Riding at night in mist/cloud.

Mancunianfightingcat
Mancunianfightingcat Posts: 2,054
edited October 2009 in MTB general
Aaargh!

I went up Rivington and Winter Hill last night in the dark and cloudy mist! I was really looking forward to some of the fast descents, particularly Belmont, but all I could see was the glare of my lights from the thick mist we were cycling in.

Any tips or solutions????????

Comments

  • helmet or bar light? Bar lights tend to make less backscatter as they're further from the axis of your sight. Also, we noticed on a club ride once that the guys with the bonkers-all-powerful lights suffered more in fog than we mere mortals and our single LED / Halogen set-ups
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  • .blitz
    .blitz Posts: 6,197
    The only way you're going to see in these conditions is with some lights that have a broad beam and a sharp cutoff at the top.

    You could use a thin piece of plastic to make a 'brow' for your lights, so that upward glare is reduced.
  • Ride by feel. Depending on the track, keep on the lumpy/smooth stuff.

    Not much you can do to stop it, even bar mounted lights just reduce the effect.
    --
    Burls Ti Tourer for Tarmac, Saracen aluminium full suss for trails
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Not sure you can do much really ! Stick to routes you know well and keep away tricky terrain. There will be other rides.
  • bay73
    bay73 Posts: 130
    Ride by feel. .

    or use the force :lol:
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    edited September 2009
    Naval binoculars use an orange filter for better vision in fog. Dont know how you would put an orange filter on a bike light though.

    edit: perhaps some glasses with an orange lense might work
    Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap
  • I had a pair of lumicycle halogens on the bars, 10w and 35w and a Tesco torch on my head.
    In the end I pushed the 10w towards the ground and just rode with that.
    I still had a good ride, just not as fast as I'd have liked!
  • missmarple
    missmarple Posts: 1,980
    Hill fog normally reduces visibility to under 1KM in most circumstances, not much you can do to help I'm afraid. But the idea about orange lenses is a bluddy good one! :)
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    stubs wrote:
    Naval binoculars use an orange filter for better vision in fog. Dont know how you would put an orange filter on a bike light though.

    edit: perhaps some glasses with an orange lense might work
    There are binoculars for looking at people's navels?
    What a strange strange world we live in.
  • stubs wrote:
    Naval binoculars use an orange filter for better vision in fog. Dont know how you would put an orange filter on a bike light though.

    edit: perhaps some glasses with an orange lense might work

    D'oh.

    I actually had a pair of orange tinted glasses in my pocket for the whole ride. Never thought to put them on as my lower speed was doing a good enough job of keeping my eyes free from crud!
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    stubs wrote:
    Naval binoculars use an orange filter for better vision in fog. Dont know how you would put an orange filter on a bike light though.

    edit: perhaps some glasses with an orange lense might work
    There are binoculars for looking at people's navels?
    What a strange strange world we live in.

    You can get radiotelescopes

    never understood needing a telescope to look at your radio move closer or get a bigger radio
    Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I get radio on freeview or sky, is that the same thing? :?



    :lol:
  • Hercule Q
    Hercule Q Posts: 2,781
    mount your lights as low as possible

    pinkbike
    Blurring the line between bravery and stupidity since 1986!
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    D'oh.

    I actually had a pair of orange tinted glasses in my pocket for the whole ride. Never thought to put them on as my lower speed was doing a good enough job of keeping my eyes free from crud!

    Orange or yellow tints are absolutely no good for riding at night, whether it's misty/foggy or not.

    Tinted lenses work by changing wavelengths to make light more or less visible (yellow light is more visible than white light, hence the use of yellow lenses in dull conditions), or decreasing contrast in order that your eyes take less time to adjust. Ever wondered why a ship's bridge or control room is illuminated in red light at night? It's so that if the crew has to go outside (or if a submarine surfaces at night) that they are not temporarily blinded by the sudden change in light levels.

    But of course, changing wavelengths only works if there's light available to start with - so at night, if you wear a yellow or orange lens, you're reducing the amount of light that reaches the eye in the first place!

    Fog will only compound the problem - if there's no light to start with and then someone throws a blanket over your head, wearing yellow or orange glasses isn't going to make things better!!

    As far as lighting is concerned a small, powerful spot beam mounted low down is better than a wide flood beam high up - this is why car front fog lights are mounted below the bumper and the reflectors are shaped to concentrate the beam, rather than scatter it. In fact Roadcraft, the police driving manual, recommends using fog lights and sidelights rather than dipped beam headlights in low visibility conditions (e.g. fog or snow).
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    All good stuff, apart from one thing - Lenses don't change the wavelength of light, they just selectively block varying wavelengths depening on their colour.
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    All good stuff, apart from one thing - Lenses don't change the wavelength of light, they just selectively block varying wavelengths depening on their colour.

    Quite correct of course - they act as a filter.
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  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    Use your supersonic sonar radar.
    Uncompromising extremist
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    My lights are so powerful they burn the fog off. So there.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    supersonic wrote:
    My lights are so powerful they burn the fog off. So there.
    Does that mean they also cause fog, if they're shone onto a wet surface?
  • captainfly
    captainfly Posts: 1,001
    dave_hill wrote:
    Orange or yellow tints are absolutely no good for riding at night, whether it's misty/foggy or not.
    Erm, No, if there is any light at all they will improve night vision and also protect it.
    dave_hill wrote:
    Tinted lenses work by changing wavelengths to make light more or less visible (yellow light is more visible than white light, hence the use of yellow lenses in dull conditions), or decreasing contrast in order that your eyes take less time to adjust. Ever wondered why a ship's bridge or control room is illuminated in red light at night? It's so that if the crew has to go outside (or if a submarine surfaces at night) that they are not temporarily blinded by the sudden change in light levels.
    Not quite, it is all down to pupil dilation, eye anatomy and light frequency, the idea is to dilate your pupil by removing the green/white light that the rods are sensitve to and control the pupil. This allows more light into the retina so the less sensitive cones can be used to better effect. And also stops the pupil contracting when the light level changes, thats what makes it hard to see after you get dazzled..
    dave_hill wrote:
    But of course, changing wavelengths only works if there's light available to start with - so at night, if you wear a yellow or orange lens, you're reducing the amount of light that reaches the eye in the first place!
    Yes there is less light but you can make better use of it.

    Oh I suffer from a condition that causes some of my rods not to register light properly and that over dilate my pupils so do know about light sensitivity and wavelength.

    As far as the fog goes it's all about reflected light, so a filter on the lamp would do more good but not much, all lights do in this case is make it easier for other people to see you, so you have to slow down to where the visability makes it safe enough.
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  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    captainfly wrote:
    dave_hill wrote:
    Orange or yellow tints are absolutely no good for riding at night, whether it's misty/foggy or not.
    Erm, No, if there is any light at all they will improve night vision

    From personal experience I find this to be completely untrue. I thought that it would improve night vision, but I find that only a clear lens is suitable.
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  • captainfly
    captainfly Posts: 1,001
    Does white light not dazzle you? Even the glare from your own light? This techinque may not work for everyone as peoples eyes light sensitivity varies as does eyesight in general.
    It also depends on what lenses you used and what their light transmission level is.
    -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
    Mongoose Teocali
    Giant STP0

    Why are MTB economics; spend twice as much as you intended, but only half as much as you wish you could afford? :roll: