Winter Night Time Rides

Just gauging some interest at this point, but Helen, Ricky and myself had a great ride this evening, which ended up with riding the lanes in the dark. From this I was thinking of following on from the excellent rides Andy put on this summer during the week and offering an alternative winter dark ride option. We could incorporate a stop for a beer/coffee or even just ride a route non stop (except the usual quick stops) to the end, approx 20-30 miles. No real big hills, but just an early in the week leg spinner.
Open to options at this point but aiming to do this on Tuesday evenings leaving from Costa timings tbc, so any comments/suggestions more than welcome.

Here is the route we did earlier. We are trying to keep away from the main roads as much as possible, and so reasonably good lights will be required. http://www.strava.com/activities/84667132

All thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated

I would likely be interested in this.

Good idea.
What sort of lights would be advisable?

Something along these lines Stela,Ive got the exact set and theyre more than adequate for night road rides.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/lezyne-micro-drive-rear-led-light-70-lumen-front-macro-drive-350-lumens-/271276370571?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3f2954ea8b

I would be interested.

Great Idea!

Why not start from a pub car park away from the main roads and make it a social event as well as a ride.

I'd be up for night rides

+1 for interest. With the right lights, night rides are fantastic.

me me me ..... :)


now where's the charger for my lights gone .... :)

I have not done any cycling at night but think it could be good fun... I would be interested.

Ribblerider (Colin) has some perfect lights for sale on forum

I'm keen, I'll be riding again from the 14th oct.

Cycling at 10pm last night was lovely, not a car in sight and so quiet - even on main roads!

"Blind pot-holing",your all mad ,but i will try it so you can prove me wrong !!  

andy williams wrote:

"Blind pot-holing",your all mad :affraid:,but i will try it so you can prove me wrong !!   

It's only like that with crap lights :)

+1 for night time rides - I have a loop I usually do once I start them (easily adaptable from 22-28 miles) and goes up Mumbleys but plenty of other options when leaving from Costa. I generally preferred setting off after 6:30pm to so commuter traffic had calmed down.

I would advise not having planned stops on them, once it's properly dark it's pretty chilly once you stop and on a 20-30 mile ride there's really no need.

As for lights, personally I'd say you want at least 600 lumens (actual ones not the dodgy ones claimed on cheap Chinese lights ). You can get away with less but you have to slow down noticeably on descents and you're forever straining to try and pick out stuff on the road. Watch out if going for the cheap 2000+ lumen Chinese lights (they are actually pretty good, I've used several sets over the years on my MTB), on-road the problem is the beam pattern is usually very wide-angle and you risk dazzling on-coming traffic. This might sound like a nice chance for revenge against cars that don't dip their headlights for you but honestly do you want to be blinding an on-coming driver on a narrow country lane? I've seen people bodge covers from cut down beer cans that stop the light flooding out too wide, not tried it myself though.

Sounds like fun. Like Nick says though hanging around in the cold is no fun so the group would have to be of similar abilities.........

I think that the evening rides we did previously didn't involve much waiting and the group were of a decent standard.

Anybody able to post a route or two up?

Some tips for night-time group rides:
Do a head-count at the start (it's even easier to lose people at night)
Always have a tail-end charlie if it's a large group
Point out road hazards
Don't run your lights on full power if you aren't at the front (you'll create shadows in front of the people ahead of you)
If riding single-file try and stay off-set behind the person in front (again to limit the effect of shadows)
Try not to use a super-bright dazzling rear light if you're not at the back (IMO everyone should have a decent + cheap LED rear and turn off the decent one when not at the back)
Don't swerve too much if you get dive-bombed by a bat or an owl
Don't brake suddenly if you see a werewolf, chances are it's just a weird shadow
Don't be last as that's who the boogie monster kills first

Nick wrote:

Don't be last as that's who the boogie monster kills first

he he he ... how to have fun on a night ride .... sit at the back and turn the lights off ..... :)

Nick wrote:

Some tips for night-time group rides:
Do a head-count at the start (it's even easier to lose people at night)
Always have a tail-end charlie if it's a large group
Point out road hazards
Don't run your lights on full power if you aren't at the front (you'll create shadows in front of the people ahead of you)
If riding single-file try and stay off-set behind the person in front (again to limit the effect of shadows)
Try not to use a super-bright dazzling rear light if you're not at the back (IMO everyone should have a decent + cheap LED rear and turn off the decent one when not at the back)
Don't swerve too much if you get dive-bombed by a bat or an owl
Don't brake suddenly if you see a werewolf, chances are it's just a weird shadow
Don't be last as that's who the boogie monster kills first

Nice one.. I may make this into stickie night ride guide!  

Just did this route as a tester. Will need a little modification mainly to miss out Trench Lane, but that's easily sorted. I agree a non stop 20ish mile ride then a coffee at Costa if anybody fancies it, otherwise straight home.

Not sure when to start these, but was thinking after the clocks go back and maybe Tuesday evenings around 6:30pm start from Costa. I intend to ride the same route for the first number of weeks as it is very different in the dark I am sure, but open to suggestions and variation. Also I can't promise every Tuesday I will be out, but should be for most of them.

http://www.strava.com/activities/86229772
I will plot this on RWGPS and post at a later time.

Would anybody want to try this as a test run on Thursday evening, ideally 3+?

Our Godfather kindly plotted this route avoiding Trench Lane.

http://www.ridewithgps.com/routes/3459925

If I am back in time Thursday I would be happy to give it a go, but won't know until very closer the time.

Last year I got a Cree XML T6 bike light and am well pleased with it. The claimed light output of 1800 lumen might be a bit optomistic but it is nonetheless very bright. Just had a quick look on flea bay and you can pick one up from a UK supplier for less than twenty quid ! I would say the light beam is more spot light than flood light.