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#1
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
Nothing new about it: The little furry mammals developed that strategy
to survive among the dinosaurs (which is why we are here)... Anyway, now my next door neighbor wants to ride at midnight... And he ain't one of those crazy bums on a Huffy. He even bought a vest with blinking lights (DUI drivers and SUV drivers chatting on the cell phone should be able to see him). And his bike cost him 2 grands (important in this hierarchal jungle where you are what you drive), so I guess he better find a use for it. The other day he told me he didn't have the nerve anymore to ride in traffic (he ain't no chicken, he's a veteran), which leads to this daring survival strategy. Actually, I do the same with my canoe, where the motorboats put me at the bottom of the food chain in the day time. Well, our dinosaurs (SUVs and motorboats) make us get smarter and get nocturnal. And I can only hope Darwin was right: "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." NOTE: I told my neighbor to knock on my door. Just in case I'm sleepless... WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE http://webspawner.com/users/donquijote |
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#2
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
Well, our dinosaurs (SUVs and motorboats) make us get smarter and get
nocturnal. Take heart: mammals emerged into the sunlight after a worldwide catastrophe. That catastrophe is occurring right now: slow in man-years but an eyeblink in geologic time. In any case, pay close attention to nighttime lighting. Both distance viewing and depth perception are greatly reduced with cheaper headlamp/bikelights. $2-300 for a quality high-wattage bikelight system I don't think would be out of line if you are serious about night-riding, especially on a fast roadbike. rms |
#3
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
On May 1, 2:19 pm, "rms" wrote:
In any case, pay close attention to nighttime lighting. Both distance viewing and depth perception are greatly reduced with cheaper headlamp/bikelights. $2-300 for a quality high-wattage bikelight system I don't think would be out of line if you are serious about night-riding, especially on a fast roadbike. Or even a moderate-speed utility bike! Lighting systems costing $200 to $300 have always been the rage (or at least, for the past 75 years) in places like northern Europe, where people ride bikes every day for transportation. No German housewife, for example, would ever think of going out after sunset without a 20 pound rechargeable battery and a headlamp as bright as an aircraft landing light. Ditto for the elderly ladies, young children and businessmen I saw tootling around Ireland, Austria, Italy and Britain. And those people (who have used bikes every day, all their lives), obviously don't know _nearly_ as much about this as the plump Americans doing occasional "training rides" on delicate road racing bikes! Americans know lights have to be much, much brighter than that! TWO aircraft landing lights are not unreasonable! After all, if it's bright enough for a 150 mph motorcycle, it's obviously not quite bright enough for a 15 mph bicycle! Is that how you meant to say it? - Frank Krygowski |
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
get yer light from the auto parts store.
$20 will buy you a pair of halogen running lights. I think 36W is enough and it uses a much lighter battery than a 55W. don't try to use a motorcycle battery, make sure it's a "deep cycle", and that you've got the amps so that you only discharge it about 60% on your normal day to day route |
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
ComandanteBanana wrote:
Nothing new about it: The little furry mammals developed that strategy to survive among the dinosaurs (which is why we are here)... Riding at Night is a most excellent pastime. I'm doing a 400km Audax this very weekend that, judging by last years timing, will mean I'm riding from dusk (Saturday) to dawn (Sunday). When it's moony, and it's very late - I may ride a few short stretches without lights (in the country). I have good lights - good enough to allow me to ride downhill at daytime speeds with full confidence. Of course, I may be asleep by then... Chris |
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
On May 1, 3:45 pm, Jon Bendtsen wrote:
ComandanteBanana wrote: Nothing new about it: The little furry mammals developed that strategy to survive among the dinosaurs (which is why we are here)... Anyway, now my next door neighbor wants to ride at midnight... And he ain't one of those crazy bums on a Huffy. He even bought a vest with blinking lights (DUI drivers and SUV drivers chatting on the cell He could get a dynamo hub and some lights. The best dynamo hub should be SON from Schmidt, but it's rather expensive. The front and rear light could be from Busch + Muller, but schmidt has a real nice LED light comming real soon now(tm). See: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schmidt.asp http://www.bumm.de/index-e.html http://www.nabendynamo.de/english/index.html JonB All those lights are nice so you can see, but to be seen all you need is that blinking vest. I guess. |
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
ComandanteBanana schrieb:
Anyway, now my next door neighbor wants to ride at midnight... And he ain't one of those crazy bums on a Huffy. He even bought a vest with blinking lights Args. Please don't use this blinking bull****s. It just distracts other drivers and makes them focus on the blinking. |
#8
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
ComandanteBanana schrieb:
All those lights are nice so you can see, but to be seen all you need is that blinking vest. I guess. Fortunately, that blinking bull**** is illegal, at least here. |
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
On May 1, 5:24*pm, Jens Müller wrote:
ComandanteBanana schrieb: Anyway, now my next door neighbor wants to ride at midnight... And he ain't one of those crazy bums on a Huffy. He even bought a vest with blinking lights Args. Please don't use this blinking bull****s. It just distracts other drivers and makes them focus on the blinking. So how is it the blinking rear lights are OK? I don't think any solid light will be strong enough to be seen by drivers who simply aren't looking for bikes at that time... if they are paying any attention at all. I was told the same thing about having blinking lights on the canoe, which I fixed. |
#10
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Riding at night: a strategy for survival?
On May 1, 5:25*pm, Jens Müller wrote:
ComandanteBanana schrieb: All those lights are nice so you can see, but to be seen all you need is that blinking vest. I guess. Fortunately, that blinking bull**** is illegal, at least here. Where's that, Germany? What is required there? |
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