Riding at night in mist/cloud.
Mancunianfightingcat
Posts: 2,054
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????????
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????????
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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-upsEverything in moderation ... except beer
Beer in moderation ... is a waste of beer
If riding an XC race bike is like touching the trail,
then riding a rigid singlespeed is like licking it
... or being punched by it, depending on the day0 -
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.0 -
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 trails0 -
Not sure you can do much really ! Stick to routes you know well and keep away tricky terrain. There will be other rides.0
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andrewjoseph wrote:Ride by feel. .
or use the force0 -
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 workFig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap0 -
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!0 -
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!0
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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
What a strange strange world we live in.0 -
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!0 -
yeehaamcgee wrote: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
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 radioFig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap0 -
I get radio on freeview or sky, is that the same thing? :?
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Mancunianfightingcat wrote: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).0 -
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.0
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yeehaamcgee wrote: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.0 -
Use your supersonic sonar radar.Uncompromising extremist0
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My lights are so powerful they burn the fog off. So there.0
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supersonic wrote:My lights are so powerful they burn the fog off. So there.0
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dave_hill wrote:Orange or yellow tints are absolutely no good for riding at night, whether it's misty/foggy or not.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.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!
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.-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
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:0 -
captainfly wrote:dave_hill wrote:Orange or yellow tints are absolutely no good for riding at night, whether it's misty/foggy or not.
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.0 -
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:0