Doohickie

True, true....

pallen

yeah, I don't know what to say about the risks of riding through a "bad neighborhood". I go through some poor, "rough" areas during the day and have been through some of the roughest parts of town at night in small groups and have never been bothered. People on foot generally aren't going to try to chase down a bike. I suppose someone in a car could try to knock you over to steal your bike, but I just don't think the criminal types are going to see you as a good target. I might be really naive here, I dont know...

dissident

zebralight SC600 is the perfect biking headlight if you get a charger and the proper batteries for it and a mount (it's not a biking light, just a regular LED flashlight that came out about a month or two ago) Goes up to 500+ lumens on high and the beam is not a spot beam, it's more of a medium flood beam that spreads out and provides more square footage of road visibility.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...braLight-SC600

of course it would probably add too much weight to most people's expensive rides.

datlas 

Like 98% of the inquiries in BF, I think the correct answer is "it depends."

I have done my fair share of night riding and under the right circumstances, I think it can be as safe or safer than riding during daytime....assuming...

1. You have adequate lights. I would say 500+ lumens. Inadequate lighting is unsafe.

2. You are riding on "familiar" roads. You don't want surprise potholes or curves etc. at night if possible.

3. (probably only applies to urban areas) You are riding in "safe" neighborhoods.

If you have inadequate lights and/or are exploring new roads, I think it's not so safe.

rolliepollie

Thanks for the thoughts, and for the data sheet from OPC.

I should be good on the visibility side once I add in the ankle reflector along with the 750-lumen (NOT WATTS like i orginally typed (LOL) Tridenx and the Planetbike Superflash. Actually feel like a car, and just love flooding joggers and pedestrians in light when completely dark (don't know why they don't wear a blinkie).

I also ride alone all the time - nobody I know who rides let alone at night. So I'm wary of any...ambushers lurking around in the off-hours. I always hear horror stories of homeless or whoever jumping/robbing/kidnapping in the park/woods. But I'm hoping they won't be lying in wait next to a road with few pedestrians. MUP's on the other hand...

rolliepollie

O yes, I make sure to only go on routes I've travelled before in daytime. Can't imagine getting a bit lost or disoriented in an empty area - sitting still only seeing what's directly ahead feels so very vulnerable.

THe areas I live and ride to are generally quite safe, but like everywhere there's always the occasional freak (like the lone man walking slowly in Golden Gate Park in complete darkness).

Doohickie

MUPs can be scary at night, as much because of animals as humans.

tagaproject6

The attack humans are specially scary

snake_p20

I do a fair amount of night riding due to schedules work out so the only time I can ride is at night. I believe when night riding the tail light is more important than head light because a tail light is what the guy that would run you over would see. A head light only needs to be bright enough to light up the road for whatever speed you are traveling at, the faster you ride the brighter you need but a tail light should be as bright as you can afford. Also when riding at night I don't usually take my road bike, I like to take my LHT because even if you know the roads you won't be able to avoid all the bumps and imperfections in the road so I prefer to take a bike that absorbs the jarring a little better. Speed is lost but when I ride at night I am just trying to get some miles in and I am not usually in a hurry.

TassR700

This is where a second , more focused beam on the helmet comes in handy. Where I ride, I use it as a deer spotter.

trek2.3bike

Manufacturers can make 60, 150, 250, 350 and higher lumen rechargeable HEADLIGHTS. But they seem unable to make a TAIL LIGHT that even comes close.

So, like me, most of us have a $150 headlight and a $15 tail light. Whoo Hoo, someone needs to have their MBA revoked. There's lots of lost sales here because no one is chasing them.

vandalarchitect

I've done my fair share of riding at night and as much as I love it, it can get fairly scary (nothing said about if it's more dangerous). From my own experience I've almost run over a porcupine (got a better light after this one), I've been buzzed by more bats than cars, I been spooked by critters probably as many times as I've spooked them. Heck I've been able to get close enough to a few deer that I could have tackled then from my saddle if I wanted to.

But the fine print on all those experiences is that they all (except for the porcupine) happened during twilight. Still light enough to see, but not be seen. Add that to the fact that our bikes are one of the quietest human threats that critters have to deal with and it opens the door for accidents. I finished up yesterday's ride just after sunset, I took the picture below about a mile from the end of my ride and as you can see it's still light enough to see, but maybe 250 meters in the opposite direction I spooked two deer just off the side of the road. They could have easily jumped in front of me rather than scramble into the field. Either way, I would have preferred to have known they were there and they probably would have preferred to have known I was coming. I had a tail blinkie and my headlight on flashing mode.



I don't know if this actually helps warn animals, or if it just helps my psychological state ... but last month on a full-moon midnight metric (epic ride) I was heading down an easy grade on a rails to trails as it headed into a forested area. I figured that the dangerous part of this would be a deer or coyote getting spooked and jumping in front of me on the trail so I sat up and started clapping every hundred meters or so. I've also been known to whistle. If it helps, great. If not, I look like an idiot. But since no one is there to see, who cares.

billallbritten

[QUOTE=trek2.3bike;13023254]Manufacturers can make 60, 150, 250, 350 and higher lumen rechargeable HEADLIGHTS. But they seem unable to make a TAIL LIGHT that even comes close.

https://www.dinottelighting.com/LED_b...-taillight.htm

Overkill IMHO. But there it is, 300 lumen taillight

mulveyr 

Once you go black, they can't see your back.

caloso

As others have said, it's just as safe -- perhaps safer -- if you are properly lit. In your specific case (riding in GGP and the Presidio) your most immediate hazards will probably be ninja joggers and street people rather than cars. You might consider mace and a cell phone, just in case.

BHOFM

I leave for my ride about 3am. I have all the lights, blinkie back and bright head light.
I wear yellow shirts and the main thing, I often ride ten miles or more before I see a
car. If I do, it is most often a police car.

0stick

Unfortunately, this data is misleading, as the NHTSA report appears to be missing information about the actual number of cyclists during the day as opposed to night.

My guess is there are more cyclists during the day, therefore, the actual number of pedalcyclist fatalities during the day should be higher than at night. However, this does not equate to the probability of a pedalcyclist fatality. In the following example, the probability of a fatality at night is double.

Let's say 72 cyclists were killed during the day and 27 were killed during the night. Let's also assume that during the day there were 1,000 cyclists on the road and during the night, there were 200 cyclists. This would mean 7% of cyclists riding during the day were killed and 14% of cyclists riding during the night were killed.

Also, note that NHTSA defines daytime as 4 am to 8 pm, which is a 16 hour time period, but what they define as nighttime is only a spam of 8 hours (8pm to 4am).

Whenever you decide to ride, day or night, stay safe.

Rimmer

I feel safer at night, and it's really fun riding then. There's less traffic, and I feel more visible with my lighting. Except Friday nights when there's more traffic, harassment, weirdos and drunks. I try to avoid going out on main roads Friday and Saturday nights.

ahson

Personally I never ride at night/dark because I find it too dangerous and unsafe to do so. Its not a matter of lights, high-vis clothing, its simply there are way too many dumb drivers out there on the road these days. There are plenty of those drivers who tried to run me off the road during the day, and I can't even imagine what will happen if I ride at night time. Trust me if they are bad drivers, those lights or high-vis stuff won't do a thing to them. Maybe we just have too many blind drivers here in TO.

Its fun to ride at night, but its not worth to risk at all.

MikeyBoyAz

I prefer the night riding here in AZ, my night route is smaller and I just do multiple loops to increase mileage.

rolliepollie

True, but also guessing there's no real way of measuring the total cyclist population - they can only go off # of injuries/fatalities reported.

Some interesting tidbits from the report:

===============================================
Fatalities in 2008/2009

Intersection 36% 33%
Non-Intersection 64% 67%
Midnight – 3:59 a.m. 9% 8%
4 a.m. – 7:59 a.m. 12% 12%
8 a.m. – 11:59 a.m. 13% 14%
Noon – 3:59 p.m. 17% 17%
4 p.m. – 7:59 p.m. 26% 29%
8 p.m. – 11:59 p.m. 22% 19%

Most of the pedalcyclists killed or injured in 2009 were males (87% and 80%,
respectively). The most killed were between the ages of 45 and 54 (20%), and the
most injured were between 25 and 34 (20%)

Alcohol Involvement
Over one-fourth (28%) of the pedalcyclists killed in 2009 had a blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) of .01 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher, and nearly onefourth
(24%) had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher. Alcohol-involvement—either for
the driver or the pedalcyclists—was reported in more than 40 percent of the traffic
crashes that resulted in pedalcyclist fatalities in 2009. In 33 percent of the crashes,
either the driver or the pedalcyclist was reported to have a BAC) of .08 g/dL or
higher. Lower alcohol levels (BAC .01 to .07 g/dL) were reported in an additional
6 percent of crashes.
===============================================

I'd also like to point the obvious - some fatalities/injuries are the fault of cyclists as well. Just last month in SF there were 2 local accidents where one made an illegal left turn onto an oncoming car (severe injuries/might have died later), and another ran a red light and hit an elder (elder had major injuries).

Most cyclists I see at night in the city also don't have adequate lighting (I'd say more than half). They seem to either have a white blinkie flashing or nonflashing, OR a red taillight, not both. The occasion cyclist will have both and is very visible. I'd think a large portion of injuries at night is due to improper lighting, and the 2nd large portion is drunk driving. The latter is what worries me but with my rear-view mirror it's at least easier to see how they're driving behind me.

OldsCOOL

In my area I think twice about riding at night. I'm not saying I dont.....it just has it's own set of cautions. For example, critters. On one sunny afternoon this summer I was very nearly broadsided by a deer. Without snappy application of my brakes it would have smacked me good. And this was on the outskirts of our small town where the football stadium is.

Rural areas, though lighter on traffic do present another kind of traffic hazzard.

pallen

A tail light doesn't need to illuminate the road ahead, so you can see the road ahead at a good speed. I think several small lights would actually work better than one really bright one on the rear.

MikeyBoyAz

one - two 1w LEDs do the trick, I have been spotted by other riders as we meandered into our morning ride meeting point, sometimes they are actually a mile away, and they know it's me definitively... they are Very bright and two of those suckers on blink mode are visible during daylight.

OldsCOOL

I would love to ride our bike path at night EXCEPT for the critters. I've seen deer and coyote in broad daylight. Now, those things dont scare me because I'm a woodsman and hunter in the winter months....but on a bike, that is entirely different.

Skunks. Imagine thumping one of those and wrecking right next to it