Therapeutic effects of night riding and eating

[ascpgh]

The season has set for the rides at the end of the day, my local group rides are over and to keep riding are adjustments are necessary and have been made. This week I have had the pleasure to get out twice with lights and the dark season paradigm of my place in the urban landscape. 

Tuesday I met my usual cohort from the group rides and we headed out at actual sunset. We added reflective vests to augment front and rear lights to compensate for the new time darkness settles. We're both experienced riders and the muggy weather in the 70°s kept us lathered on our climbs and faster segments. Darkness demands a return to caution perhaps taken lightly through the summer when you can see everything and all is familiar. 

There is restorative effect to the renew need for caution and mindfulness that a couple of crusty old riders hadn't experienced in a while otherwise. It makes the miles and sights new again. In this episode we concluded by having a meal and prolonged conversation afterward. The moules frites, brisket, crusty bread, ales and stouts rewarded the reflections of the ride and all sorts of things from the past. My friend is going to carry my interests to the Philly Bike Expo and we hashed over many topics of interest to a couple of traditional bike technology aficionados.

Thursday night was going to be the arrival of fall by proclamation of the TV meteorologists and our friend who expressed a real interest in riding at night was in a pharmacology exam until almost sunset but texted that she was absolutely game to ride, so I met her and began the evening with dinner instead of finishing with it like Tuesday. 

We had burritos from the truck in the nearby neighborhood rising from the ashes around here. It was nice enough to eat at their picnic table in the parking lot of the pizza joint sponsoring them. After finishing and getting going I found myself in a very different mode with a rider who's been rind in the city for a bit more than a year. I concentrated on sight and sound, moved from intermediate destination to another at a steady pace to avoid fearsomeness and found myself really enjoying showing someone this secret playground by just riding. 

The two of us actually rode farther and longer than my friend and I did Tuesday night. We saw the neon and LED lights of the city, the sounds, the wildlife (natural and human), a collegiate women's soccer match, the local darkness and rough to go with the light and smooth. By the end we were both very happy to have taken the time and effort to go, do and see all that we did (and eat a burrito). 

I'm humbled by the reset I get by breaking my habits, whether by showing someone new something or the familiar but via a different manner. 

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[sameness]

This was probably my favorite ride report of the year. Big fan of your from-the-saddle situational observations. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

Jeff Hagedorn
Los Angeles, CA USA

[WETH]

Andy,
Thank you for sharing this. The photos are great. I particularly enjoyed your descriptions of riding familiar terrain at an unfamiliar time (in the dark).
All the best,
Erl
Kensington, MD

[Lum Gim Fong]

Cool night shots!!
Riding at night with dyno lights is fun!
Like riding around in a space ship with all the lighting.

[Deacon Patrick]

Delightful, Andy! Thank you. I am fascinated by the similarity of night on running and riding, remote mountains or urban exploration. Amazing how the world opens up with a narrowing and clarity of focus required to safely navigate what is otherwise simple by daylight.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Ana Candela]

Nice! Makes me want to take longer nightly rides back home...

-Ana

[Craig Montgomery]

Damn I love riding at night. Mama goes to bed and I'm outta here. Either into town to the Tap and Bottle for an evening of The Surfbroads (yep a surf band full of girls) or up to Sabino Canyon. Sabino is special. 14 miles from my doorstep and you're at an opening (canyon) that climbs 3 and half miles into the Catalina Mountains. It's a narrow V-canyon of metamorphosed granite. Full of mica. On a full moon night it literally sparkles. You can turn off the light and ride up using the moon reflecting off those micaceous canyon walls. There are seven bridges to be crossed on the way up. Rock bridges built by the CCC (Google it). One moonless night I was crossing bridge #2 when I saw two beady little red eyes about  2 feet off the ground. Slowly I rode right up to a coatimundi (Google it). He stared me down and then slowly sauntered away like I was secondary in the great scheme of things. Humbling being put in your place by one of Nature's creatures. Glorious too. 

