Cyclebum

I rarely ride at night when on tour, or ever for that matter. But there is something magical about leaving camp an hour or two before dawn and pedaling down the road when it's cool, windless, and quite. Shoud do it more often.

Any of ya'll do much night riding on tour? Ever ridden the daily mileage at night to escape heat, winds, to make up lost time, or just 'cause? What's your opinion, thoughts?

djb

On tour, no, except for the few times I've messed up. I ride at night in the city all the time, but on a trip its certainly not something I plan to do.

Doohickie

Same here. On Sunday nights I ride with a bunch of friends for a pub crawl.





Sometimes I stop for a little something on the way home.





Mmmmm.... street tacos. And not some corporate interpretation of them... the real thing.

mr geeker

i ride at night only when the occasion calls for it... that or if i can't sleep.

staehpj1

I ride after dark in the evening on tour only when I miscalculate or get to a planned stop and dislike it enough to press on.

I do sometimes like to get going a couple hours before dawn. I agree that can be a magical time of day to ride.

Machka 

I've ridden right through the night on randonnees and 24-hour races ... and that can be quite good.

Sometimes I ride after dark in the evenings, although I tend not to like that quite as well, especially if it is chilly and/or rainy. I find it hard to motivate myself to go out for an evening ride if I know the majority of it will be in the dark.

As for tours, most of the times I don't ride in the dark unless a day's ride has taken longer than expected. However, during the month I toured Queensland, it was very hot (mid-40s), and so my touring partner and I often got up really early and cycled for a few hours, then stopped in a shady part of town or at a beach for the middle of the day, and then cycled a few more hours as the sun went down. It was just cooler that way.

Big Lew

I've ridden at night several times, but only during a full moon cycle, or way up north where it's light throughout the night. Riding in full moonlight (with running lights and full visibility reflective vest) in the country is a neat experience. A word of caution though when riding in the country....deer are hard to spot on the roadway because they blend in with the asphalt colouring....I had a close call when racing downhill while riding through the Fraser Canyon in British Columbia at 2:00am on a moonlit evening.

jon c. 

We've yet to try that, but look longingly at our country road when it's fully lit on a full moon night.

Waiting until the nights are a little warmer :-)

djyak

Never on tours, but I do here on the time, usually early morning. We live on top of a vineyard in Germany with a river below us, and there really is something about getting out there very early, hearing only the sounds your bike makes.

sknhgy 

A large % of my winter riding is in the cold and dark. It's the only time I can ride. I love it. I ride rural Illinois roads by myself. It really grows on you. In the dead of winter I probably average four 10-20 mile night rides per week. The terrain here is very hilly, so even a short ride is a workout.

bud16415

I ride for pleasure between 10pm and 2am at home all the time. Country roads and a slow pace not outriding my lights. You do see a lot of critters at that time. Last fall I had a white tail buck have a standoff with me on a narrow road and also a pack of coyotes I ran across hunting in a field.

It’s a magical time to ride I have a cell with me in case I have any problems.

This may sound strange but I feel safer with traffic in the dark than I do when its light. I’m a mirror watcher and I see people react way sooner to my lights than they would during the day. I also see them in the mirror way sooner. I see the biggest danger at night riding too fast for the lights you are running.

I wouldn’t carry the light I ride with while touring, it’s a rechargeable DIY but it really gets noticed and it always has a full charge and I haven’t had to switch to my small bar light ever. I switch the DIY between a few bikes. Here it is on one.



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fietsbob

Commuting,it's different, then the hub-dynamo shows me the way home.
on tours, its summer, and daylight for long enough..

Old touring rig, updated, the removable LED handle bar light
mounts on the front low rider hoop.
[ one of those tube with a 5mm bolt thru it things]
if the overnight accommodation goal is past dusk.

but usually , I want to see where I am putting up the tent.

