First night cycle (and Lights!)

[Brian]

To get myself used to commuting in the dark I left home at 7pm and did a
bit of cycling around town.

For the front light I used my Cateye EL200 LED Lamp, and used a red 5 LED
lamp for the rear.

The EL200 did cast a small blue patch on the tarmac, but it washed out as
I passed under each street lamp.

Feeling quite confident I decided to cycle along a bit of unlit tarmac
cycle path. The lamp did cast quite a visible blue spot on the ground,
although only about 10 feet in front of the bike.

Wouldn't want to rely on the EL200 on it's own on an unlit road. However
for a 2nd light it seems fine.


I must admit I felt a little nervous cycling along an unlit cycle path -
I was convinced there was something creeping up behind me!

It was also a good test of my £6.50 hi-vis vest - cars did seem to notice
me and overtake giving a wide berth.

All in all an enjoyable 7 mile cycle, took around 50 minutes.

I think I've finally settled on a set of rechargeable front lights:

Cygolite Rover NiCad

# 16W dual beam halogen headlight
# 3 beam patterns (6w wide, 10w narrow, 16w combined)
# Extended 6 hour run time

http://www.cygolite.com/light/products/10RoverNiCad.htm

Any thoughts on these lights?

--
Brian

 

[Martin Newstead \(MSeries\)]

Brian wrote:
> Any thoughts on these lights?

No sorry. I really like riding at night, always have done. The roads are
often quieter, not at hometime though, and the temperature cooler. I did
most of my winter training last year on an evening.

Take back the streets, take back the night.

 

[Zog The Undeniable]

Brian wrote:

> I think I've finally settled on a set of rechargeable front lights:
>
> Cygolite Rover NiCad
>
> # 16W dual beam halogen headlight
> # 3 beam patterns (6w wide, 10w narrow, 16w combined)
> # Extended 6 hour run time
>
> http://www.cygolite.com/light/products/10RoverNiCad.htm
>
> Any thoughts on these lights?
>
Most lights are better than the EL200!

I get a wider berth at night too. I think it's the surprise of seeing a
cyclist actually using lights/reflective gear.

However, I'd avoid unlit fast A roads and *any* road at night in the
rain, because my driving experience tells me that in those
circumstances, the only thing you can see on dipped beams is sometimes
the cars coming the other way [1]. A friend in the local CTC found this
out the hard way - he was knocked into the ditch despite using steady
and flashing rear lights and all manner of reflectives, just because the
driver was dazzled by oncoming traffic. He still rides but his
pedalling style is unbalanced because of a knee injury sustained in the
crash.

[1] and I naturally have a soft spot for cyclists and look out for them
- what is everyone else like? Eyes also become something like 300 times
more easily dazzled between the ages of 18 and 60 :-(

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Martin Newstead (MSeries)
('[email protected]') wrote:

> Brian wrote:
>> Any thoughts on these lights?
>
> No sorry. I really like riding at night, always have done. The roads
> are often quieter, not at hometime though, and the temperature cooler.
> I did most of my winter training last year on an evening.

Juliette and I are now doing most of our 'constitutional' rides around
11pm or even later, and finding it very enjoyable.

> Take back the streets, take back the night.

Indeed!

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; this is not a .sig