riding at night.....
 

How do you guys do it? Even with front and rear lights I'm a bit scared to ride at night.

Do you ride mostly during the day? Or is riding at night a usual occurance for you?

Riding at night is really fun actually, not too many cars, no many people. The most important thing is to dress warm and be visible. I've been riding a lot at nice since I got a PDW Radbot rear light, that thing is the bomb, I highly recommend it.

Ask the Dr. Banzai how he does it, he LOOOOOVES riding at night.

I live right near some cornfields, so sometimes I'll ride a few miles out of town to watch some stars. Since it's getting colder, follow Vixtor's advice and dress warmly. I prefer layers so I can take some stuff off when I get going and get warmed up.

Get some good lights that are visible from a good distance. I like to ride in groups of 3 or so so we make a highly visible cluster with all our lights.

a good headlight and lock are on my shortlist, and then i'll be riding a lot at night

I like riding at night because it is more comfortable than riding in the sun. I really do not like the heat, so dusk/night riding makes me ride longer and I'm comfortable. Win Win.

If there isn't a lot of other light contamination, you are more visible at night, when properly lit up, than you are during the day.

If I ride alone at night (which is most of my riding in the winter when I commute), I stick to side streets mostly. I live in a city that is pretty "permeable"; i.e., you can go in one side of a neighborhood and come out the other and get places by traveling parallel to the main thoroughfares. I've also ridden on the main streets when necessary. As others have said, lights and visibility are important.

The majority of my riding is at night. Good lights are key.

Wear a reflective if you are concerned. :P

However, reflective vest + Super Pista = -1000 cool points.

A little thing i discovered was that you can generally get more powerful light in the form of a compact flashlight (ex: fenix/cree torches) and just buy or make a simple/cheap mount. I got a Fenix E21 + a $5 mount on ebay which came out to $40 versus $130 for a similar powered bike specific headlight. Any taillight with multiple light patterns works well i think.
Night riding is fun with the right stuff...

I love riding at night, for a while I was doing it exclusively. LA even has a whole bike scene that sprouted from night time group riding, so that's great for me. I just love the cool temps and being the only person around. You just have to be aware of when drunks are most likely to be out and about in their cars, this nearly cost me my life.


I'd better visit

Riding at night is ridiculous fun. You gotta try it mayng. I'm lucky in that my city is really safe at night; there are a ton of drunks but almost ALWAYS they're just walking/stumbling around, which is a lot of fun to see.

I love riding at night, but the only thing the sketches me out about it is the only time I have to ride at night is on the weekends and living in a college town means lots of drunk drivers.

I rely on lights and gut feelings.

Something doesn't feel right, compensate.

If you're scared just get one of these on your bars.

I just returned from a night ride on my new Salsa Casseroll SS, which is equipped with LED headlight and tailight, that I operate in flashing mode, which both makes me most visible and consumes the least battery power. I can still see the road clearly with the headlight in flashing mode. For riding on really dark country roads or off road trails, I have a helmet mounted Lithium ION HID headlight, and carry the nearly 1 lb battery either in a backpack or jersey / jacket with a back pocket. When using the helmet light, the LED tailight is either clipped to the backpack or back pocket. I wear a helmet and shoes that are reflective.

I try to go on a longish night ride at least once a week. There is something infinitely more satisfying about riding at night--sometimes you can get it just right and it seems like you're the only one out winding through the sea of orange streetlights. Mostly, people are indoors and the world is yours. It seems like others in this thread agree. I've also seen some kamikaze driving post-midnight, mostly drunks speeding through stop signs and the like. Don't ever assume a vehicle will stop when you are riding at night--in fact, assume that drivers are drunk, because something like 75% of them are. Still, somehow it's much more comforting to ride on roads with that many fewer drivers.

do most of you guys live in larger cities? My town is not a bike town and that is part of what contributes to my worries, most people I feel are blind to cyclists.

I live in a college town with like the third largest party school in California. I love riding at night, especially the weekends when everyone is out on their porches and downtown drinking. Sure it's the craziest time to ride, but that also makes it the most fun to me. Just have a bright flashing light on your back so you don't get hit from behind, and I see know difference in safety from the day.
Most the time when i'm out at night, i've been out for a while and don't have my headlamp with me. I don't see a huge need for it. I can see well enough with the moon and whatever streetlights there are. I pretty well have the potholes and speed bumps all memorized, and I prefer cars not to see me from the front. I know what a car is going to do if I'm not there. But if they do see me, I can't know if they will wait, go, creep, speed. A predictable driver is a much safer car.

I also just returned from a night ride with some people I don't know. Super super fun ride at night, not many people are out riding at this time.

We're going to ride if you're going to come up to Vancouver. Unfortunately, I don't ride with the Doc...because I live really really really far away from him. Plus, I probably can't even keep up with him.

Some of the riders here in Davis do a night ride every Monday & Wed. Just be aware of the other cyclists, don't trap a new rider in the middle of the pack and run lights.

Hm... Should I bring my beater fixed to Vancouver to ride when I visit again this year... =P.

I like to ride at night! its great!!

But my 'good' light broke off my bike. I hit a bump and it broke off the clamp that held it onto my bike. Wtf? So now I am not riding at night until I get a better light.

No lights = no riding at night. Campus always has cars and as much as I love riding at night, I won't do it without lights.

I love riding at night and when our winter days are only 6 hours long and you are car free you will be riding at night... or walking.

I feel that since I am well equipped for night riding with reflective gear and good lights that I am probably more visible to motorists than I am in the daytime and there is usually less traffic.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.

Bring your Mash. :D

I wholeheartedly agree, plus, I can see cars' headlights on the ground when coming up to an intersection.

Riding at night is basically suicide. One of the surest ways to get R.I.P'd I can think of.

Don't do it, ever.



But really yeah it's safer. You're easier to see at night (contrast) and there's less traffic.