Originally Posted by
JoeyBike
For 18 months I had a commute that included a 10 mile stretch of pitch black MUP. I used a HB light to light the trail surface just ahead of me and a helmet mounted light to look WAY up the trail. It is nearly impossible to wear any sport shoes or clothes without some reflective bits on them and having a tight beam spot light near my eyes would light up those reflective bits very far in advance. Also, many of the peds on this stretch carried some kind of light with them. Most were pathetically inadequate but I was always grateful for their efforts.
I wish more pedestrians on the unlit MUP I use would wear reflective bits. Sure, almost all the runners/joggers have something reflective, but many of the walkers out there don't have anything reflective, and don't carry a light. That's one of the reasons I have both a handlebar light and a helmet light. Even with both lights though, I can't always pick up the unlit, unreflectored walkers in the dark until the last minute, sometimes due to bends in the MUP, or sometimes due to the fact that my helmet light is focused more on the path ahead of me (just beyond where the handlebar light is focused) than "WAY up the trail" - in an attempt to not blind oncoming bikers. Sometimes an oncoming biker and an oncoming walker will be approaching me at the same time from opposite sides of the MUP (our MUP specifically instructs walkers and joggers to "Stay Left"); in that case there's nowhere for me to shine my lights except straight ahead and hopefully not blind one or the other.