Does anyone ride solo in the dark?

njee20

Anecdotally when I lived in Bristol I used to do lots of training on the Bristol - Bath cycle path, and would frequently ride it (from Bristol city centre) at 9-10pm in the depths of winter of a multi thousand pound road bike.

Being from leafy Surrey the notion of ne'er-do-wells committing nefarious deeds never crossed my mind. With hindsight I think I'm pretty lucky I never had any problems, seem to be enough tales of folk being mugged in broad daylight!

welshkev

njee20 wrote:

Anecdotally when I lived in Bristol I used to do lots of training on the Bristol - Bath cycle path, and would frequently ride it (from Bristol city centre) at 9-10pm in the depths of winter of a multi thousand pound road bike.

Being from leafy Surrey the notion of ne'er-do-wells committing nefarious deeds never crossed my mind. With hindsight I think I'm pretty lucky I never had any problems, seem to be enough tales of folk being mugged in broad daylight!

tell me about it, when i used to work in cardiff i used to ride the taff trail. my lights ran out one night and seeing a crackhead shooting up and a guy banging a prostitute in the dark and freaking them out as i ride past isn't the best experience

cycle monster

I decided that it would be irresponsible to ride alone in the dark, over technical terrain in an area without mobile reception a few years ago. I did precisely that and continue to do so. In daylight I fall off occasionally but have yet to do so in three years of night riding. Maybe I am a little more cautious in the dark but I think it is the focus of the beam and always looking where I am going. There are of course places that I would not go alone. The peace, quiet, chill of the night and owls all add to the experience. Riding downhill at speed through a twilight bat feeding frenzy is rather disconcerting though!

Giraffoto

njee20 wrote:

Don't do much mountain biking on my own in the dark, although I have done on many occasions, but do loads of road riding on my tod. Tend to listen to music to avoid 'the fear'!

The silence is one of the best bits - why on Earth would you ruin it for yourself? I love riding in the dark, on- or off-road, and it's usually solo off-road. Decent lights, spare batteries and a 'phone are all you need.

Also, what's 'the fear'?

cooldad

Giraffoto wrote:

Also, what's 'the fear'?

Bigfoot?

pessimal

i'm glad i'm not the only one who gets a bit spooked at night

the only thing that tends to bother me is groups of kids out, but i've had no problems so far

cat_with_no_tail

cooldad wrote:

Giraffoto wrote:

Also, what's 'the fear'?

Bigfoot?

Jimmy Saville?

cooldad

Cat With No Tail wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Giraffoto wrote:

Also, what's 'the fear'?

Bigfoot?

Jimmy Saville?

That depends on how you swing.

ddraver

I have done a few times, but most of the places in N Wales had zero phone reception and I got scared (both the fear, but also the realisation that even the most innocuous of crashes/mechanicals could land me in serious trouble unless someone happened to be riding Penmachno/Marin that night too.

I managed to get a friend to form a "bike club" to come with me every wednesday. It helped with the days where willpower was not so strong too! We had a Police Helicopter following us one night...that was fun!

I reckon I'd ride more if there was somewhere a bit less out of the way I'd have done it more though.

Vegman

Yup, solo night rides are great fun... with suitable lighting.
Mine consist of several routes I know well, and I don't tempt fate by pushing it too hard on the more difficult bits.

I am lucky that I can link up lots of off road routes for a good hour to hour and a half ride and still be only at most three or four miles from home and still hardly meet a soul, the last statement being my only small worry.
I always tell my other half my route and roughly what time I should be home, and there is no prob with phone signal, and as someone else has mentioned, name rank and number in pocket or camelbak.
My only small problem happened a couple of weeks ago on one particularily steep but very wide open hill (35mph in the daylight, and not much slower in the dark as I usually close my eyes at that speed anyhow :shock: ) well the little eyes that I normally see staring back at me are usually rabbits, nope not this week.... littered with sheep, just as hard to dodge but probably a softer landing if you get it wrong. I didn't hit one luckily but my word that sheep poo really is hard to spot in the dark, and, well... sticks like :?

giantAstax

I used to ride a lot at night on trails I knew we'll and I had great lights. I had 2 scary rides. The first was where I could see 2 lights moving slowly in the distance that kept disappearing and reappearing. When I go near to them I realised they were two guys in full cammo gear, face paint and all and each had a rifle!

