MrCjolsen

This summer I'm thinking of doing this if I can get some people together. Right now it's just in the "insane ADHD-inspired idea phase" but it's starting to seem less and less "out there."

Basically it would start in Davis and head out the Russell Blvd. bike trail. Then it would double back to Davis and head to Sacramento. There riders would pick up the American River Bike trail and go up to Folsom. Finally, back to Davis would make the ride around 100 miles. Start at dusk (8:30-9:30) and end around sun up for the slower riders.

I chose this route because it's fairly void of auto traffic and narrow two lane roads.

I know the ARBT has a rep for being a bit of a dangerous place to be at night. Is that true? Is that true for riders in large groups?

Am I missing anything from a safety standpoint. Would such a ride be very dangerous if large numbers of people were going up and down the bike trail at night?

Is this something that might attract a lot of fixed gear types?

So finally, who might actually be interested in doing something like this?

ROJA

For those masochistic enough to try this, the issue might be lights. Many of us have lights for dusk or dawn, some have "real" lights for night riding, but you won't find many who have 6 hours of powerful lighting capability. That is expensive and will naturally limit your participation.

uspspro

Just bring extra batteries.

I love my MCE Deal Extreme Flishlight.

BlastRadius

Are there cougars and the ARBT (the feline variety )?

I think if we have enough lights we could run ours on "low" and get 5-6 hours out of them.

ROJA

Didn't know anyone else in NorCal had one of these. I just ordered one last week and hope to get it in the next 1-2 weeks!

uspspro

I got the MTE Cree MC-E 8 mode

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16500

Very good light!

Ygduf

Can one of you put a link to that light up? I'd like one, but want to be sure I'm getting the right one. I don't see it on a quick Amazon search.

Err, disregard. Marco is 2 minutes ahead of me, as usual.

ROJA

The "it" light right now is called the P7. It is a super bright LED (actually a set of LEDs) from a company called Seoul Superconducters. That LED can be put in different kinds of flashlights. The popular cheap ones are those on DealExtreme.com. They run on one Lithium Ion battery, which I believe is a little bigger than a AA. DealExtreme (or DX) is in Hong Kong, but shipping is free (although not always fast). There are some other lights you can buy that also use the P7 LED, but they are more expensive. I doubt you'll see them on Amazon, as the others I've seen are custom made by small shops.

There are lots of threads in the lighting forum here about them, probably a good starting point is this one: https://www.bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/493600-how-you-liking-your-p7-flashlights.html. There is also a very long thread here that dates back to the introduction of the lights, so some of the info in the early posts may be outdated by now.

The setup I bought, which was recommended by others there, is this one (look up the item numbers on www.dealextreme.com).

p7 Light 16092 (supposed to be better than the 13060, even though they look the same)
batteries 5790
charger 6105
mount 8274
mount 15642

Total is about $70 (free shipping). This sucker is supposed to put out more light than a Dinotte, which is triple the cost.

Remember that it is a flashlight, not a bike light, so you'll have to try one of the mounts I listed above or fabricate something yourself. It is the cheapest way to get lots of light.

Runtime is supposedly about 80 minutes on high and several hours (maybe 4 or 5?) on medium (bright enough for most riding).

silentben

Schedule the ride for a night near a full moon. Of course you need lights to be street legal but with a full moon you could run cheap blinky "be seen" lights and still be able to see the road.

Regarding the lights from Deal Extreme, I placed my order for two lights (16501 (same as Marco's but with a different crown) and 18071) on December 11th and neither one has shipped to me yet. The first hasn't even arrived from the "supplier" to DX yet. Neither light was listed as backordered that I can recall... I'm pretty sure I'll be satisfied with the product but didn't expect it to take nearly this long to get to me.

uspspro

I read on Candle Power that the Cree MC-E would be as bright as the P7, but with a better beam pattern and longer run time.

I have had the light last over 3 hours with a mix of medium and high on a single battery, don't know how much longer it had to go.

I haven't seen the P7, but so far the MC-E is great! I know someone on the forum was a little disappointed with the MC-E, but they got a crappy one... not a nice one like our MTEs.

Our lights seem to have the exact same body/etc, just different LEDs.

Mine says 700 lumens, and the P7 said 900 lumens (but I heard that that number is actually closer to 600 in reality).

Either LED, make sure you get the MTE brand, they are good lights. P7 or MC-E, you can't go wrong with either one.

