Night riding

My first and so far only night riding experience was with someone that I had only recently started riding with. He had lent me a bar light. He had helmet and bar light. There was no moon. it was overcast and we were out in the middle of nowhere. I found out later that we were actually mostly in the grounds of a stately home. I found it disconcerting that when I looked away from what the bar light was illuminating I could see absolutely nothing, zip, nada, black dark, not even my hand in front of my face.

I saw him turn right in front of me, only because I saw his lights, I couldn't actually see him. It was a gap in the hedge. My bar lights did not light up the turn, so I couldn't see where I was going and there was a one foot drop into the field that caught me by surprise. I should have learned from that, or maybe I did!

About 40 mins in we were in the ornamental part of the grounds, with flower beds, gravel paths and benches. I followed him down the path and he went between a pair of stone columns about 3' high, each surmounted by an ornamental carved ball. They looked like the start of a flight of steps going down. I had assumed down because I couldn't see any steps going up. I was following slightly to the left of him, so I could use his lights to see further ahead. As I approached the steps, my bar lights did not illuminate the steps at all, there was just inky blackness. It looked like a big hole. Something primeval sparked at the back of my brain and at the last second I swerved to my right so I was directly behind him....... and rode straight down a plank that was bridging a big hole! I stopped and used my bar lights to see what I had just ridden over. All the steps had been removed; the plank was for the workmen to use I suppose. The gap was about 8' long, 6' wide and varied in depth from about 4' to 1'. The bottom of the hole was littered with random lumps of broken stone, the far edge of the hole that I would have hit was jagged and nasty looking. The helmet light on my mate would have lit up that hole quite clearly, but the stupid bar-steward never thought to warn me! That was a narrow escape and no mistake.

I will never ride at night again with just a bar light. Maybe just a helmet light, but ideally both.

I regularly night ride in the Thetford forest but stick to big trails rather than singletrack trails through the trees. My concentration was on getting the illumination right - a very bright light on the bar and helmet light and a spare. Certainly it is exhilarating and seeing the eyes reflected from the forest beside you adds to it. You feel you are going much faster - and you get lost more often! I always come back and do it again though.