night training

the roads down my way are all pitch black during the night as theres no street lighting, so I tend to avoid them and aim for the ones with street lighting. Mainly because I'm paranoid of boy racers flying round the bends in the night lol.

I've done a bit of training thru winter nights - it can be done - but double up on lights.
At least two on the rear and two on the front. You never know when one will fail.

Spare batteries are a good idea too, as are reflectives. Dont worry about dressing bright as if its dark - motorists wont really see any colours anyway - but a reflective jacket and tights will show up. Also think about visibility from the side. Get some tyre flys - they're a couple of quid and will really show up.

Country roads are better than built up areas I reckon - you'll stand out a mile round there. I'd ride bigger tyres too - less chance of damage if you hit a pot hole. MTBs arent such a bad idea.

Get good torches - the P7s are good (see the light discussion elsewhere) as are the Deal Extreme packs. The P7s only last an hour or so on full, but stopping to change shouldnt be an issue.

Take 2 tubes and a pump that works and dress for the cold cos it can b v chilly at night.

Myself and a few of the guys I ride with took to riding around the local industrial estate last winter. The roads were very quiet and were also well lit. It actually worked really well and the laps seemed to fly by. Was much better than being on your own in the garage on the turbo.

For years I have gone out before sun up, too dangerous for me at night, cars screaming around the blind bends and when they come from the front they dazzle you and you end up not being able to see where you are going.

Last year I hated it so much I've bought a turbo. I'd rather be bored and fit than mowed down in my prime :shock:

doyler78 wrote:

simianwatching wrote:

I do a lot of my winter riding at night and really enjoy it. I ride a mixture of main roads and country lanes. I have three flashing led rear lights and decent front lights.

I have no way of proving this but I feel much more visible and safer at night - drivers are generally in less of a rush and there is less traffic of course; they seem to give me more room than they do in the day. I don't get any grief from boy racers, but I don't normally ride Friday and Saturday evenings.

I have two local taxi company numbers stored in my phone - I have never needed to use them, but my plan would be to call them and get them to take me home rather than buggering around trying to fix a puncture/mechanical in the dark.

As cougie said, it does get v cold at night so invest in decent base layers, gloves, tights, overshoes etc.

Totally agree. I find that I get more room in evenings on dark roads than I ever do in daylight. I was always really paniced about riding at night presuming it would be more dangerous but I haven't found that to be the case. Good lights is what I put it down to but likewise I don't know because I wouldn't even have considered it without good lights.

Incidentally any figures for how many cycling deaths were caused during dark with people using lights. I never seem to hear of any deaths this way. Every single person that I have heard of locally has been during daylight hours. I know that far more will cycle during the day however I still don't know a single person with good lights (or even poor lights) that was killed after dark. I'm sure they exist.

+1
I commute after late shifts that finish at 11 or midnight - got a P7 on the front 900/450 lumens and 2 plus a backupz on the rear. I use the A38 from Gloucester, but at that time of night there is relatively few cars/HGV on the road...

Lady Venom wrote:

I feel safer out on the country lanes because there is less traffic - as long as you have good lighting then your own safety is fine : in the past I have found some roads a bit sketchy in bad weather but it's doable. It's very relaxing riding on your own at night. I spent all last winter doing it. Got v cold!

+1

But........... Haven't done enough mountain biking this year - so I am going to do that to get my main cycling fix

+1 for the country lanes. Country lanes + decent lights = less traffic and cars think you're a motorbike so give you loads of room. Far safer (subjectively) than better lit but busier roads at night.

During the winter I ride almost exclusively at night, only exception is if I decide not to go out at 6am for a 3-4 hour ride (yes its got light at this point) and actually go out with my local club at 9am.

It really does depend on your roads.

My first winter I rode with a 6v 10w halogen that had almost nothing in it, but did okay, I however did not choose to go out at night like I do now.

Second winter I had a lumicycle copy with a 20w 12v halogen with a SLA battery, heavy but what a step up, supposedly around 550lumens (Philips masterline bulb quoted figures at 12v). Was very good and really only would have liked more on poor road conditions , which our club rides took in for fun! (Dam our ride leader lol)

Last winter I had put money aside each month over the summer with the intention of buying a set of Lumicycle LED3s, well they released the LED4s so I plumped for them, 2200 odd lumens supposedly, seriously excessive. I ride generally around with them on 800 lumens, only kicking it higher in driving rain or down windy descents with awful road conditions.

Why am I rambling on about the above...

Well I am buying a Magicshine P7 Bike light as a backup (900 lumens claimed, but its not as bright as my lumicycles on 800 lumens, or a mates hid who supposedly is 700 lumens) and will likely use it on its own for the 3.1 miles each way commuting to work. As when I borrowed one off a friend it was perfectly adequate for country riding on awful roads.

Even buying two of them your still only paying around £100 for say 1200 lumens which is crazy, one on your head, one on your bars say. Thats still WELL under the cost of similar systems.

Mind you when I’m training in position on the TT bike (have an old TT frame with TT bars on), I will be using the lumicyle as the extra punch is needed, still won’t be running it on full brightness though.

As for rear lights, don’t cheap out, they are what keeps you alive.

Get a dinotte 140l or 400l rear light, expensive yes at 100 quid or 150 quid but people see you in daylight over a ¼ of a mile away! Cars pass you with more space (I can tell when I have forgotten to turn it on when leaving home very quickly)

Other option is magic shine have released a rear light which works out to be 37 quid, almost as birght as the 140l but smaller cost. Uses the same battery as the normal magic shine P7 front light to.

freehub wrote:

Why not jsut spent 45 quid on a front light for the dark? I've seen some lights that cost well over 100 and it's certainly not twice the price bright.

Why would cost be the main consideration when buying bike lights? For me the overriding concern would be reliability. Reliability usually means better technicians, better materials and better quality control, longer development and hopefully better after service. That can cost considerably more so the basic premise of your argument is flawed from my perspective.