Night Ride

Quoted message said:

I have been riding for a lot of years and I think last Thursday night
was the best ride of my life. Well, at least the best ride this
season. Someone had the bright idea to try a night ride. I was
skeptical to say the least and a little bit nervous. But after a
couple of miles I was able to relax and enjoy the ride. I couldn't
believe how much fun it was. The air temp was just right and the wind
has died down. We even had a deer cross the road 100 feet in front of
us. Cars were even more courteous then ever giving us a lot of room.
We all had a great time and we even averaged over 18mph.

I love the night air too. Personally, I try to stay off roads at night as I
am concerned about carless drivers, but side streets, trails, etc. are
terribly fun after dark. Some friends and I were out til 5 am last night 🙂

--
Jem Berkes
http://www.sysdesign.ca/

Jem Berkes said:

Quoted message said:

I have been riding for a lot of years and I think last Thursday night
was the best ride of my life. Well, at least the best ride this
season. Someone had the bright idea to try a night ride. I was
skeptical to say the least and a little bit nervous. But after a
couple of miles I was able to relax and enjoy the ride. I couldn't
believe how much fun it was. The air temp was just right and the wind
has died down. We even had a deer cross the road 100 feet in front of
us. Cars were even more courteous then ever giving us a lot of room.
We all had a great time and we even averaged over 18mph.

I love the night air too. Personally, I try to stay off roads at night
as I
am concerned about carless drivers, but side streets, trails, etc. are
terribly fun after dark. Some friends and I were out til 5 am last night
🙂

Riding at night is definitely fun and even more so the last few days
with a full moon. It is nice to ride out to a deserted spot and take
in the scenery by moonlight at midnight. Stars are great once you
get away from city glare.
Have fun,
Bill Baka

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Quoted message said:

Riding at night is definitely fun and even more so the last few days
with a full moon. It is nice to ride out to a deserted spot and take
in the scenery by moonlight at midnight. Stars are great once you
get away from city glare.

Yes, the full moon last night was incredible. By the way, with respect to
lighting --

If I'm on the street, I always use lights! I have two small lightweight 3-
white LED units called "beamer" from Planet bike, bought at Mountain
Equipment Co-Op (Canadian). Costs $17 CDN or $12 US. Runs on 2 x AA, steady
on or blinking -- which is great for seeing reflectors up ahead.

I have two of these lights on my front handlebars, quick snap on/off.
Draining 92 mA @ 3 v (steady mode), power usage is over a quarter watt so I
don't know how long the batteries will last. But I like the units because
they are small, use common batteries, and are decently bright. Doubles as
portable flash light when I need it.

--
Jem Berkes
http://www.sysdesign.ca/

Jem Berkes said:

Quoted message said:

Riding at night is definitely fun and even more so the last few days
with a full moon. It is nice to ride out to a deserted spot and take
in the scenery by moonlight at midnight. Stars are great once you
get away from city glare.

Yes, the full moon last night was incredible. By the way, with respect to
lighting --

If I'm on the street, I always use lights! I have two small lightweight
3-
white LED units called "beamer" from Planet bike, bought at Mountain
Equipment Co-Op (Canadian). Costs $17 CDN or $12 US. Runs on 2 x AA,
steady
on or blinking -- which is great for seeing reflectors up ahead.

I have two of these lights on my front handlebars, quick snap on/off.
Draining 92 mA @ 3 v (steady mode), power usage is over a quarter watt
so I
don't know how long the batteries will last. But I like the units because
they are small, use common batteries, and are decently bright. Doubles as
portable flash light when I need it.

Lights I need, since I rode by moonlight and could see just fine but
the cars couldn't see me. All of two cars I saw the whole night so not
a big concern. I wish I had about $400 to burn and then I
could buy one of those dynamo hubs.
If it's fun do it.
Bill Baka

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Jem Berkes <[email hidden]> wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

I love the night air too. Personally, I try to stay off roads at night as I
am concerned about carless drivers...

Carless drivers are indeed dangerous. They wander around aimlessly,
confused and afraid. You never know what they're going to do. Best to
give them a wide berth.

Robert

Bill Baka said:

Quoted message said:

Riding at night is definitely fun and even more so the last few days
with a full moon. It is nice to ride out to a deserted spot and take
in the scenery by moonlight at midnight. Stars are great once you
get away from city glare.

All very true.

It's sad that there are so many kids growing up who have never seen the
Milky Way.

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

Monty said:

I have been riding for a lot of years and I think last Thursday night was
the best ride of my life. Well, at least the best ride this season.
Someone had the bright idea to try a night ride. I was skeptical to say

the

Quoted message said:

least and a little bit nervous. But after a couple of miles I was able

to

Quoted message said:

relax and enjoy the ride. I couldn't believe how much fun it was. The

air

Quoted message said:

temp was just right and the wind has died down. We even had a deer cross

the

Quoted message said:

road 100 feet in front of us. Cars were even more courteous then ever
giving us a lot of room. We all had a great time and we even averaged

over

Quoted message said:

18mph.

I enjoy riding at night. But I am also well aware that 75% of bike
fatalities occur at night, while 75% of bike riding occurs in the day. It
requires proper lighting and due caution.

<snip>

Monty probably didn't write:

Quoted message said:

At that moment, a collection of flashing red taillights and ultra-bright

LCD

Quoted message said:

high beams

No such thing as an ultra-bright LCD.

Austin

RobertH said:

Jem Berkes <[email hidden]> wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

I love the night air too. Personally, I try to stay off roads at night

as I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

am concerned about carless drivers...

Carless drivers are indeed dangerous. They wander around aimlessly,
confused and afraid. You never know what they're going to do. Best to
give them a wide berth.

Actually, most of the carless drivers I know stay at home, sitting with a
beer, and complain about not having a car. That doesn't sound dangerous to
me.

Austin

Jem Berkes said:

I love the night air too. Personally, I try to stay off roads at night as I
am concerned about carless drivers, but side streets, trails, etc. are
terribly fun after dark. Some friends and I were out til 5 am last night 🙂

Some of the fun of riding at night is that the six-lane arterial which
would be packed with cars at rush hour is now deserted. This allows you
to try some other routes which you normally wouldn't find enjoyable
during the day. Four- and six-lane roads are especially nice, since you
can often take a lane for yourself without bothering anybody.

--
Frederic Briere <*> [email hidden]

=> <[email hidden]> IS NO MORE: <http://www.abacomsucks.com> <=

Bill Baka said:

Riding at night is definitely fun and even more so the last few days
with a full moon. It is nice to ride out to a deserted spot and take
in the scenery by moonlight at midnight. Stars are great once you
get away from city glare.

They're even more beautiful during a new moon, at least to me. But
getting far enough from the city, and finding a road that doesn't have a
house with a bright porch light after every turn... It's been a while
since I've been on such a location during a new moon with a clear sky.
<sigh>

--
Frederic Briere <*> [email hidden]

=> <[email hidden]> IS NO MORE: <http://www.abacomsucks.com> <=

AustinMN said:

I enjoy riding at night. But I am also well aware that 75% of bike
fatalities occur at night, while 75% of bike riding occurs in the day. It
requires proper lighting and due caution.

From my observations, I'd say that 99% of the bikes I see at night don't
have any lights on. (I can't even remember seeing one lighted cyclist
this year. Oh, wait, I think there was actually one.) Anyway, if you
do the math, the odds are in your favor!

(When I see an unlighted cyclist, I often wonder about the many lights I
see for sale on the shelves at Canadian Tire. If they bother keeping
those in stock, then *somebody* must be buying them! How come I never
see anybody actually *using* them?)

--
Frederic Briere <*> [email hidden]

=> <[email hidden]> IS NO MORE: <http://www.abacomsucks.com> <=

Frederic Briere said:

Bill Baka said:

Riding at night is definitely fun and even more so the last few days
with a full moon. It is nice to ride out to a deserted spot and take
in the scenery by moonlight at midnight. Stars are great once you
get away from city glare.

