[jacksonpt]

After work on friday, I came home, loaded up the bike, packed up my gear, got changed, and headed down the trails. This in and of itself is exciting considering it's too dark to ride by the time I get home. But now, with my new light, I can extend the short winter days and ride after work again... this is a HUUUGE benefit for me.

So anyways...

Got to the trailhead about 5:30 with dusk in full swing. Flipped the light on and dug in. Initially I was kind of disappointed with the light (13w halogen - Light and Motion Solo). Turns out, it just wasn't dark enough out for teh light to be really useful. Once it got good and dark out, the light was great, and I had an absolute blast riding.

The one thing that really got me, that I wasn't expecting was the shadows. With a single focused light source, the shadows really messed with my depth perception and made it hard to see things in the trails (roots, branches, etc). I had to be really focused or else I'd find myself on my butt next to my bike. I also found that I didn't know the trail system as well as I thought I did... several times I had to stop and look for the trail. Made it hard to keep a good flow, but didn't really take away from the fun.

All in all it was great, and I can't wait to get back out. I'm happy wiht my light, and glad I didn't spend $300 on an HID. This one looks to be about perfect for me so far.

 

[MMcG]

Next purchase - bar mount lights!

 

[N8 v2.0]

We had an In the Dark Time Trial Sat night.. it was a BLAST!

 

[TreeSaw]

Sweet!!! I personally love the serene atmosphere of night riding and it definitely makes the trail seem completely different than daytime.
I rode with a halogen light until last summer when I got my first HID and it really is an investment, but well worth it (especially because we ride at night a lot and race).

 

[jacksonpt]

I personally love the serene atmosphere of night riding and it definitely makes the trail seem completely different than daytime.

It was much more different than I was expecting. During a day ride... it's all about the ride... about the pain of a big climb and the rush of a good descent... about trying to get past the technical section that I alway get hung up on, etc. But the night ride, perhaps because of how much more focused I was, my senses were very different. Noices were much more noticable, and I was sooo focused on that 50' or whatever in front of me. It was very different... erie at times, peaceful at others... totally cool though.

 

[Echo]

Trails you've ridden a thousand times are brand new again. Night riding rocks.

 

[hooples3]

when I ride at night i feel like i am going half the speed and having double the fun

 

[TreeSaw]

It was much more different than I was expecting. During a day ride... it's all about the ride... about the pain of a big climb and the rush of a good descent... about trying to get past the technical section that I alway get hung up on, etc. But the night ride, perhaps because of how much more focused I was, my senses were very different. Noices were much more noticable, and I was sooo focused on that 50' or whatever in front of me. It was very different... erie at times, peaceful at others... totally cool though.

I too am much more focused at night, and tend to ride better than daytime (probably because I am more focused on the right parts of the trail to be looking at, rather than taking in the scenery). I definitely have a ton of fun though!!!

 

[splat]

Night riding is a blast ! It opens a whole new world to you .

 

[WarEagle2K]

I just did my first night ride last night too. I have a cheap set of cat eye lights (2 bar mounted lights) I went with two other guys who had the mack daddy hid lights. My son and I rode in between the two other guys and it worked out great. We rode in the Ft Ord hills, where they do the Sea Otter, and there is a lot of wild life active at nights. It was amazing and we are planning on doing the ride twice a week. About 13 miles @9mph. Pretty quick all things considered. The lights my friends had were the $500 dollar ones. If I start ridining a lot at night, I will prob. invest in one. Any suggestions for cheaper and equally as good, let me know.

 

[OGRipper]

Trails you've ridden a thousand times are brand new again. Night riding rocks.

Yep. The reverse is fun too - there are trails that for the most part I only ride at night, and on the rare occasion I ride them during the day they seem completely different.