Night/Early Morning Training......

Now that the days are getting shorter, and the time has changed, I find that I don't have enough daylight hours to ride/train each day during the week. My job has me working all day, so I can only get outside to ride when it's dark - either in the evening or very early in the morning. My question is, what do others do for outside night training in terms of equipment use(lights, reflective tape, clothing) and do you find that your average speed comes down considerably when training in the dark? How are descents and climbs in the dark? What kind of lighting systems do you use? Have you found that Illuminite clothing works pretty good? What about problems with cars?

 

Due to my work schedule (7 days / week and plenty of hours), nearly all of my riding is in the dark, either around 04:00 or after 19:00. Where I train is all lit by streetlights. I have a red flashing LED on the seatpost and have a reflective band around my right ankle (riding on the left side of the road). I keep up with the traffic. No difference in speed whether it's daylight or dark.

 

I am a MTBer but I ride at night and early morning. I don't worry about reflective clothing because there are no vehicles on the trails. I do need to wear orange during hunting season if I ride around sunrise. I use a Niterider Evolution light and it works great. I ride slower so I mainly do longer endurance rides. MTBing is nice at night because you are forced to go slower than during the day so you can keep your heart rate down for the endurance ride. I also take a cell phone so if I crash and am surrounded by coyotes I can call for help.

 

Yes, my biggest worry is either having problems with traffic........or hitting something in the road because of inadequate lighting. I live in a somewhat rural area - but have well-lit streets not far from where I live. However, some of the climbs around here are on pitch black roads. I wasn't sure if anyone had climbed quite a bit in the dark - and how it was, especially coming back down.

 

ive hit ~75km/h in the dark on a hill that was poorly lit. I know the hill fairly well and just took up a whole lane (there's two) as I usually do. I have a small LED light that is really only for others to see me but I had the main beam of it focused about 20m ahead looking for things to dodge. Not something I do routinely but I wasn't too uncomfortable (dark is exciting). I have a rear LED blinker aswell and a flashing arm/leg band that I wear. Cars give me good clearance and I've never had a problem. I like training at night, different atmosphere, quieter and you feel so cool whizzing around in the dark

 

It's nice when it's properly dark and the traffic is quiet, later on in the evening or very early in the morning. I find it very uncomfortable when the traffic is heavy as bike lights don't stand out against the car headlights. Also cycle lights don't tend to be much good at amplifying poor light conditions before it gets properly dark and you don't get the contrast to be able to pick out details on the road. Once it's pitch black and you're focusing on the yellow/white block of light ahead of you then it's fine - like you say it's a very different atmosphere to riding in the daytime.

In terms of equipment I use Exposure lights (http://www.exposurelights.com/) which I find excellent, especially because they're so light and compact that I can leave them on my road bike all the time through the winter just in case I get caught. I have 2 LEDs on the back, one set to flick and one set to always on.

 

I ride early in the morning. I have an LED on the seat post (nightrider tailfazer), and a 25 watt cygolight on the front. I use the illuminight stuff - I have a vest and a cap that goes over the helmet. Where I ride, it's pitch black country roads, with medium truck traffic early in the morning. I haven't had any problems with visibility, but I know the roads well. I regularly hit 30+ mph on some downhill parts. Before I started riding in the dark along this route, I had my wife follow me and do a "drive by" to make sure I was visible to traffic. She said with the LED light I was very visible from behind.

 

Each week I ride roughly 100km in the dark. For lighting I use a NiteFlux Visionstick 5.5 which I believe is one of the best value for money lights on the market. The NiteFlux range provide incredibly bright lights which light up the road quite well for 20-30 metres. I also have a bright red flashing LED light on my seat post which I am told can be seen for miles. If you are riding early mornings, in my experience drivers are surprised to see you out so they generally give you more room. Riding late at night they are not quite as generous but they will usually move into a free lane if available. That might just be for here though. People may not be as considerate where you live.

 

I have a blinking red LED taillight, a white 5 led headlight, and wear an illuminite vest and clear goggles. I find I do not have the confidence to ride at much faster than a cruising pace. The problem with an unlit road is getting freakin' blinded by oncoming traffic -- especially by pickups and SUVs. Given the choice between a pretty empty but unlit road or a lighted thoroughfare with some traffic, it's a toss up in my mind.

 

I forgot about the freaky part of training in the dark. The headlight on the bike often finds little critters eyes glowing back at me from the brush off on the shoulder. During the day, I have seen a few coyotes. When I see the eyes glowing in the dark, I just tell myself they're furry little rabbits