Andrew Chadwick
The normal ride leader didn't turn up this evening, and I rather foolishly offered to come up with
an impromptu and lead it. Which I did after a fashion, and got everyone back safely. OTOH, the
moderate-paced 20-25 mile run I had planned turned out to be an -extremely- moderately-paced 30 mile
one that got back quite late - missing any hope of a worthwhile visit to the pub - due to me cocking
up the timing and distance estimates. Drat.
My hat is definitely off to those who can plan -and- lead rides at the drop of theirs: quite a hefty
responsibility and challenge for anyone as rubbish at this as me. With a bit more local knowledge,
and once I've built up a better mental map of 'round Oxford, I should do better. I hope.
But anyway, that's not what I'm here to talk to you about. This is a post about lighting. You see, I
take the advice of some of the regulars here, and use dual, independant lighting front and rear.
Tonight, *both* of my front lights died permanently. The Busch und Muller Lumotec+ unscrewed its
front casing twice, the little clip having failed some time ago. The second time, it went into a
ditch somewhere north of the Thames. My little CatEye battery thing died peacefully, then cooked its
halogen bulb on a replacement set of batteries bought from the late-night Tesco after the ride. Just
to add insult, you understand.
So, I am without decent front lighting again. Does anyone have any tips for:
- Dynamo front lights that aren't iseemingly made of cheese (handlebar-mounting ones preferably).
- Similar battery-powered backup light. Something legal, if possible, but a decent LED system
would be useful.
Or any other ideas, of course. I might just go for triple redundancy too, carry a white
blinkie with me.
--
Andrew Chadwick <We're all in this together
an impromptu and lead it. Which I did after a fashion, and got everyone back safely. OTOH, the
moderate-paced 20-25 mile run I had planned turned out to be an -extremely- moderately-paced 30 mile
one that got back quite late - missing any hope of a worthwhile visit to the pub - due to me cocking
up the timing and distance estimates. Drat.
My hat is definitely off to those who can plan -and- lead rides at the drop of theirs: quite a hefty
responsibility and challenge for anyone as rubbish at this as me. With a bit more local knowledge,
and once I've built up a better mental map of 'round Oxford, I should do better. I hope.
But anyway, that's not what I'm here to talk to you about. This is a post about lighting. You see, I
take the advice of some of the regulars here, and use dual, independant lighting front and rear.
Tonight, *both* of my front lights died permanently. The Busch und Muller Lumotec+ unscrewed its
front casing twice, the little clip having failed some time ago. The second time, it went into a
ditch somewhere north of the Thames. My little CatEye battery thing died peacefully, then cooked its
halogen bulb on a replacement set of batteries bought from the late-night Tesco after the ride. Just
to add insult, you understand.
So, I am without decent front lighting again. Does anyone have any tips for:
- Dynamo front lights that aren't iseemingly made of cheese (handlebar-mounting ones preferably).
- Similar battery-powered backup light. Something legal, if possible, but a decent LED system
would be useful.
Or any other ideas, of course. I might just go for triple redundancy too, carry a white
blinkie with me.
--
Andrew Chadwick <We're all in this together
