Night time country lane cycling

Kieran_Burns

Any other unlit country lane commuters noticing the extra space and time we're getting now?

It's the proverbial Autumn / Winter night light event for me. Now the lights are on the bike and being used in anger (so to speak) I'm getting a lot more consideration from everyone on the roads. I even had one car sit behind me for several hundred yards before turning left (I wasn't that quick and the legs are hidden under black tights 8) )

I'm getting cars dipping main beam (apart from one: he got the magicshine 1000 lumens straight in his face... AND DIP)

I'm not sure if I don't prefer this type commuting... you can see cars coming much sooner and you definitely get more space when being overtaken.

essex-commuter

Yep I experience this...and prefer it to daylight.

bendertherobot

I commute about 20 miles each way. At least twice a week, on my homeward stretch, I take the last 17 miles or so by country lane.

It's easily safer and the volume of traffic is tiny. On one particular commute I was passed by less than 10 cars.

And this isn't the middle of nowhere, it's Cardiff to Pencoed in South Wales.

slowbike

yes - I get more space - but some idiot drivers are still cutting close to oncoming traffic...

edit: Weekend riding is terrible though - we have denser traffic than during a commute and more ignorant drivers who think it's fine to cut in close ... I need a hammer ...

pollys_bott

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Any other unlit country lane commuters noticing the extra space and time we're getting now?

I'm not sure if I don't prefer this type commuting... you can see cars coming much sooner and you definitely get more space when being overtaken.

Very much so - even though I'm starting at 6 instead of 7 for the rest of the year I've extended my 7 mile commute to 11-12 to take in more of the countryside, just because I really enjoy riding in the dark! The few cars that do come past do get right over on the other side of the road - I'm sure that in the dark they're not 100% certain of how close they are so over-compensate, and I play on that by having a light on the offside pannier to make me appear a bit wider.

vermin

It's great, until the lights go out ... Then it's less great.

markhewitt1978

I don't find riding in the dark to be any more or less dangerous than during the day, but it's certainly much less pleasant.

Kieran_Burns

vermin wrote:

It's great, until the lights go out ... Then it's less great.

Nah, that's when it gets EXCITING

(I was on a night ride last year when both front lights just turned off. Both at the same time and right on a 2 mile stretch of unlit cycle track. With a river somewhere over to the left.)

anthdci

Definitely find I get more space when its dark and I have my lights on which is good. However on face bits of country road it is very easy to not see pot holes until it is too late.

essex-commuter

I'm running home from work tonight, down country lanes with a head torch. Should be fun!

Kieran_Burns

anthdci wrote:

Definitely find I get more space when its dark and I have my lights on which is good. However on face bits of country road it is very easy to not see pot holes until it is too late.

808e and Vision 2 gives near 1500 lumens shining down the road. I have the 808e pointing out about as far as a car dip beam and the vision 2 right in front. Between the two I can see every pothole coming up. They actually go into stark relief given that they produce a distinct solid black demarcation in the lights.

slowbike

Night time riding has 2 modes

1) full out riding - ok if you have bright lights and/or know the roads
2) pleasure riding - ok if your lights aren't as bright and/or you don't know the roads

I'm happy to blast down most of my commute - I know where it's going to be muddy/slippery - I don't need mega lighting - infact I prefer lower lighting so my eyesight can become accustomed to the dark.
Away from my regular route I find brighter lighting is needed...

MaxwellBygraves

Anyone had anything weird/creepy happen to them whilst cycling on lonely roads at night?

This topic reminded me once when I was cycling home late at night (about midnight?) and I had just hit the base of a hill. Road was empty and I hadn't seen a car for five or ten minutes. Hill is a pretty long drag and IIRC I was full of beer and curry at the time, so I would guess that it took me about 5-7 mins from base to summit of hill.

Anyway as I started cycling up the hill I notice a car is tailing me, and it gets really quite close, just a few feet off my wheel. It's following me up the hill, matching my speed which isn't very fast. At first I thought they were overbearingly polite, but it was quite clear that nothing was coming the other way and they didn't budge when I waved them through. I tried looking back to wave more frantically, but couldn't catch a glimpse of who was in the car as I got a faceful of light.

So we carried on this merry charade of them following me slowly up this hill as I became increasingly unnerved. A few minutes later I had crested the hill and with them still locked to my wheel I decided I would just stop and get off to force them to pass. As I came to a stop, I noticed another car had just arrived behind the first, and it beeped to indicate for the first car to get out the way. They immediately sped up and I couldn't see inside the car as they passed and both cars headed down the other side of the hill out of sight.

