I was driving to work at 7am in almost total darkness today when a gigantic white light, brighter than all the car headlights in the vicinity, appeared on the horizon. It was a single, solid beam and, as I had never seen a bicycle light so bright, I assumed it was a motorcycle. As it got closer, I realized it was indeed a bicycle, and I became fixated on it.
For the next few minutes, I struggled to stay within range of this light so that I might be able to ask the rider what it was. I stopped at a red light and waited for him to catch up, but he ended up zig-zagging around me and blowing through the light, which immediately made me hate him, but that's beside the point.
Eventually, we came to a major intersection with another red light. He came up on my left in the bike lane and looked like he was going to try to blow through this light, too, but I stuck my arm out to wave him down. He jammed on his brakes and I had to decide in that split second whether I wanted to blast him for being such a d-ck rider or ask him what headlight he was using. I decided that my words were not going to change his personality, so I asked about the light. He said it was a "NiteRider 700." I commented that it was brighter than all the car headlights on the road. He replied that it wasn't. Maybe he thought I was criticizing him. Then I asked about his rear blinkie, which looked like the Cygolite I just ordered. He told me it was a Bontrager something or other. The blinkie wasn't quite as impressive as the headlight. Then he blew the light and rode away, getting honked by a car or two as he crossed this very busy road.
So I think I want to invest in a NiteRider 700 (or whatever it's REALLY called) next.