Craig in Tucson

[ascpgh]

I did have a plan Thursday night, but it turned out my mental calendar was a day off and catching a set of the Great Lake Swimmers at the stage door of the Club Cafe was Friday night. We still stopped and listened to whoever it was.  Made up for it Saturday night at the birthday party for a local business celebrating five years with five bands under a bridge. Love autumn. 

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[ascpgh]

The dark drops you several places on the totem pole. Other senses become more acute as your eyes and grey matter struggle without the visual clarity of light. Maybe that's why we were so hungry after Tuesday's ride, before starting on Thursday's. 

I think three three of us were in better condition between the ears than the we started the week and a some "just riding" really had an effect.

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Jim Bronson]

What were the bikes used?

I see something that looks like a Clem or Apploousa, a green bike of indeterminate origin, and a blue bike with a name ending in Public.

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[Kurt Henry]

Andy, I could not agree more about the wonders of night riding.  Not only do well known paths feel different, sometimes they ARE different.  I've had a couple of really odd experiences riding at night around Lancaster, PA.  Riding through the farm communities outside of town usually means absolute quiet beyond the hum of my tires and breathing.  Cars are uncommon on most the roads I use, even during the day.  But at night you really get to focus on the odd stuff.

I was once riding through an area containing little but farms, mostly Amish, in late summer/early fall.  Ahead I saw huge lights going in all kinds of directions.  All kidding aside, it looked like a UFO had set down in the field.  Even stranger was when I realized they were moving, and heading toward the road.  As I got close, the lights flashed my way, then started moving away.  As I pulled even, I realized that it was a HUGE combine cutting down the remaining corn stalks.  It had lights all over the front to light up the field ahead like it was daytime.  It must have hit the end of the field and turned around for the next pass right before I got there, thus the big flash in my direction.

Another late summer incident was even stranger.  Again, going through an area of farmlands in pitch black and quiet, I started hearing noises ahead as I dropped into a valley.  When I cleared the treeline, a whole field was lit up like a Christmas tree, filled with Amish kids playing volleyball or sitting on blankets and watching/cheering on their friends.  The lights were all run off a gas powered generator or two,which was what I heard as I approached.  As soon as I hit the end of the clearing and started into the forested area again, the lights were quickly left behind and the sound muffled by trees, leaving me almost wondering if I had just imagined the whole thing.

Have fun out there!

Kurt Henry

Lancaster, PA  

[ascpgh]

That green one is my Disc Trucker year-round commuter with fenders, generator lights and nelson Longflap. The light blue is our friend's Public Bikes R16, the other is another friend's re-purposed '80s Cannondale MTB frame with fenders over fat 26" Compass tires, porter rack and generator lights. 

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Lum Gim Fong]

I am looking forward to night riding back home tomorrow night after I leave my car at the mechanic’s garage.

[Jon Spangler]

Andy and all,

Most of us (cyclists, pedestrians -- even drivers) seriously underestimate our visibility to others, no matter what time of day or year it is.

Your mention of wearing "reflective vests" is worth adding some additional details.

CLASS 2 SAFETY VESTS -- NOT RUNNER'S VESTS

I use and recommend wearing an ANSI "Class 2" reflective vest at night, in traffic, or 

wherever visibility is compromised (rain, fog,sleet, etc.). Combining a neon lime or international orange vest made of

mesh or polyester fabric with wide reflective stripes visible 360 degrees around (including vertically) works very well.

(Avoid cotton, vinyl, or canvas-like fabrics to ensure you won't drown in your own sweat.) 

My latest vest cost me $16 at Economy Lumber in Oakland, CA just three months ago.

Your local hardware store, Home Despot/Lowe's, or safety supply outlet, as well as U-Line, Grainger's, and other 

business supply houses will have what you need. Make sure there is room underneath for any 

extra layers needed in very cold weather.