The second was weird. It was cold and a bit misty and quite late. In the distance I could hear some haunting musical sounds. As I rode further the sounds got louder and clearer - it sounded like bagpipes. It was all a bit surreal as the mist was getting thicker and my lights were now causing more issues than they were solving. I dropped off the trail and into a large car park as I set off for home to be greeted by two guys, kilts and all standing at opposite ends of the car park. They were 'duelling' and playing like nutters, first one then the other, then both together. Weird! I could hear it all the way home.

I haven't ridden at night in the past few years but have just bought some 1700 lumens lights. I'm looking forward to getting out there again.

M6TTF

Just started riding at night, on my own. Only thing that raised my pulse was glowing eyes about 30 metres in front of me. Turned out to be a deer. They drop down into the main forest in Macc during the night. Seen quite a few now.

Carl170

Went for a ride last night. Started snowing, so I had to stop and put my hat and neck thing on. Really dark, and got a bit spooked at one point on the way back. Went off the path and ended up next to this electricity substation thing near Prudhoe, which was really creepy.

Couple of skids over ice and tonnes of leaves while clipped in, which really gave me a fright. Have decided to swap back to flats for the night riding, as a fall could be pretty bad.

Would also be curious to know what lighting you are all running. I am using one of those Chinese jobbies off ebay with a tiny 3 led light for emergencies. I have two lights on the rear and figure I could run these at the front if the other lights went. I believe red light is the best for night vision!

Regards

Carl

the chasp

Went on my first night ride on Thursday. Its a 14 mile loop with some fields tracks semi technical downhills and a bit of mud thrown in for good measure. It was great, i thought i would be spooked but it never bothered me. Half way up one of the tracks i came across a cow with its leg well and truly stuck in a metal 5 bar gate. i tried to free it but was wasting my time so i called at the farm house. Farmer said eeeeeerr i will go down and lift out wi mi tractor. So cow saved and my first night ride was quite eventfull with no get offs and no monsters or owt !!!!!

concorde

Can't wait to get my lights through, prob will have to wait about 2 to 3 weeks as they're Hong kong jobs. Will be out in groups then and def on my own, will be shit scared I bet, but will love it all the same!

.blitz

Maybe once or twice a week on the Chase since 1992

Back then the lights were mostly commuter lights but halogens were The Future so I got some. They had a run time of about 45 mins the battery weighed a couple of kg and they were +£200 or so.

Only nutters went mountain biking at night and I could never get anyone to go with me so it was either solo or not at all. A few mates have tagged along now and then but they're in too much of a hurry to get back to the car/pub/home for my liking. I like to stop and kill the lights and just soak it all up. I'd rather it was daylight of course but the night doesn't bother me.

There have been a few unusual sights over the years but otherwise no issues with panthers, werewolves, aliens, axemen etc

homers_double

I ride at night mostly on my own, mainly because the lad I rode with has turned to the dark side and preferes lycra.

I ride regular loops so I know the trail quite well, plenty of light, phone is always fully charged and the mrs has a rough idea where I'm going.

I once came within a foot or two of a young deer at what felt like 30mph but was probably around 15. Belted round a corner in the pitch black and there it was, stood in the middle of the trail. Underwear change was the fist thing on my mind when I got home.

p44cmb

I've ridden alone of an evening maybe once a week around MIlton Keynes for the last couple of years. There are some great areas to ride that are pitch black and through wooded areas. One that particularly freaks me out is a section of the North Bucks Way which passes through a wood behind Woodhill Prison. There is nothing quite like hearing something rustling in the bushes through there to make the legs move a bit quicker.

