Racks is racks, right?

Per Frank Krygowski:
You may be more conspicuous at night than you are in daylight. I'm
quite sure I am, based on actual observation.

I wonder about the drivers, though.

Somewhere, somebody claimed that the ratio of commercial aircraft
takeoff/landing accidents was something like 9 or 10 to 1 -
night:day.

Personally, I try to avoid driving at night bc my peripheral
vision and depth perception are degraded so much.
--
PeteCresswell

On Sep 23, 5:46*pm, "(PeteCresswell)" wrote:
Per Frank Krygowski:

You may be more conspicuous at night than you are in daylight. *I'm
quite sure I am, based on actual observation.

I wonder about the drivers, though.

Somewhere, somebody claimed that the ratio of commercial aircraft
takeoff/landing accidents was something like 9 or 10 to 1 -
night:day.

Personally, I try to avoid driving at night bc my peripheral
vision and depth perception are degraded so much.

And I've known other people who avoid driving at night because of
vision problems. Which I take to be a hopeful sign.

Folks, nothing is perfectly safe. But the dangers people attach to
night riding are highly exaggerated. I've had far more "didn't see
you" incidents in daytime than in nighttime. In fact, I can't recall
_ever_ having one at night. And, as I've often described, my
nighttime lights and reflectors are nothing special at all.

Really, why would you not perform a simple test? Do it. Check your
own system with the help of a friend. Let us know what you see.

- Frank Krygowski

Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:

Adding the wire baskets will help in that direction. Riding at night,
though, is something I'm less sanguine about. While the drivers here in
Bend are fairly accustomed to cyclists, they still collide with them
even during daylight hours on a frequent enough basis* to make me not
want to further decrease my odds by riding after dark. YMMV.

As long as you have good lights, I think you're _more_ visible at night.
Dynamo lights are good as back-ups, but are not sufficient as "being
seen lights." You want to get a good rear flasher (not the drug store
or hardware store variety) and a powerful front headlight. You don't
need to spend much. A Blackburn Mars 2.0 tail light is $10, and a very
bright Cree LED flashlight is $30 from Lowe's. Add a homemade handlebar
clamp made from two conduit clamps, some heat shrink tubing, a wing nut,
and bolt and lock nut.

See "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html"

On 9/23/2008 5:23 PM SMS wrote:

Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:

Adding the wire baskets will help in that direction. Riding at night,
though, is something I'm less sanguine about. While the drivers here in
Bend are fairly accustomed to cyclists, they still collide with them
even during daylight hours on a frequent enough basis* to make me not
want to further decrease my odds by riding after dark. YMMV.

As long as you have good lights, I think you're _more_ visible at night.

This may be true, probably a matter of how cluttered the nighttime scene
is with blinking, flashing, flickering vehicular and flashing "Eat at
Joe's" displays.

Dynamo lights are good as back-ups, but are not sufficient as "being
seen lights." You want to get a good rear flasher (not the drug store
or hardware store variety) and a powerful front headlight. You don't
need to spend much. A Blackburn Mars 2.0 tail light is $10, and a very
bright Cree LED flashlight is $30 from Lowe's. Add a homemade handlebar
clamp made from two conduit clamps, some heat shrink tubing, a wing nut,
and bolt and lock nut.

See "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html"


--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"

On Sep 23, 8:44*pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote:
On 9/23/2008 5:23 PM SMS wrote:


As long as you have good lights, I think you're _more_ visible at night..

This may be true, probably a matter of how cluttered the nighttime scene
is with blinking, flashing, flickering vehicular and flashing "Eat at
Joe's" displays.

If that's what you're worried about, then go to a place with lots of
those sorts of lights and observe your bike as a friend rides it.
When I've done it with my friends and family, we judged the problem to
be negligible.

One tip that hasn't been mentioned for a long while: Any moving light
source (or reflector) is good for getting attention, but people
respond _very_ quickly to motion similar to a person moving - that is,
reciprocating motion, especially if it's left-right symmetrical. If a
person were walking toward you with a tiny, steady LED on each foot,
your eyes would jump to the motion and you'd recognize it instantly.

Pedal reflectors (or the like) capitalize on that psychological
effect. Reflective tape on the crank arms can do the same. It takes
very little reflective area to do a good job, if it's thoughtfully
applied. (But still, reflectors don't replace the need for lights.)

- Frank Krygowski

On 9/23/2008 7:56 PM Frank Krygowski wrote:

On Sep 23, 8:44 pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote:
On 9/23/2008 5:23 PM SMS wrote:


As long as you have good lights, I think you're _more_ visible at night.
This may be true, probably a matter of how cluttered the nighttime scene
is with blinking, flashing, flickering vehicular and flashing "Eat at
Joe's" displays.

If that's what you're worried about, then go to a place with lots of
those sorts of lights and observe your bike as a friend rides it.
When I've done it with my friends and family, we judged the problem to
be negligible.

One tip that hasn't been mentioned for a long while: Any moving light
source (or reflector) is good for getting attention, but people
respond _very_ quickly to motion similar to a person moving - that is,
reciprocating motion, especially if it's left-right symmetrical. If a
person were walking toward you with a tiny, steady LED on each foot,
your eyes would jump to the motion and you'd recognize it instantly.

Pedal reflectors (or the like) capitalize on that psychological
effect. Reflective tape on the crank arms can do the same. It takes
very little reflective area to do a good job, if it's thoughtfully
applied. (But still, reflectors don't replace the need for lights.)

- Frank Krygowski

That's what I've heard and observed. Listen, Frank, I'm not disagreeing
with you. These ears here are open ones. I've never considered nighttime
cycling to be anything other than Really Dangerous, but I'm aware that
this is backed up with zero information. Thanks for providing a little more.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"

On Sep 24, 8:30 pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote:
On 9/23/2008 7:56 PM Frank Krygowski wrote:


Pedal reflectors (or the like) capitalize on that psychological
effect. Reflective tape on the crank arms can do the same. It takes
very little reflective area to do a good job, if it's thoughtfully
applied. (But still, reflectors don't replace the need for lights.)

- Frank Krygowski

That's what I've heard and observed. Listen, Frank, I'm not disagreeing
with you. These ears here are open ones. I've never considered nighttime
cycling to be anything other than Really Dangerous, but I'm aware that
this is backed up with zero information. Thanks for providing a little more.


If night time cycling makes you nervous, do be aware that some of the
classic bourbons from my part of the country are available in plastic
pints suitable for a cycling jersey. A little nip along the way and
your worries will be sated and the road will be schmooth! Plus, if you
get whacked, you'll be relaxed--people argue about helmets all the
time, but I feel that muscle tension is a much more important topic.
Do you want to be all tensy tensy when that Chevrolet hits you? Hell
no! You want to be able to just absorb the contours of its fender like
a good greasy brioche dough, and get up off the road, with teeth in
hand, like nothing ever happened.