Country Commuting

mark.mcdonald85

I have started a new job and due to the lack of public transport and no access to a car, I need to start cycling to work. I am worried about the route. Mainly country roads, obviously no street lighting, and a lot of blind corners. I work shifts and can start anytime from 6:45am and finish at 11:15pm so be riding in the dark. Anyone else travel such roads at these times in the winter and do you find it dangerous?

Mr Plum

Get a couple of good rear lights (at least 1W each), a decent front light, and a very bright P7 (or alike) front light. Helmet lights would help make you more visible as well. It would be an expensive outlay on lights but they'd last you a long time and keep you alive. There are lots of threads on lights in this section of the forum.

an_original_name

as above, good quality lights is what you need more than anything. i worked in a hotel bar and restaurant a few years ago and cycled to and from work, often well after dark with no street lighting. i would have a rear light on my helmet, backpack, seatpost, and hub ( i found that a powerful ish light attatched to your hub illuminates half of the wheel all the time as well as the road everytime it points down). front lights i used a very bright magicshine light for seeing where i was going, as well as a small flashing light on my helmet and another on the forks.

might sound overkill but it made sure i could see as well as being seen!

oh also a high vis jacket would be a very good idea.

davis

Yep. My commute's country roads, and doing it at "quiet" times means there are very few people about. I got some Exposure lights -- they're really expensive, but they behave perfectly and they're worth the money in my view.

Use your lights, and your ears to listen out for people driving "enthusiastically", and you should be fine.

PS: Watch out for potholes! :-)

nigglenoo

Just to add be very careful not to hug the hedge, on tight left hand bends cars coming up behind you will see you sooner if you are in the correct 'secondary' position about 1m from the side of the road, plus they will be less tempted to try and squeeze past when there is oncoming traffic.

I use Magicshine lights from Deal Extreme front and rear connected to the same battery and keep a charged up spare battery in my rack pack. I do dip the front light right down when traffic is coming towards me as otherwise it would dazzle them.

Front light, good enough for 20mph in the dark, UK charger: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ha-iii-cre ... uded-30864

Rear light, seriously bright, like a car foglight, and I use it on constant mode (US charger but you can use the UK one from the front light set and now you have two batteries): http://www.dealextreme.com/p/magicshine ... uded-42077

The rear light looks white until you switch it on then it shines a very intense red. I also bought the splitter cable and extension lead so I could run both lights off the same battery. I sprayed a little grease into the connectors just in case.

Extension cable: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-4mm-male ... 00cm-32751

Splitter cable: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-4mm-male ... 25cm-32753

Takes a while for the stuff to come from the Far East so worth ordering sooner rather than later, but it all worked out less than £100 for me last year, check the Dollar prices through www.xe.com to get an estimate of cost in £s.

andyrr

Also, I don't have significant lonely sections of road but also used to sometimes start/finish early/late so I'd make sure to have 3 or 4 spare tubes, decent pump you know works ok, chain tool etc - the main basics so that you reduce the likelihood of being stranded at the side of the road. Ensure the bike is well maintained also to again reduce the chance of bike problems.
3 or 4 rear lights - maybe 1 that just acts as an emergency backup plus a really good front plus a spare one that will, again, act as backup and not be used in parallel to the main one. I had a DX light that failed on me and on switching on my helmet light (Tesco LED Cree I think) it then also produced near to no light (possibly just under charged batteries). Be diligent at ensuring you have good kit and that includes ensuring batteries are charged up. I had another occasion where I did the last 4 miles of my commute on poorly lit/unlit roads on just on a tinyflashing Electron light - scary ! Am better prepared now for 1 or even 2 lights failing.

meanredspider

Lots of stuff on lights which I'd agree with but do also wear some reflective gear. Altura Night Vision looks good but even just a reflective vest. It helps cars identify you as a slow-moving vehicle or pedestrian and will help them slow earlier - as will a flashing rear light.

Living in the Highlands, we get more dark than most in the winter and most of my commute is on lanes where cars simply don't expect a bike to be but I've had no issues. In fact, in some ways I'm better off in the dark as cars coming the other way on singletrack roads and aren't really sure what I am.

bobbygloss

Head torch is vital for repairing punctures etc in the dark.
Also I accidentally found that a small red flasher light facing upwards onto a yellow jacket makes your whole back glow in a very spooky and distinctive way, guaranteed to get noticed.

MichaelW

Hub dynamo lights produce a fair amount of usable light with no battery management issues. Use in conjunction with a battery system, backup lights and a head torch. If you run short of mounting points, make sure your rear luggage rack has a modern style light bracket.
Make sure your hi viz jacket has wide strips of reflective stuff, not the narrow piping on cycling jackets.
Use an offside pannier with reflective markings to ensure wider overtaking clearance.

ex-pat scot

I ride country lanes throughout the winter.
Agree with above posters.