Tende

Im setting off for a cross county ride in a month and have also wondered whether it'd be worth it to carry a battery headlight for the occasional night ride (not just running around town or back to the campsite).
I've only done it a few times, one memorable ride for a few hours south of Pueblo, CO. It was magical.

rodar y rodar

I like night riding too. I commute year round and always have one dark commute leg, no matter what month. On tour, I occasionally pull into camp a little after dark, only once started off REALLY early and got in a few hours worth of dark touring- it was very nice and I plan to do more of it. I also want to do a night time century this summer.

rodar y rodar

Yeah, MMMmmm!
But with DocP? Go for the champurrado, man!

TheHen

If I have a fifteen hour day planned into my tour, which is not uncommon, I much prefer starting out at 3:00 A.M. to finishing up in the dark. I am hesitant to ride between 11:00 P.M. and 2:30 A.M. unless I am quite a distance from anyplace where people are getting intoxicated.

SparkyGA

Ive done a few early morning / nights tours by accident, however I ride around my city quite often at night for fun. Less traffic, opens up more interesting roads to ride

gorshkov

Last summer, I was in Edmond (suburb of Oklahoma City) for some classes, and I rode to and from Tulsa (about 100 miles away) on three different weekends to visit friends. After the first ride, I took to leaving at about 2AM and arriving by 9-10AM simply to escape the heat. It wasn't really touring (only one day and very lightly loaded), but if I had toured through Oklahoma that summer, riding at night would have been a very good option. Basically every day from mid-June through the end of August was 100+ degrees and usually humid. That said, Oklahoma in the summer probably isn't a real popular touring destination (if you come here, come in the fall; October and early November can be wonderful).

indyfabz

On tour, I started out in the dark a couple of times to beat the heat in IN and IL. Ridden 7 miles between a restaurtant and a campground several times. Nice wooded trail with no street lights anywhere around. Ran out of daylight during a 134 day. Rode the last few miles in complete darkness.

Non-touring wise, I ride in the dark often since my bike is a main form of transportation.

Booger1

I enjoy riding at night.I ride from L.A. to Leo Carillo campground all the time at night.It's about 50 miles north of L.A.,leave on Fri night after work,arrive early Sat. morning,nap and play at the beach,howl at the moon Sat night,come home Sunday,ride along the ocean at night...great fun.

simplygib

When I was a commuter I often rode before first light or after sunset, especially in winter. Many of those rides were pure magic. I was lucky enough to have about half my commute along an awesome bike path along a river (American River Bike Path in Sacramento). That path provides a bit of nature that runs from downtown Sacramento to Folsom Lake, 32 miles to the east. As a nature lover it helped me keep my sanity while working in a major metropolitan area for so many years. I often saw deer, coyotes, snakes, quail, ducks, geese, etc. on my way to work. Mountain lions are sometimes reported along there, but I never saw any of those. One particular morning a 4-point buck ran across the path through the fog as light was just beginning to appear on the horizon, and this was within a quarter mile of downtown Sacramento. Made my day.

On tour - I almost never ride in the dark unless caught in the evening. Early morning riding cuts into coffee time - which is a deal breaker for me.

Rob_E

I often ride after dark locally, and when I lived in a more rural setting, I used to love late night rides on deserted streets. When travelling, it's a little different. I worry about unfamiliar streets in the dark. We did do a local(ish) ride a couple of years ago that involved everyone meeting up after work on a Friday, getting dinner, and pushing off into the sunset for a 60+ mile ride to our campsite. Got there after midnight, exhausted and sore from trying to keep up with much stronger riders, but it was a good ride.

I am facing this issue on an upcoming trip. I will be dropped off 40-some miles from my destination sometime close to sunset, and I'll have to decide if I want to find a place to spend the night, and push on in the morning, or just make a run for it and bike into the wee hours on unfamiliar roads.

chefisaac

I have not toured yet but I ride early in the morning (4am) every weekday. I love it. Quite, peaceful, and safer (for me) really. Love it.

eofelis 

I like night riding but I am wary now. Of critters.

A couple of years ago, on a night ride on rural roads, a giant raccoon jumped out of a ditch right into the back wheel of my boyf's bike. Knocked the bike right out from underneath him. He went down, knocked out. Trip to ER. Grade 3 concussion. (The bike, a Surly CC, was fine.)

We will ride at night in town if we happen to be out and about at that time.

whatbrakes

eofelis

That's incredible!