Late night riding
May 10th, 2010 by Leo
Although professional racers tend to dislike night races…for regular street riding, where your main danger comes from traffic and not road surface quality, late night is a great time to ride! The traffic is lighter, and cars easier to see, and the temperatures are cooler which helps during the summer months. But are there any precautions should you take for night riding?
Just common sense really… But they’re worth taking 2 seconds to think about. Here’s what I consider on a longer night ride:
Take it easy. Distance is harder to judge at night than during the day, and many people underestimate how fast they’re going… So it’s a good idea to leave a little more room for braking – but that being said, you have a real advantage at night in being able to identify cars from their lights – and in reduced traffic…
Stick to well lit roads. Some of the nicer roads like parts of the Saw Mill, Taconic, Merritt Parkway, tend not to be lit and can be disorienting when your eyes get tired. The major highways, on the other hand, are extremely well lit. Some parkways, like Northern State in LI, are both curvy (well sort of, for NY standards) and well lit. So unless you’re familiar with the road and have good lighting on your bike, you’ll have better ride on the brighter roads. This guy would never have been able to do this if he weren’t on the LIE (not that we condone this – save it for the track).
Be prepared for emergencies. A flat tire, when you’re in or near the city, is not a big deal. Some gas station Quick-E-Marts and car washes even sell flat tire kits. Or you can pull over and call a buddy or tow service. No problem. But at night there’s a real danger to being stuck on the side of the road. Cars get plowed into quite frequently, even with emergency lights on. So if you do have a roadside emergency, a flat, engine trouble – you want to be extra cautious about where you pull over to deal with it. If you don’t carry a tire patch kit normally, carry it for your night ride… Also if you have an older classic bike that’s a bit temperamental - you might want to save the longer rides for daylight when everything is open.
Check your lights. If you don’t ride a lot at night, you might not even know where your headlights are pointed, or even if the bulbs are working. Just take a second to make sure all your lights (including your tail light) is working, and if you have a lot of hours on the bike, maybe carry an extra bulb… Also take a second with a screwdriver to adjust your headlight so that you get decent coverage on darker roads.
But really there’s not a lot you need to do different for a night ride – you actually have better visibility (of cars) and are more visible to them as well (it’s hard to miss the lights in the dark). Got any more tips for night rides? Share the wealth in the comments section!
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