I concentrate on lighting and a bit of reflective kit.

Lighting: 2 rear lights flashing.
One spare emergency LED as well
2 front lights plus spare emergency LED.
1 is a P7 torch (DealExtreme)
Other is a lower power DX torch.
Cheap, bright. Sometimes need a bit of fettling with loosening connections but otherwise marvellous.

Memorise your roads, particularly the potholes emerging over the winter. You won't always be able to see them, but you should be anticipating them

BelgianBeerGeek

If you have two rear lights then have one on constant, one flashing. It can be difficult for drivers to judge your speed in relation to theirs and as a consequence they can be on top of you in no time, braking hard. This is particularly true in mist/fog and rain.

Sorry if this is a no-brainer, my brother is an HGV driver (and non-cyclist) and he always mentions this. I guess he just has my best interests at heart.

Blue Meanie

+1 Mean Red Spider
Scoth-Lite reflective bits on clothes (I wear a Night Vision) never run out of batteries.
Same goes for reflectors on bikes, legal requirement but rather uncool I know.

I find that powerful lights ruin your eyes' night vision in the proper dark, don't go for overkill on the lonely roads and save your battery power for when you need it.

MichaelW

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

If you have two rear lights then have one on constant, one flashing. It can be difficult for drivers to judge your speed in relation to theirs and as a consequence they can be on top of you in no time, braking hard. This is particularly true in mist/fog and rain.

Sorry if this is a no-brainer, my brother is an HGV driver (and non-cyclist) and he always mentions this. I guess he just has my best interests at heart.

As opposed to both on flash. 2 lights flashing at different frequencies drift in and out of sync is a very hypnotic way and send drivers into a zombie trance.

wyadvd

nigglenoo wrote:

Just to add be very careful not to hug the hedge, on tight left hand bends cars coming up behind you will see you sooner if you are in the correct 'secondary' position about 1m from the side of the road, plus they will be less tempted to try and squeeze past when there is oncoming traffic.
.

John Franklin actually recommends hugging the centre white line of a road on left hand bends (ie going wider than the primary position), and on single track roads and he recomends that you "use the full width of the road" to improve visibility on left handers. On right hand bends , hug the hedge. Also tilt your head over, which is effective when you have a helmet light.

At night you can see em coming miles away so its no sweat really. Just get a light that lets them see you miles away too!! Im an exposure maxxd man myself.

wyadvd

oh Ive got this light on the back: (plus cheap backups);
http://www.dinottelighting.com/LED_bike ... attery.htm

shouldbeinbed

mark.mcdonald85 wrote:

I have started a new job and due to the lack of public transport and no access to a car, I need to start cycling to work. I am worried about the route. Mainly country roads, obviously no street lighting, and a lot of blind corners. I work shifts and can start anytime from 6:45am and finish at 11:15pm so be riding in the dark. Anyone else travel such roads at these times in the winter and do you find it dangerous?

Not read it all so apols for duplication

Yes I do and at odd times too. Good lights front and rear. Front ones to see by and to be seen by. Fixed lights are supposed to help cars gauge your distance better than flashing ones but flashers draw attention as a bike better, so use both types.
Helmet mounted lights are a necessity for me( hedges, walls fences etc hiding bike mounted ones), my choice of helmet is always based on fitting lights to it rather than safety or looks.
Use decent tyres, get some with studs if you'll be doing snow and ice too - buy em now as they sell out by Nov/Dec.

carry a pretty comprehensive on bike toolkit & a few spares (cables, batteries, tube)

The right clothing particularly at the extremities makes an enormous difference when the temperature drops.

Use some reflectives too on your person & bike, pedal reflectors really make you stand out as a bike rather than possibly a pedestrian, anything to give the cars around at that time the clue you're likely to be slower than them but on the road not the pavement.

As

cyberknight

I work shifts as well , i leave the house at 6 am on days and can be coming home at 5 am on nights on country lanes.

As pointed out the magicshines from DX are very good bang for the buck and they have a ul warehouse now so delivery is quicker.
On the back i run a smart double flasher with a standard flasher on each pannier bag.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... roducts-UK

Always have a back up light as well just in case , i use one of these as a back up/light for normal roads.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/flood-to-t ... -aaa-26800

I also have reflective stickers on the back of my helmet and pannier rack along with a windproof with reflective detailing and reflective armbands+reflective details on the panniers.

I actually find that other road suers give me more room when cycling on unlit sections as i think that they are being more careful when they know you are there, as pointed out do not hug the gutter so you register on the brains .I tend to ride in the line on the road that gets worn by the nearside car wheels so i am in the zone where car drivers are looking and it gives you a bit more room to escape if they do get to close.