The Chicago Tribune contacted me because they are doing a story on cycling at night. Good people, please give me your thoughts. What do you love or hate about riding at night? What about safety issues, visibilty, ect? Speak freely so others may freely...

thanks in advance. going to try to footnote this forum if possible.

Man, the Night Rider theme song is friggin sweet. Now I've got it stuck in my head.

I love the different sense the city has (I'm a urban night rider). Go downtown to the financial district and all the streets are open and all the buildings sort of channel you in but you're free to go as fast as you like. I love the sparkliness. I love steam coming out of manhole covers. I love watching people do their evening things, going to movies, going to bars and clubs, taking carriage rides.

Biggest don't-likes, idiots (drunken or otherwise) who take the dark as an excuse to endanger me. Period.

I'm a visibility proponent. At night I always got my rear red blinky and my headlight. I don't go overboard, I don't have the dayglo vest with the Scotchbrite stripes or anything like that, but I'm a big believer in active lighting. Way too many fatalities involve unlit cyclists after dark and my own personal experience is that they're hard to see until the last moment, even as a cyclist.

I'd post a more direct link but my server seems to be dead right now. I have a bunch of photos taken at night riding around here: www.zweknu.org/pics?alb=boston you'll just have to page through some of the thumbnail views to find where the night shots begin.

Good - you see cars better at intersection crossings.
Bad - It gets colder at night.
Good - You can be "stealth biker"
Bad - Stealth bikers get hit by cars if they forget to avoid them.
Good - Shroud of darkness is a comfort to reclusive / paranoid bikers
Bad - I just realized I am paranoid / reclusive.
Good - Easier to eat pie.
Bad - Pie makes me paranoid.

What I love is that state of darkness where you can't see much beyond your front wheel, the ground seems to unwind off a giant roll before you—you almost feel as though you can ride off the edge of the world.

In the dark one seems to travel faster and smoother.

Riding at night is a rythm that's different than riding in the day. Riding at late night on a weekday (read: post 10pm) and things are nice and quiet, at least in Chicago. Less cars and depending on what streets you're on, you've got the city to yourself almost.

I find it relaxing for the most part, and feel like I can concentrate on the ride or my thoughts more than trying to avoid cars and watch for traffic. Taking small streets and alleyways adds another level of stealth and non-disturbance. Night rides are good, that's for sure, decidely different, but good in their own way.

Shiznaz - Night Rider?!?...Davis Hasslehoff is shaking his head right now.

as far as riding at night i love it. think about it. for people who aren't messangers, riding at night is the only chance we get to ride. i like it most becuase in the city there are less cars, and you can take up a whole lane of traffic, and not have to worry about it. i would say that the biggest draw back is that it gets way cold.

I got hit when a car crossed a double yellow.
CPD didn't give 'em a ticket saying that since it
was at night and I didn't have a front light it was
unreasonable for them to see me. total b.s.
and I have the insurance check to prove it.

On the plus side I can't ride in the burbs at
night at all due to too few street lights.

And the only time to ride the Lakefront path
is at night. Just watch for cracks.

jeff

I love how the wind is often blowing less at night in the city, and you won't get as over heated so you can hammer as hard as you feel like. I love messing with drivers at night when the traffic is backed up across town, passing them all and giving them this "don't you wish you were riding" look. But mostly, everything feels different at night. Even your most common path can feel new and exciting. I tend to do 70% of my riding at night. Ah midnight drivers...they make the ride just a little more exciting.

i really enjoy riding at night for the most part. everything seems more peaceful and relaxed and i can just ride. i always enjoy riding to certain areas of the city where i can get a good view of the skyline or at least part of it. i also enjoy being able to get on certain roads that are normally sketchy to ride on, but at night i can go really fast on them. i always wear a red blinky light on back and recently bought a led headlight for the front. the main drawback i see is that atlanta has super stealthy potholes. they hide in the shadows and are unseen until you hit them. one of them knocked my rear wheel out of true the other night. and you can never get the pothole posse to fix them, (yes, atlanta has a pothole posse, they are really called that).

Everything is new. Sights, sounds, everything. Your percieved speed is much higher. If in a full moon period, utter beauty and every shape takes on a surreal quality.

Downsides: Colder, need a light of sometype to feel comfortable if in low or no-light situations.

everything seems new, different sights instead of the same old buses and delivery trucks. definitely people's driving is more of an issue, though.

also, i just got a copy of riding fixed from [165]. wanted to say thanks, mayo. you managed to put it down on paper perfectly.

Plus all of the nocturnal wildlife - deer in the road takes on a whole new meaning.

I wrote a poem about night riding once, in a half-drunk state. Kind of embarrassing to re-read now, but it's in the public record now.

Uh, that's for sure. As does seeing a small dark object running out and hitting your foot while riding. Only to find out as the shape enters your bike light envelope that it's a full grown raccoon. The grunt that it makes as it hits foot and side of wheel is worth the shorts check later on.

I do almost all of my riding in the dark, probably at least 90%. I prefer drunk drivers to drivers in a rush to get to work who haven't had their Mocha Lattes yet. A lot of it is through downtown, so there is a fair amount of light at night, sometimes it actually seems darker during the day.

You can hear the cars from further away, since it is quieter. They are easier to see as well, since (most) have their lights on. If you look in the right spots, such as street signs or building windows, you can tell that there are cars around blind corners because of the reflections.

There's also the random stuff you see late at night - bums standing on street corners tend to do more interesting things than office workers.

The solitude is also a big one for me. Sometimes I get off of work early (read 2-4am) and hit the trails. I almost never see another biker. It's a good feeling to know you are the only one where you are, the only one not just sleeping at home...

My box is back (f'ing power outage--happens way too often here). Here are a few reasons I like night riding:


(click the small for the big)

It is easier riding naked and not getting caught...too often

I like hearing the zip of the wheels on the smooth main roads which are empty at night and getting hot dogs or burritos at 3am after working up an appetite riding around with friends. Nothing beats the silence and the calmness that is nighttime in philly. No delivery vans, no peds, no cabs, nothing.

bastard pine cones! and drunks running out of bushes telling me to go back to france!!! and no i am not french

Nice pics

Thanks. Plus it's fun being that weirdo at 3am lying down on the sidewalk with a camera and tripod taking pictures of nothing trying to explain it all to the idling cabbies.

living in smaaaall town in eastern Canada, riding at night on fixed or SS is the silence of no derailers, hiss of the tires on the pavement, pockets of light in the infrequent street lights and the sarcasm of my 15 year old son dawdling on the slopes so I can catch up.(I'm going to change the gearing on his bike, that'll teach him)

mainly the silence.....

I thought of something else - a LOT less busses to deal with. I can take the bus lane instead of the bike lane, giving me several extra feet to avoid the cars.