Interurban Trail Saftey
 

Today was my first time riding my bike during my morning commute. I started in Auburn and rode the Interurban Train to Kent, roughly 5 miles. It was very dark but I arrived with no issues. I am curious if anyone can tell me if you have ever felt unsafe on this trail during the early mornings, 4:30am to 5:30am? I enjoyed the ride but want to make sure I am not putting myself in a unsafe situation.

Thanks for any input you can provide.

For riding in the dark, you want a good headlight. Search around, this forum is full of threads debating the best lights, but pretty much everybody agrees that the cheapest light that will give you acceptable output will be about $20. You can go with a cheap clone of the very popular 'MagicShine' design, like this, or you can go with a cheap, small, powerful, handheld LED flashlight that you attach somehow to your handlebars. There are plenty of mounting devices, I use interlocked hose clamps for strength. Here's an example of that solution. That's pretty nice in that it includes a charger and TWO batteries, but at that low price you can count on the batteries being extremely low quality and needing to be replaced soon.

If you have to ride in streets with cars in the dark, it is also very important to have a red, blinking tail light. Fortunately the cheap (i.e. sub $10) solutions are pretty effective here, just get something. I was very happy with a PlanetBike Blinky 5, and then my wife found in the road a Cygolite Hotshot, which is unbelievably bright.

But there are many many many options, and everybody has their own preference to recommend.

Good question. This should be in the NW Forum. I've only ridden it on weekend days. It can be isolated in sections.

http://www.bikeforums.net/pacific-northwest/

Thank, will move my question.

I'll watch for your answer, I have a former coworker and good friend who is going to be working there.

I use a section of the interurban in Kent ever day, and occasionally ride it and connecting trails during off hours. Once in a while one might see a bum or junkie, but not too often. So far I've never had any trouble with them.