Justin, let me know when you get your light. I'm curious to see the P7s beam pattern vs. the MC-E model.

uspspro

Yeah, they take forever!

ROJA

Interesting info about the Cree versus the SSC P7. I am very new to the world of lighting and the amount of information is astounding and confusing!

I guess I got lucky, because I placed my order with DX on 12/30 and mine has already left HK. Hopefully that means I'll get it next week!

BenRidin

[QUOTE=BlastRadius;8140942]Are there cougars and the ARBT (the feline variety )?...QUOTE]

One time I ran over a Skunk while riding the ARBT at night. Seeing a Cougar would be fun.

Count me in.

BR

x136 

I finally got my batteries yesterday. I ordered in early November. The bike mounts are still on backorder, so I'm going to try some p-clamps.

That said, re-freaking-diculously bright. I know this, because one of the first things I did was look directly into one of the lamps. You'd think I would have learned my lesson doing that with a SuperFlash, but nope.



(MTE SSC P7-C. 13060.)

x136 

As for the Insomniac Century, that sounds like fun. I'd love to give it a try. Sounds like I'd have plenty of opportunity to ditch out and ride right to my house if need be, too.

silentben

DO NOT look into P7 with remaining eye!

MrCjolsen

Actually, it was building my own "semi-home made" bike light out of a $25 Lowe's Task Force 2C flashlight that inspired me to do this. Instead of running on 2 C-cells, it now runs on 4 AA batteries and has a 3 hour run time. I've made numerous battery packs and I can actually swap them out while riding. And the light is very bright.

taxi777

I'm really up for this!

Lanceoldstrong

Me too!

If this thing gets off the ground, you can ride up with me in the van.

nachomc

I would be worried about the ARBT, frankly. Talking with Sac PD in the past, it doesn't sound like a fun place to be after dark. I know most riders would be in a group, however there's likely to be a few lone riders and they could be in serious danger out there.

BlastRadius

Danger from animals for hoodlums?

PrincessZippy

A few years ago Thom and I did a night time century on the tandem. It started somewhere in Davis, went out to a highway overpass and turned around. It was dark and I was on the back of the tandem so I don't know exactly where we went. It was put on by a club though, I think. The cost was like $10 a person and they had Subway sandwiches, sodas and coffee at the turnaround point.

I do know it was all roads and it was all flat. We started about an hour before sundown I think.

Veronica

rcsting

The Sacramento Bike Hikers have an annual midnight century that starts in Davis on travels on some lightly traveled roads, lots of fun. They usually hold that ride in July/August if I remember correctly. I've rode it several times and its great. They have sag vehicles and set up a rest stop with Subway sandwiches. I think it was about $10.00 to cover the cost of food and sag.

2manybikes

I may have done 100 night time centuries, or done most of it after dark, I don't know. It's a blast. Depending on where you ride it may actually be safer. Many places have little traffic late at night. With good lights you are much more visible to a driver than you are during the day. If it's a weekend, try not to ride where the bars are after closing time. When I bought my 8 hour light, the only thing that would go 8 hours on low, and do 900 lumens on high was the Edison 10 HID light. That was a few years ago, now there are lots of lights that will do that and more. If you do a lot of night riding the very bright light is easier on the eyes on a long ride, much easier for cars to see. They can see the beam on the ground and the surrounding area, just like a car, they don't need to actually see you. It's more convenient than changing batteries in the dark, and much, much, safer. Long run time means not worrying about running out of light if you get lost, or get a flat, etc. It's very relaxing to not worry about running out of light. Getting lost in the dark and running out of light really stinks. With the quiet of the night I can ride in the middle of some main roads, and hear a car from a mile away. If it sounds like someone driving crazy, there is plenty of time to get totally off the road. Around here the most dangerous thing on a bike trail is an unlighted bike rider going the other way very fast. You need a good light to see these idiots.

Consider this light if you really want a good one, and don't want to do a lot of searching around. You would never regret it. This may be the best bike light company in the world.

https://gretnabikes.com/lupine_wilma_7.asp

rydaddy

ARBT is more of a hoodlum issue (only in some areas). I don't think it's a show stopper though. But seriously, why go on a trail when we have all these awesome roads almost 100% to ourselves? There are so many open roads leading out of Davis in every direction.

ARBT would be easy for people not to get lost though. As long as people stay in groups everyone should be fine. I've done a night ride along the trail and it was actually very fun!

Depending on the date, I'd be in too.