I have no idea why it decided to follow me like that, but it certainly made me feel like something wasn't quite right. I was very glad when that other car turned up! I remember instinctively feeling very uneasy.

Anyone got anything creepier?

mattgeezer

Only issue i had was a lot more taxi drivers at night!!!

itboffin

Yep night rides are a lot safer mostly for the reasons you've stated and i think people (drivers) are more awake than at 6am

the only problem i have is animals jumping out in front of me usually on a descent but sometimes on the flat, my front lights are good but i need some powerful side lights and perhaps one of those high pitched whistles they use on cars in Auz to stop the kangaroos from jumping into the road

vermin

A weasel tan across my path in the dark last night. And how did I know it was a weasel and not a stoat?

itboffin

because he had a cunning plan?

vermin

itboffin wrote:

because he had a cunning plan?

Nah. Because a weasel is weasily recognised. A stoat is stoatally different.

apreading

bendertherobot wrote:

I commute about 20 miles each way. At least twice a week, on my homeward stretch, I take the last 17 miles or so by country lane.

It's easily safer and the volume of traffic is tiny. On one particular commute I was passed by less than 10 cars.

And this isn't the middle of nowhere, it's Cardiff to Pencoed in South Wales.

Is that along the A48? Or are the country lanes to avoid that? I grew up in Cowbridge and I wouldnt fancy commuting on the A48 by bike every day...

peat

I've had vehicles tail me close like you descirbe Maxwell Bygraves. The last time it happened, it was a van and i thought that some reprobate would be hanging out of the passenger window trying to push me off, so i pulled into a field gateway and let them go. As it turned out, they were just very conservative and pulled over for every on-coming car, holding me up!!

If they are unsure, i would rather they took teh conservative option. Regardless of how annoying/unerving it is.

One thing that springs to mind is - eyesight. Your eyesight (in terms of viability to drive) is only tested when you are 17. Some (alot) people go through life without getting thier eye's tested out of ignorance. Perhaps they just can't see a bloody thing!?

Mikey23

Yes, I suspect that quite a few folks are driving with dodgy eyesight. Old folks can just carry on till they have to do their retest

EKE_38BPM

Peat wrote:

One thing that springs to mind is - eyesight. Your eyesight (in terms of viability to drive) is only tested when you are 17. Some (alot) people go through life without getting thier eye's tested out of ignorance. Perhaps they just can't see a bloody thing!?

That would be my dad. Two cataract operations later and all is well again.

kieranb

well, a slightly odd incident, night time cycling through Dulwich park in London. The park closes around 17:30 now but sometimes the gates are still open around 18:00 so this week I nipped in to cycle through the park. I turned my front light off and the park has no lighting either so nice and dark. Lots of foxes making noises, the usual screams and calls coming from all around. (my usual over active imagination brought to mind a pack of vampires / werewolves stalking the park at night) Then I noticed one fox ahead who trots out onto the path (a very wide tarmac path enough for 2 cars to pass) as I am cycling towards him, I continue on and then look back and the fox is stalking me! Head held low down he is following directly behind me at around 10 ft lit up by my red rear light, looking a bit spooky. Eventually after about 50m he turns back to the verge as I near the gate. I have a bit more sympathy for our rabbit out in his hutch in the garden now.

markhewitt1978

Mikey23 wrote:

Yes, I suspect that quite a few folks are driving with dodgy eyesight. Old folks can just carry on till they have to do their retest

Do they even have to have an eye test? I thought it was just ticking a box saying they confirm they can still see ok?

The Rookie

Kieran_Burns wrote:

vermin wrote:

It's great, until the lights go out ... Then it's less great.

Nah, that's when it gets EXCITING

(I was on a night ride last year when both front lights just turned off. Both at the same time and right on a 2 mile stretch of unlit cycle track. With a river somewhere over to the left.)

Use the Force........you have that Avatar for a reason!

Had similar on an MTB ride when the battery went dead (turned out it was a faulty charger not charging it fully), worst moment was when I nearly went into the canal, not by riding to close to the edge but riding too far away, hitting a bush and nearly bouncing off it and then into the canal!

Mikey23

Perhaps it's just enough to get the tick in the box then ... :-)

Kieran_Burns

vermin wrote:

A weasel tan across my path in the dark last night. And how did I know it was a weasel and not a stoat?

Stoats don't sunbathe?