Ekdog

Am I the only one who sometimes rides in the dark?

I know some of you might think it's too dangerous, but I often tour in hot, arid regions where riding in the cool early morning before the sun comes up has its advantages. For obvious reasons, I don't recommend this for the more scenic parts of a tour or for dangerous roads with lots of high-speed traffic, but there are places where it can be downright enjoyable.

I often wake up at four or five a.m. and can't get back to sleep, so I decamp and start my journey. Those early-morning hours are magical: fewer cars, more wildlife, lower temperatures...

After a long lunch break and even longer siesta at midday, I sometimes ride all afternoon and on into the night.

Big Lew

Your question has been asked before....yes, I will ride during the night if there is a good moon. I don't recommend speeding though after a scary incident in the Fraser Canyon in British Columbia. I was riding at night during a full moon and it seemed almost as bright as daylight. Big difference between the moon's reflective light and the sun. I was racing down a long mountainside at about 35-40 miles per hour and noticed a shadow, and then another, and still another on the road as I whizzed past them. I then realized that those shadows were deer. Their grey bodies blended in with the grey asphalt so well I couldn't see them until passing their shadowy forms. It was pretty sobering to realize that I would have been very seriously hurt had I hit one of them at 35-40 miles per hour.

PlanoFuji

Particularly in the summer I prefer riding in the early morning (before sunrise) hours if I can. It is the reason two of my three bikes are equipped with hub dynamo lighting. And the other has a lithium powered light if I need it.

fietsbob

Seems Siesta is a Spanish Tradition, adapting to the local Climate ..

Stockholm Sweden, or Inverness Scotland , much further North,

Or Here where the Pacific Ocean Current flows down from the North

and so is not a Heat and humidity engine like the Gulf Stream coming up from the Caribbean ,

is a different story entirely .. occasionally, Here the Fog lays on the river , it's cool,
and gets burned off as the sun rises.. then it cools off quickly when it sets..

I ride in the Dark often , In the Winter , theres more of it that time of year..

Cyclebum

!+ to all. I haven't ridden on into the night, but if circumstances were right, would. My early morning rides have been motivated more for avoiding headwinds or plain old get-there-itis. Heat is not a big concern.

bikenh

Big miles sometimes requires it...stealth camping is almost a sure bet to ride to the campsite after dark. I did that last night and probably won't get to the campsite tonight until around /after dark. If no one sees me go in they don't know to call the cops and get me chased out. I waited out a thundershower last night and didn't get to the campsite until around 9:30PM, long after sunset. I was back on the road this AM at 5:40AM. Both trying to avoid the heat and making sure I was out of the campsite so no one could spot me. Yesterday I rode 132 miles, today is going to be just shy of that, 125-128 miles roughly.

Ekdog

Wow, that's a lot of mileage!

Where are you touring at the moment, Bikenh?

bikenh

From home, west central NH to my mom's place in NW Ohio. It's starting to look like it will be a roundtrip ride. I was planning on heading on down to Texas for a hang gliding competition after spending a week helping my brother out but it sounds like I may be driving down to Texas for the event. If so...boy I sure wish I would have left a good deal of stuff at home that I brought with me on the trip. I will only need the stuff after the comp as the temps start to get colder. I came prepared to not get home until mid-September to maybe as late as mid to late October. When the whole trip plans started to come unraveled I was think I might end up doing a coast to coast roundtrip ride. The trip plans seem to change by the day so I never know what to expect from one day to the next. I think between last year and this year I have learnt one valuable thing about bike tripping...DON'T PLAN...JUST LEAVE HOME AND RIDE WHEREEVER THE BIKE TAKES YOU It's been that bad...LMAO

spinnaker

It could be worse. Just think, they could have been a family of bears.

spinnaker

I never ride at night on the tour itself but will ride at night to go out to dinner. It really can be very enjoyable.

stevepusser

With the recent advances in ultrabright yet lightweight LED light setups, this hopefully can be a thing of the past. Just use the very dim setting when climbing the mountain, and unleash the 2000 lumens on the descents.

fietsbob wrote:
Wow...that's practically poetry. Were you trying some free verse?

bradtx

Ekdog, I like riding at night, though I really need to replace my aging lithium powered headlamps. The greatest danger IME has been problems with the road surface that can be masked by the lamplight. Following a really severe crash I don't use any of the skinny tired bikes at night anymore.

Brad

Ekdog

I have a Shimano hub dynamo on my Brompton (which I love), an adequate stand light at the rear and an LED front light that's fine for city riding but leaves a lot to be desired for touring. I want to replace the latter with one of the powerful LED lights that are on the market but I can't afford it at the moment.

bradtx

Bicycle lighting has rapidly advanced lately, which has caused me to hold off buying a new system 'till later.

Brad

PlanoFuji

You may want to change the dynamo, rather than the lights. The shimano's are designed for 700c hubs, the SON 20R (quite a bit more expensive) is designed for the smaller wheels on a brompton. BTW, what light are you using with the Shimano. Another possibility is that Tern sells a new dynamo hub designed for smaller wheels, that is about the same (or less) price as the Shimano.

I have two; I have the B&M IQ Fly RT and the B&M Luxos B. The former is much cheaper and I am pleased with its light levels when compared to my Cygolite Minty 350 (as bright, but better pattern), and the Luxos B is nearly twice as bright (with the same nice pattern) as the Fly RT...

Ekdog

I didn't get the Son hub when I bought the bike because it was way too rich for my blood and I had read quite a few positive comments about the Shimano in different fora. The consensus seemed to be that the Shimano performed well but with just a tad more drag than the Son. I must say that I can't tell whether the lights are on or off as regards drag. This is the first time I've heard that the Shimanos were not designed for small wheels. In what way does that affect their performance? Dimmer lighting? More drag?

The front light I'm using at the moment is a Lumotec Lyt LED BN.

PlanoFuji

If you are using a 3W shimano hub on a small wheeled bike, then it is operating at a higher rpm than it was designed for, which translates to potentially (depends on the design) more power (but not nescessarily) and always greater resistance. The real issue is that Shimano also produces a 1.5W dynohub (DH-1N70 I believe) that simply will not produce the power required for a dyno light to achieve its best brightness. Both of the lights I am using are with Shimano dyno hubs (3N71/72), but they are on 700C rims. In either case, you will be causing greater wear to the hub bearings, so it will wear out faster than it was designed to.

The Lumotec Lyt, is a slightly older design and does produce about a 1/5 less light than the Fly IQ RT that I use (the less bright of the two), so upgrading the light might be worth while. Not simply for brightness, but also because the light pattern on the Lyt is narrower and designed for a longer throw (to make best use of the lower power output). When properly adjusted, the Lyt should leave the first 10-15 feet in front of the bike unilluminated, which might be part of your issue. Both of the lights I am using have a better balance of light throw with near field than the Lyt.

The best online information on dynamo lighting I have found is at https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/

rodar y rodar

Hey, I know that song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Ls9avV84M

Cougrrcj

North shore of Lake Erie or south? I'm about 30 miles southwest of downtown Cleveland... PM me if you'd like to camp in the yard.

Ekdog

That's so cool! I'd feel great if someone made me such an offer while on tour.

stevepusser

Not much night touring, but a heck of a lot of commuting in the dark... I have one of these: https://www.fasttech.com/products/160...00-lumen-led-b

and if my XML T6 headlamp is 350-400 lumens, then this truly would be close to 2000 on high. Even the low is brighter than the XML T6. It's pretty amazing. The battery pack is a no-name, but you can get very high quality ones for $20-25 on the Net.

Cougrrcj

34 years ago I did stealth-camp for my round-trip from Cleveland OH to Madison WI. I didn't know what stealth camping was, but I did it anyway - mostly sleeping in culverts or under bridges with no tent or sleeping bag. I'm too old for that &%$@ now. I figure he might like a stress-free campsite for a night unless he finds a place to spend the night in Cleveland.

gpsblake

I don't like riding at night in my area. It's not because it's dark or cars can't see you, it's because of the critters that come out at night. While hitting a opossum or a skunk is no big deal in a car (well to the opossum or skunk it is a big deal), hitting one let's say going downhill on a bike can be very dangerous.

staehpj1

Yes I like to ride for a couple hours in the dark in the morning sometimes. I also ride in the evening after dark at times. I don't buy that it is more dangerous than riding in the daylight. On lightly traveled rural roads I think you are more rather than less visible even with only a cheap $6 blinkie light.

I do think it might be more dangerous in heavier traffic and in a more urban setting where your light may be lost in a sea of lights. I do not usually ride in an urban setting much when on tour, so it is kind of a non issue most of the time.

PlanoFuji

staehpj1:

I know of at least one rural area (NW New Mexico) where night riding is more dangerous, at least on the weekend nights around payday. Seems like most of the drivers then are driving drunk. They still may be drunk in daylight hours, but the bars are still open and serving...