It's been awhile since I've ridden home from work at night. First, my headlight went out a while back and I only got another one this week. While the light was out, I got in the habit of putting it off altogether and taking the car. So, it has been several weeks since I took to the road at night.

Some of the things I "re-discovered" might be of interest to the commuters who may not have taken the "night rider plunge."

Lights – You can't have enough

HEADLAMP
My new forward vision light is a CREE diode flashlight, rated at 280 lumens on high power. It is adequate, but just. It is powered by a 18650 battery, which is kind of like an oversized AA on steroids. Mine have 3800mah of capacity, so I reckon it should last about 6 hours on high power.
I run it mostly on strobe mode, as this lessens battery power drain and extends the life per charge.
It is kind of weird getting used to the strobe effect, but it gives oncoming drivers the double take – they immediately react to it from several hundred yards away.
Nevertheless, I find myself wanting even more illumination. Its pitch dark out in the rural country were I commute and you cant see a thing. Every bit of light helps and I can't help but think that more would be better.

TAILIGHTS
I have several lights in back
1 – Flashing red, 3 LED in normal rear position
2 – White strobes, offset to left and right
1 – Flashing red, single LED, on the lower seat stay next to the hub

I also wear reflective bands around my ankles, banded "pants keepers."

I've been told I look like either an emergency vehicle from behind .... or a UFO. Judging by the way cars go around me, it's obvious bicycle visibility is no problem.

Conditioning
Here is a benefit you may not appreciate until you start night riding in earnest. At first it was a bit of a surprise to me. I find that the usual obstacles, wind, hills and so on have much less "presence" at night. Well, actually, they have none since you can't see them nor their effects. During the day a big-ass hill looks monstrous, but in the dark, well... you can't see it! This eliminates the crucial psychological effect these things might have. I just pedal harder when the pedaling gets tougher.

Descents are essentially meaningless, too. You just keep shifting up until you are topped out. Speed is hard to judge since you cannot see your electronic indicators in the dark, eithee. Well, mine has no back light so I can't see it. Therefore, I have no way to judge how fast I'm going. This means I cannot tell when enough is enough. I just pedal like hell.

As you might expect, cadence takes on a new importance. Since you cant see anything along the road (and in my case there is no digital readout) you nothing to judge your progress by visually. All you have is your cadence. There in the dark, with no distractions, I focus far more on my rhythm than I would during the day.

Riding by Feel
Here's a big shift from daytime cycling. You ride the bike by feel almost exclusively. You cannot see which chain wheel you are on, so you shift and move through the gears by feel. The bike has to be well tuned, naturally, because every little variance is felt, or heard when you can't look down to see what's happening!
Of course, your bike has to be in top shape and well maintained.Believe me - riding at night will point to problems in a hurry.
Every little bump or hiccup in the road is felt, too. You cannot see them in advance, and you have a very short time to react to them. Even with a higher powered light than mine, this is still an issue.

REARVIEW Mirror and Approaching cars
With my rear light array, cars have no problem seeing me. But I have a difficult time judging them in the rear view mirror. I do see their light long before they get to me; that part is better than daylight riding. But while I see their lights early, I have a hard time judging their distance solely by looking in the mirror. I find I look behind me more at night, when cars approach.

In summary, night riding offers several beneficial effects:

1. The field of view you have closes in tightly, shrinking to only that illuminated by your lights. No longer can you see far down the road. This causes your reflex time to sharpen dramatically.

2. Your conditioning improves, since you are not intimidated by that which you are riding into. You pedal harder, all the time. I'm sure there is some deep psychology behind this, but suffice it to say it happens.

3. You also ride more by feel. Every shift, every buzz or noise takes on an importance all it's own. You become more a part of the machine at night.

4. It's very stimulating to be out riding in the night. The noises are different, the smells change and you become more keenly aware of our surroundings. All you have is you and the bike, moving through a small puddle of light.
Plus the stars are out where you can see them– you remember the stars, dont you?

Certainly many of these things can be part of daytime riding, too, but they are more pronounced at night.
You are like a blind person, really, relying on other senses besides familiar sight... and so you become a better rider in the bargain.
Road cyclists would do well to try night riding for all the reasons mentioned.

Yes, it can be intimidating at first. It's even a little spooky the first few times.
But it's worth pushing through that to gain the benefits.