Lufty

Anyone here do late night cycle runs?
I'm a night owl, and would love to run the bike on the local bike paths...what gear/advice do the owls here use/recomend?

skidmarx

I recomend a light.

roadfix

....or full Moon.

Bryan T

Other than good lights, and knowing the territory, not much else.

Well, I could recommend you watch your speed a bit. You really can't
keep an eagle eye on every rock or piece of road debris you might encounter.

But, late at night is some of the finest cruising there is.

I use these lights
with a NiMH battery, a green LED strobe on the front, and a random red strobe rear.
I got no problems seeing or being seen.

twahl

I like riding at night...we live in kind of a small town that gets pretty quiet later at night. A nice front light, full reflectors, blinky rear light, reflective material on helmet and preferably clothing, at least light colored clothing, and all the other essentials you normally carry.

woof

My night riding setup: Use streetlights to see where I'm going but flashers front and rear as well as wheel reflectors to be seen. Some reflective tape on bike and reflective material on cycling clothes as well. Ride a mountain bike with 1.9 road tires and a road cassette. Forget about obeying the law-If I didn't spend half my time on the sidewalk I'd be dead.
I live in a reasonably safe city but I wouldn't ride on the bikepaths after dark unless I wanted to *****, robbed, or murdered.

blue_neon

neons (if you havn't already heard of in other forums )

Lufty

ROFLOL! Those are just like the kits I have in my PC...I would have never thought of putting them on a bike, although I see the Honda racing crowd in SF Bay area use them. Too funny.

Lufty

Interesting reflector DMV LAWS here in California. This brings up a few questions to mind...do pedal shoes with reflestors count? Or a red flasher rear light? And what's up with the "front" and "rear" of the center of the cycle reflectors? Spoke reflectors?
I'm going to write DMV a letter I think...anyone have any legal background on this?

mswantak

Yeesh! Typical bureaucratese. The way the vehicle code reads, if you have a tailight but no reflector on the rear, you're in violation. Reflectors on your shoes but not on the pedals, and you're in violation. On the other hand, it doesn't specify any minimum surface area for any of the reflectors, and no minimum visible distance for the side reflectors. Pretty spotty, huh?

I have a strong suspicion these regulations are pretty rarely enforced; it reads like a 'nuisance law' the cops can whack an egregious violator with if the need arises -- if the cop happens to be familiar with the requirements, which again is kind of doubtful.

Anyway, I ain't sticking no reflectors on my rat traps, and I'll be d*mned if I'm going to stick reflectors in my old Motobecane's spokes; maybe I'll wrap some reflector tape around the front and rear fork legs. Or not. Heck, in my neighborhood we've got kids flying around at night on unlit pocket motorcycles, motorized razor scooters, and the occasional blacked-out car. I don't think anybody's going to notice me flouting the law.

Barren

I do a weekly night ride with a group, but also ride at night on my own. I'd say I do nearly half my riding at night.

I have a cygo night lite, it was on sale at performancebike.com for $49 with nimh bottle mount battery. The model I have has 2 6.3 watt bulbs, one high beam and one low. I usually just use both unless the group ride is close together, then I'll shut the high beam off. I get 1.5 hours on both beams and 3 on just one.

For rear, I have the standard 4 led taillight.

I have no reflectors.

Just be sure that you have good batteries in your lights and wear your helmet and you should be fine! John Q. Law isn't going to mess with you if you have lights.

rule

I ride a lot at night (early morning before sunrise actually) both on the road and on trails. I have an H.I.D. headlight that gets me noticed and is bright enough that I can't easily outride the beam. On the back, I have a blinking red LED tail-light that is equally tough to miss. Otherwise, I have enough reflective material to look like I am wearing Christmas lights. I have had many other riders and motorists comment that there is no way to miss me when I am riding in the dark. That's the way it should be. The only trouble that I have ever had is from drivers who aren't awake yet, and from dogs running around loose. As long as I watch for them, it continues to be a great time to ride. One morning I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and looked down to find that a coyote was running along the trail next to me. He was looking up at me like "on your left" as he pulled past before darting through a break in the trees.

coney

LMAO!

froze

No matter what you think or how much city street lights there are you need to light yourself up-light yourself up, because a lot of drivers will not see you. I use a 12 watt Cygo Metro headlight with a Cateye xenon amber flasher on the front; then I use a Cateye 5 led taillight along with handlebar end red led lights; and I use 1" wide reflective leg bands as well as reflective tape on the helmet and on the saddle bag.

mswantak

Honestly -- even if you do light yourself up like the Vegas Strip, they still won't see you. Most drivers really only see cars and other double-tracked vehicles; that's the matrix they've got fixed in their head, and bikes and motorcycles just don't register as other vehicles.

I'm still alive after 40 years on two wheels of one sort or another, and it's mainly because I maintain the attitude that I'm completely invisible, and everyone else on the road is about to do the stupidest thing imaginable in the next split-second. That way when I get something better than that, it's gravy.