Cycling at night
 

Tonight I had some things to read for work, so I decided to ride my bike to a local bar, have a beer, and get the reading done. When I finished, the sun had gone down, which was fine since I had invested in front and rear lights for this bike previously. I was riding home and realized how fewer the cars on the road were (as well as how much cooler the temp; live in Tampa). Though I was very close to home, I couldn't resist taking several laps around the neighborhood, as there were zero cars out. Then it hit me: why not ride here at night? Less traffic, less sunscreen, completely different vibe of the city. I've also had a shift of assignments at work, putting me home later in the day. Then I remembered that I'd heard from my auto insurance company that most accidents occur at night, and that one is much more likely to encounter an impaired driver within these hours.

So...does anyone have any strong feelings for/against cycling at night, or is this simply a "run your lights and be predictable" situation?

I do utility cycling at night, but rarely do I ride for sport after dark.

Love night rides year round.

I consider night riding extremely foolish, but I recognize that the opposite opinion is quite common. In addition to the danger from cars and impaired drivers, there is also the increased risk of road hazards. You just can't see all the defects and crap on the road nearly as well as during the day. Potholes, longitudinal road cracks, glass and more.

I guess living in the south you don't have potholes.

Here on Long Island you won't go more than a few miles before crashing from one.

Drinking and cycling at night..... that would have to be about the deadliest activity an adult could be involved in.

Riding alone on a dark quiet country road, on a cool summer night, is just about my favorite thing. If there happens to be a thunderstorm flashing on the horizon, so much the better.

I don't know much about all this danger and crashing into things at night but I ride in the dark for two hours every day commuting in the winter. Hit a rock or two in the fog but on a dry evening with proper lights it's not a problem. I think cars can see you pretty well when your lit up at night.

winter commuting
 

It's all in the dark when the sun is up from 8-3. Good lights make it doable but you can't over-ride your headlights or road hazards will get you (potholes branches car parts deer). Not fun to hold it in bombing down long hills but you don't know what might pop into your headlight.

Favorite ride in the last couple years...morning roundabout commute on country roads waaay before dawn with a clear sky....and finding myself in the middle of a lunar eclipse in pitch black countryside (aside from my lights)

Love riding at night - but always a relaxed pace, at least until I have better lights on the bike. Streetlights are enought to see by most days at a relaxed pace.

I actually figure that between lights and hi-viz orange and scotch-brite, I am probably harder to overlook at night than during the day.

Besides - I ride year round and if I did not ride at night in winter I would not have a lot of riding hours available to me in December and January.

During the heat of the summer I will often ride at night. Love it. Also, I really enjoy starting rides around 4 am. Watching the sunrise from the saddle is very peaceful.

There are potholes everywhere...

I have enough experience in both day and night riding to disagree with this. Modern lighting systems are a boon to cycling and you can see all the crap just as well as in the day. You can also see cars coming from in front and rear far better. With far less cars on the road you are not pressed over into the gravel and other crap on the white line ether. Certain times of the year nights offer unique experiences. I did a ride on a local MUP, the W&OD, this last winter. The W&OD is a rather busy MUP to say the least. Started at 1:30 am and made almost 50 miles before seeing another person. No cars, no joggers just owls foxes and a crisp clear night sky filled with stars.

During standard (non-daylight saving) time, most of my after-work rides are after dark.

1. 900 (alleged) lumen light on the bar. I usually run it on low or medium.
2. 250 lumen light on the helmet. Run it on medium.
3. Four tail lights including 2 Planetbike Superflash (on back of tool bag and on left seat stay), 1 Cygolight Hotshot (seatpost), 1 Foxfire light (seatpost). All lights are flashing.
4. Refelective safety vest
5. Reflective ankle bands

I don't ride any new/unknown routes after dark.

I've had fewer close calls after dark than I have had in daylight. I believe I'm quite a bit more visible at night. A local police officer told me my vest really sticks out.

I ride all year except when there's snow or ice.

So far so good, and yes, it's usually fairly peaceful riding at night. Well, except for one evening when I was about back to the abode. There's no traffic, and I'm coming up a hill for everything I'm worth. I'm looking down toward the road and then raise my head a little. Suddenly, quietly, and with no notice in the beam of my helmet light, my entire field of view is occupied by brown feathers about 12 inches in front of my face. I have no idea what sort of bird it was, although I suspect it was an owl. Whatever it was, was adept at aerobatics as the two of us never made physical contact.

If you ride with no lights at night it is definitely more dangerous.

If you ride with lights at night - I like it, and I feel like I'm more visible than during the day personally. During the day you're looking at a millions things, at night your lights are competing with far less visual noise to stand out as another person (obviously there's some exceptions, but I don't ride in Vegas).

The best advice I have for rear lights is to have two of them. Because they're behind you, if one goes out you don't know it went out and that you're suddenly in a lot more danger. 2 of them makes it very difficult to have them both go out at the same time.

Some of it depends on where you are riding, but just as I avoid places with lots of competing things to look at on my bike during the day (I don't bike through bizarre and difficult intersections for example), I also do not bike through visually noisy areas at night. But side streets and back roads at night are great, imo.

I dunno, I'd call drinking and driving a car more deadly.

In AZ, you can't get a DUI while riding a bike as our law states that the driver must be operating a motorized vehicle in order to get one. I cannot count the number of times I've ridden my bike while slightly tipsy, woohoo is it ever a blast! I've even been known to fill my water bottles with cocktails for some slow rolling club rides. :) Gin, tequila, bourbon, whisky all go quite well with riding a bike.

I ride at night regularly for commuting/transportation needs(I live car free), but rarely for "training".

One summer I was dating a woman that was unable to train during the day because of her job. We would train together at night 2-3 times a week, but they were never high intensity rides. We never had any trouble with motorists, but I can understand why she didn't feel comfortable riding alone at night.

I love riding at night but I'm probably not going to do it until it stays warm at night, currently it still drops to 0 overnight. I run 3 rear lights and 2 front lights, so visibility to other road users isn't an issue. Of course, my night rides are largely for relaxing, cruising at a comfortable speed with no pathway traffic is really nice. If I wanted to mash I'd take my mtb out instead, same amount of effort but slower speeds and less swearing when I do hit a pothole.

I can remember every crack/bump/hole on the pathway so that isn't an issue. I do have an issue with off leash dogs running across the pathway like a deer would across a road.

There is, admittedly, a strong allure to riding at night. However, the first serious mishap generally spoils any taste for greater adventure. Your cycling exploits are best left to daylight hours, statistically speaking of course.

I've done a couple really fun night rides in the country side here. There was very little traffic, and to top it off drinking and driving is much rarer here than back in the States. I might be reluctant to do it in the states, or particularly in Michigan because of lousy roads.

Also, commuting home at night in winter is dark, but still busy roads.

I've been running at night for many years. I run on side streets mostly and after 10ish they are almost completely deserted. It's wonderful.

I just started night cycling this year. It's not quite as fun as night running, because even with a good headlight (I have a cygolite 550) I don't quite comfortable going as fast as I do during the day, especially on descents. I'm not worried about drivers, just road hazards really. It is enjoyable though, especially on warm nights.

in unbearably hot texas, night time was the only escape from the heat. in the hill country where i rode, there is very little traffic, and there is a certain calm and peace when cruising under the moon.

here i dont ride at night... there is pretty scenery that gets lost under the dark of the sky

Best of luck with that!

Another futile, "There's two kinds of people," thread.