They're even more beautiful during a new moon, at least to me. But
getting far enough from the city, and finding a road that doesn't have a
house with a bright porch light after every turn... It's been a while
since I've been on such a location during a new moon with a clear sky.
<sigh>

I'm not near a city, but an overgrown town, and Beale AFB, which is huge.
It takes about 8 miles for me to get to a basically deserted road,
and even there I am still bothered a little by the lights at Beale and the
3 towns large enough to make a bright spot in the sky. It is getting harder
to find a nice really dark spot.
Hmmmm...A convenient electric grid blackout...darkness...stars.
Just dreaming now.
Bill Baka

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

"Frederic Briere" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

AustinMN <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

From my observations, I'd say that 99% of the bikes I see at night don't
have any lights on.

Even during commuter hours? When I ride to work at 6:30 AM and it's during
the season when that's dark, I would estimate that 96% of the cyclists I see
are using lights.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Claire Petersky said:

"Frederic Briere" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

From my observations, I'd say that 99% of the bikes I see at night don't
have any lights on.

Even during commuter hours? When I ride to work at 6:30 AM and it's during
the season when that's dark, I would estimate that 96% of the cyclists I see
are using lights.

*96* percent estimated???

Got a margin of error to go with that?

Anyways, I'd agree with you for my area as well.

During commuter hours in the later fall, winter and spring,
virtually everyone has a light on their bike.

Sometimes it's so bright I wonder if I haven't accidentally
wandered on to the railroad line with a train approaching!

SMH

"Stephen Harding" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Claire Petersky said:

"Frederic Briere" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

From my observations, I'd say that 99% of the bikes I see at night don't
have any lights on.

Even during commuter hours? When I ride to work at 6:30 AM and it's

during

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the season when that's dark, I would estimate that 96% of the cyclists I

see

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

are using lights.

*96* percent estimated???

One morning, I did a survey -- I would count exactly how many bicycles I saw
going the opposite direction on the way to work, and then, how many of them
had lights on. This is how I came up with that percentage. Admittedly, it's
from a very small sample size -- one morning -- but my patience with
counting bicycles is limited.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Claire Petersky said:

One morning, I did a survey -- I would count exactly how many bicycles I saw
going the opposite direction on the way to work, and then, how many of them
had lights on. This is how I came up with that percentage. Admittedly, it's
from a very small sample size -- one morning -- but my patience with
counting bicycles is limited.

Well, it would have to be at least 24 out of 25 and that's more than I
see in downtown DC...

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Claire Petersky said:

Quoted message said:

From my observations, I'd say that 99% of the bikes I see at night don't
have any lights on.

Even during commuter hours? When I ride to work at 6:30 AM and it's during
the season when that's dark, I would estimate that 96% of the cyclists I see
are using lights.

I guess it's a local thing. My city (Sherbrooke, QC) is somewhat
renowned for its hills, and most cyclists will prefer sticking to the
nice paths alongside the river. Plus, you have to factor in our
wonderful Quebec winters. So, cycle-commuting is often seen as some
sort of abnormality around here.

OTOH, the population is slightly younger than average (mostly b/c of the
university) so you see lots of cyclists running errands and stuff,
situations where you don't really depend on your bike as you would if
you were commuting day in day out. There's not as much an incentive to
invest in a headlight, make sure to pack fresh batteries, etc.

Interestingly, I rode to Montreal two weeks ago, and I was amazed at the
cycling difference between there and here. I saw many more cyclists,
and *way* many more road bikes, and was getting passed regularly --
something that doesn't happen often for me. (Okay, so I was lugging
30lb of gear, and I was tired, but still...) It seems to me that
they take cycling much more seriously than we do. (They also plaster
those goddamn bike lanes everywhere, but that's another story.)

(BTW, I crossed three cyclists last night; none of them had lights, and
two of them were going wrong-way on the sidewalk. <sigh>😉

--
Frederic Briere <*> [email hidden]

=> <[email hidden]> IS NO MORE: <http://www.abacomsucks.com> <=