Upto a couple of months ago, I used to ride at night on rural roads. Then on one ride, I was chased by a dog in pitch black (my headlight only lights about 10 feet in front of me). Nothing like hearing (never saw it) a heavy sounding dog running and growling and moving towards you at a high rate of speed. I never pedaled faster in my life. On the same ride, again in the middle of nowhere (no houses, cars, lights in sight), I almost ran into a human figure with his sweatshirt hood on (it was not even cold out) that was walking towards me on the shoulder - he did not say a word. I had to swerve to avoid hitting him. Now, that was spooky - in the middle of nowhere! I had goose bumps all the way home. After that particular ride, I never go on rural roads at night.

It's also kind of spooky to be riding in a rural road by yourself and have some car come up from behind. Sometimes the headlights seem like they are coming right at you (yes, I am paranoid). I would not be surprised if some fools, when seeing a lone cyclist in the middle of nowhere, decide to have some "fun" and try to run you off the road, or worse. From their perspective, there's no one to witness anything.