly in practice there are drivers out there who just don't look for it.

Hi Viz is excellent. If you believe drivers don't notice it, you're not wearing true Hi-Viz.

Any true Hi-viz surface ie Scotchlite will glow in the dark if light is shone on it. One cannot fail to notice it. If it's crap why do the emergency services wear Hi-Viz clothing? There is no accounting for how thick some people are .

 

[g00se]

Call me thick . Reflective will 'glow' with the smallest amount of incidental light on it - but hi-vis is just 'day-glo' (a bright colour). So in the dark, hi-vis is still hard to see unless a lot of light is falling on it.

Saying that though, it's very good in dawn/dusk (and also dull rainy days) when everything else seems grey. So it's worth it as the OP will be cycling in those conditions too.

 

[Arch]

Call me thick . Reflective will 'glow' with the smallest amount of incidental light on it - but hi-vis is just 'day-glo' (a bright colour). So in the dark, hi-vis is still hard to see unless a lot of light is falling on it.

Saying that though, it's very good in dawn/dusk (and also dull rainy days) when everything else seems grey. So it's worth it as the OP will be cycling in those conditions too.

I suppose it's a matter of defintion, but to me 'Hi-Vis' will have both a dayglo colour and reflectives. Just like the emergency service garb. If it hasn't got reflectives, to me, it's just 'bright coloured'*.

Of course, Hi-vis is no replacement for lights, but who ever said it was? I don't understand why people have to be so tetchy on that point. You just have both.

*But even that helps. Apart from anything else, a bright jacket identifies something ahead as 'probably a cyclist'. Riding last weekend, over an undulating moor road in clear sunlight, I spied well ahead what looked at first glance to be black sheep walking along the road. A few more seconds looking revealed it to be a member of my group, on his recumbent**. He was wearing all dark colours. If he'd had something yellow, or red, or orange or bright green on, I'd have spotted straight away what he was. Ok, there wasn't a safety aspect in that moment, but I'd have immediately known it was a cyclist.

**It took me ages to catch him up

 

[HJ]

Another vote for some sort of head-mounted torch. I find this especially helpful off road and on narrow lanes in the dark: you get light where you're looking, rather than just where your front lights happen to be pointing.

Not sure how much of an issue that'll be on your planned route but it's also useful for all the things wafflycat pointed out.

A head torch is useful as a supplementary light, but don't be tempted to use it as your only front light. Other road users will look for lights at a lower level (unless it is either very bright or you are on a recumbent), so make sure you also have at least one light either on the handlebars or front forks...

 

[wafflycat]

Call me thick . Reflective will 'glow' with the smallest amount of incidental light on it - but hi-vis is just 'day-glo' (a bright colour). So in the dark, hi-vis is still hard to see unless a lot of light is falling on it.

Saying that though, it's very good in dawn/dusk (and also dull rainy days) when everything else seems grey. So it's worth it as the OP will be cycling in those conditions too.

Yup - 'hi-viz' is IME used to refer to *fluorescent* colours, so effective during the day. What is required at night is *reflective* materials. Combination of the two on one garment is useful and it seems that 'hi-viz' is being used more to describe the two in conjunction. Of course, lights are still required.

 

[Fab Foodie]

A head torch is useful as a supplementary light, but don't be tempted to use it as your only front light. Other road users will look for lights at a lower level (unless it is either very bright or you are on a recumbent), so make sure you also have at least one light either on the handlebars or front forks...

Agreed.
They're particularly good in the urban environment for catching looking at and catching the eyes of somebody pulling-out of a side road for example (in a way that fixed lights will not). Also really useful when looking for stuff in your bag, fixing p*nctures, camping, working in the loft, painting, wiring..... etc!