One thing that does concern me is that MK has an awful lot of underpasses (yes and roundabouts, i know) and I'm always reading in the local rag about some poor soul or another that has been mugged in an underpass. Fortunately apart from being accosted by a woman of dubious mental state I've been ok so far. I find that the brighter and more offensive your front lighting is on your bike the more people tend to give you a wide berth.

Psychotext

Planning on starting night riding this winter as it's going to get harder to make the most out of the daylight (screw getting up at 6am).

Anyone have any general advice? Planning on sticking to trails which I know well and going out with bar lights and a helmet light (plus spare batteries). I'm going to avoid the bike path style trails near me as most of them go through / near estates and I'm fairly certain I'd end up getting stabbed / mugged.

Was thinking of going slightly more remote. Gear shouldn't be a problem as I'm a packrat anyway and have enough stuff on me to survive an average casualty episode / multiple mechanical failures.

.blitz

The only thing I'd say is try not to over-analyse it - make sure there's a phone signal where your going and let someone know where you're going and what time you expect to be back.

Practice fixing simple stuff e.g. punctures at home in the dark. It sounds sad I know but when you're miles from nowhere at night and you get a flat it's great to know you can fix it and be on your way. Same with other stuff just have a go and familiarise yourself with your bike at home in the dark.

If you're concerned about being attacked, your local police station will fix you up with a personal attack alarm for a few quid trust me you would not want to be near one of these when they go off. If you want to take it a step further consider a sheathed hunting knife; pepper spray is still available if you go on holiday to Spain but hey I hope you won't need it.

Enjoy

4ndyW

Talking about spooky stuff, google fox screech and you will hear what i heard whilst on my work commute. :shock: :shock: :shock:

njee20

If you want to take it a step further consider a sheathed hunting knife; pepper spray is still available if you go on holiday to Spain but hey I hope you won't need it.

Don't do either of those, really really stupid. a) illegal, b) more likely to be used against you than any would be assailant.

Psychotext

4ndyW wrote:

Talking about spooky stuff, google fox screech and you will hear what i heard whilst on my work commute. :shock: :shock: :shock:

Holy crap. I'd go about 30mph faster!

bartimaeus

I hear that in my garden quite often... I just assumed it was someone being murdered to death horribly.

Giraffoto

Psychotext wrote:

4ndyW wrote:

Talking about spooky stuff, google fox screech and you will hear what i heard whilst on my work commute. :shock: :shock: :shock:

Holy crap. I'd go about 30mph faster!

Muntjac deer make an odd noise too - it's referred to as "barking" but it's not at all dog-like. The oddest wildlife encounter has to be an owl in the headlight, which looks very much like a cartoon ghost!

Samdy Gray

Had my first night time ride last night armed with two new 501bs with a couple of rescued laptop batteries. I wasn't half as wimpy as I thought I would be and didn't run into any axe wielding maniacs either.

Although I must ensure that I carry a spare light/batteries with me in future as I nearly pooped myself when both lights first dipped onto medium and then onto low. Luckily they remained on low for the rest of the ride and didn't fail completely.

loftyborofan

only if i tell someone my route first and nothing to tricky,

anj132

4ndyW wrote:

Talking about spooky stuff, google fox screech and you will hear what i heard whilst on my work commute. :shock: :shock: :shock:

I would crap myself too if I came across him in the dark in the woods

.blitz

Samdy Gray wrote:

...didn't run into any axe wielding maniacs either.

If you're at all concerned about axe wielding maniacs, consider taking an axe with you.

What are the chances of there being two people with axes on the trail at the same time

prawny

I ride solo at night quite often, usually just do Follow the Dog so I don't end up getting lost!

The other week I went out with my mate early (before the clocks went back) and it was still pitch black, I had to wait for him a one point and as soon as I stopped I heard a really low growl, it sounded like a lion or something and scared the shoot out of me, I span around and there was a herd of about 20 or so deer just staring at me and the stag was giving it the big one. I'm thinking of wearing open backed headphones on future night excursions, just to save my shorts :oops: