Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
I had a farmer on my commute (mostly rural commute) who was out at his mailbox as I went by, call to me today, I pulled over to chat, and he had nothing but praise my MagicShine. He complained about "most cyclists must have a death wish, riding around with no lights and black clothes - it's impossible to see them sometimes." He said he saw me a half mile off - this was in the daylight, though it was getting towards evening (4PM) and was overcast. "Damn, that thing is bright." Then I said "this is on its lowest mode. Here's bright (click click click)." "Yeah, that will do the job" (as he turned his head away).
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Sounds like the time a guy in a pickup passed me going up the Baltimore grade, stopped at the top, waited for me, and waved me down so he could rave about how awesome my visibility was, and how he wished all cyclists would be so easy to see. I was sort of embarrassed
Regarding pedestrians: if they're walking by nothing but ambient "sky light," I could understand them being disoriented on a dark MUP, because if they have no light source of their own, their night vision is basically dominated by any bike headlight. And until recently, there was no solution. But now they can go to the store and buy something called a "flashlight" that puts out, like, a beam of light and stuff, so they can see where they're going even when there's a bike coming. Amazing what they come up with nowdays
As for me, I seldom-to-never ride on the MUP. Having to ride a narrow, unmarked, raised piece of asphalt, on a near-collision course with random people doing random stuff while listening to an iPod, is just not my scene. Call me chicken