VISIBLE WORK GLOVES

I wear Custom Leather Craft (CLC) #128 "High Visibility" gloves (orange with lime yellow and reflective accents, plus

device-friendly fingertips for those so inclined) year-round on my town bike. In colder weather, I wear light liners or 

fingerless cycling gloves underneath my CLC 128s. (Washing them regularly renews their brightness, BTW.)

SEE: https://cdn.goclc.com/pdf/2018/work-gear-catalog.pdf (scroll down to page 71) They are made of synthetic and breathable

materials so they work well in heat or cold. 

CLC now has LIGHTED gloves, too: see p.74 of their catalog for their # L 146 "Safety Viz Pro" gloves,

a great way to "light up the night."

Wear a brightly-colored helmet and decorate it with liots of reflective neon stickers.

Reflective legbands (available at many bike shops) are another year-round essential for adequate "conspicuity."

Multiple flashing red lights (I lover my Planet Bike "Superflash" lights and my even-brighter rechargeable 50-65 lumen tail light.

And don't forget one flashing white light and one steady white light up front and/or on your helmet. 

Safe travels to you all every night!

Jon Spangler

League Cycling Instructor #3175

Alameda, CA USA

On Friday, October 12, 2018 at 2:45:48 PM UTC-7, ascpgh wrote:

[Lum Gim Fong]

I find that super bright flashing lights make it harder to see where a bike is when I am driving a car and see a cyclist.

Front white lights are even worse. Just huge flashes, and then my eyes go blind and only see blackness in between flashes so I cannot make out exactly where the bike is.

Steady lights make it easier to see location of bike and are way less irritating to cyclist riding behind you.

It is Chinese water torture if I am riding behind someone with a blinkie and cannot get past them.

[Lum Gim Fong]

I ride with two steady rear lights (one battery/one dynamo) and a steady dyno front light.

They light up the rear wheel in red nicely.

Reflective tape on crank arms.

Orange reflective vest like the ones mentioned above.

I need to get some of those reflective gloves!!!

Would be great to have an amber light for the sides of the frame.

[ascpgh]

I agree. So do most EU road regs. Flashing is OK for a lone biker in car traffic on roads w//o accommodation for bikes, but I agree and felt like I was being pushed toward break through seizures when trapped after sunset with flashing lights. 

A handful of riders joined my friend and I Tuesday night and turned our pleasant night ride into a training ride of no particular interest beyond steepness, elevation gain and mileage. Not a single  picture from me of the event. Just a bunch of CFRP bikes and riders with flashy lights looking for parameters to stuff into their Strada and Garmins. 


Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Philip Williamson]

Thanks - I’m inspired to follow through with my plan to ride to the train (21 miles) after work. I had thought I needed to do it before the days are too short, but I could actually do it fine in the dark for the next four months.

Fall is my interesting artistic regeneration season.

Philip
Santa Rosa, CA

[Pam Bikes]

Riding at night is my favorite time to ride.  I lead a Tues Night Ride in Charlotte NC.  Facebook page is PMTNR.  Here's a few from last week.  I've been leading this ride every week rain or shine year round since 2013.  We average 20 riders on a cold night to 100 on hot night in the summer.  I'm riding my 47cm Betty Foy w/Shutter Precision dyno hub. If you're in Charlotte, come ride with me and PM me if you need a bike.  If you ride a 50 or 60 you can ride a Riv. 

[ascpgh]

Fun. Any ride at night is. 

Your weather appears a bit more conducive than our Tuesday was. We were in the low 30s, rain/snow with gusty wind. I was not riding but in recovery from working Monday overnight. 

The ride group morphed in the last few weeks to those who desperately cling to their warm season conditioning in preparation for Saturday's annual and thoroughly untherapeutic festival of masochism and broken crank arms; the Dirty Dozen. https://youtu.be/Cuwdmw-bDao (although more cerebral than the Red Bull urban downhill races that slather YouTube)

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh