Amberdrake Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 Lets have all the stories relating to some epic rides in the dark!This year I have limited time to get on the bicycle and started taking on some trails in the dark. I have done early morning road riding before with some of those cheap checkers lights(yes I am in one piece).For the trails i managed to get a nice Cree bar mounted light imported from china regulated supply and all.Guys at Extreme Lights had a special on some headlamps so got one of those. First ride was at the Southeys Vines track in Somerset West with a friend. I only had bar mounted light for this. Worked well however I missed the ability to move light where i looked. Second ride i tried attaching the same light to my helmet. This worked incredible for light. It did give me incredible neck pain due to the battery mounted on helmet. Next ride I got the headlamp. The idea was to put on headlamp and use bar lamp for extra light. Now as Murphy has it I get to the top of Jonkershoek fire hut level 2 and start looking for headlamp. Lo and behold i can't find it. So i eventually give up strap on my kit and get going downwards. Everything is going well with only my bar light till first drop of the front wheel. Suddenly all the lovely lit trail turns dark and the light is now pointing at just ahead of the front wheel. I think to myself its not so horrible and leave it. Soon after i turn up the light to brightest and re-adjust. Once again it lasts till first bumpy bit. By now i am going slower than my usual self(I am sure there are trail joggers passing me when its daylight ) Finally with massive amounts of concentration I manage to get to fire hut level 1 entrance. Its late by now and alone in forest the nightly sounds start playing tricks on the mind. Every now and then I swear there are people around chatting or some noise that turns out to be the thread of the bike or bounce of the chain(clutch stops the slap). Going into fire hut one I am determined to get down and out! I adjust my light and start the trail once again the silly light dips i curse the sun god for hating me(Spike always chews me when going cycling!). Bombing down the trail concentrating I start feeling niggles.... Its the legs! They are tired! By now I have been cycling/walking FLATOUT for last hour!(Thanks Mr Partner that ditched me last minute ). Now I can only stand on the pedals 3/4 of the time I have a light pointing at the ground in front of me and I am starting to FREAK myself out(I am sure all of you wise guys will last much better on their own). I lift my seat a little and ride as fast as possible without hitting the trees that seem to be jumping at me from everywhere! I start recognizing the end of the trail and start pedaling hard to get out! ( Concentration is taking its toll) With a smile I sprint past the last few tree's straight at the gate out over the little bridge. Now there is nothing in my way only dirt road and little hill. The seat popped back to full height I start sprinting to the car. Feeling good and almost happy(I can see a bit more here) I start hearing weird sounds. I figure its maybe 500m to car nothing is stopping me(when i say nothing I mean it.) I pedal harder and push into lower gears! (turns out its the tires crunching the gravel) Back at the car I have a laugh at myself and find the headlamp! I pack up my kit and wish for one of those beers the guys had as i pulled in for the ride. Riding home it hits me no matter where, when or what your riding just ride!
Raydek Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 Cool post My first night ride was after one of the Bloemendal night rides which ended at dusk.. Sat down for a beer and waited for the dark to properly set in... Earlier in the day I had mounted my GoPro and 1 Billion candle power head lamp (also Ebay special, but works amazingly) to my helmet. Yip, the extra weight was interesting and required the head strap to be tightened considerably, which lead to a lovely pounding kop (but worth it). So after my lovely beer and when it was nice and dark I headed up the trail, firstly it was eerie being so quiet and lonesome, but eventually it was actually rather pleasant and peaceful. Except for the 1 billion miggies and mozzies seeking their own candle on my head.. At a stage there was a swoosh above my head, looked up and notice a dark figure landing on a post of the nearby fence. It was a massive owl, who did not seemed phased by my presence at all, just chilled and watched me slowly pass by until we lost each other in the darkness. The downhill was a lot more interesting, initially A LOT slower than usual, no matter how bright your light is you still can't see as far as in the day and for some reason that just made me take it way easy, even though I could see a fair distance with the light. Once I had settle though and realised that I know the trail very well and had ridden down it less than an hour prior (so there would be no sneaky rocks or holes etc) and just went with it and gave it stick.. It was awesome, was so focused within my 20m radius of light, I'm sure part of the headache was from the concentration alone.. The most interesting part of the whole trail in the dark was a drop half way down the route, usual in the day when you approach the drop (which is off a slight incline) you can only spot your landing on take off or just before, but in the dark with the light facing forward you can't see below yourself, so in essence I could've been landing into a black hole, which is very scary at the time, but my wheels did find ground as they had many times before All in all it was just awesome and I will do many many more and in as many places as I can find that will allow it..
RocknRolla Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 I ride in the dark often. either early morning, or early evening. Most noted was when I just strated, had a real cheap & nasty headlamp that I duct taped to my handlebar. worked great for the first half of the ride, then the light would dim as i rode along, meaning i had to hug the wheel of my riding partner who had a proper light. Then I got me a decent light and the trail was lit up properly, and I could finally see where I was going...to my shock sometimes. Was blinded by my own light one morning (started raining mid-ride) on a particularly fast downhill section I somehow managed to bump the light upwards so that it was shining straight into my eyes...all 1000 odd lumens of it....closed my eyes, hit the brakes trying to not lock up and got to a safe standstill.Lucky it was a wide dirt road and I had some room to manouvre....
nonky Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 I ride in the dark a lot early in the mornings in Jhb - all along the Spruit. I also purchased one of those china-special billion watt handlebar-mounted lights, which works pretty well along the Spruit and around Delta Park. It has a huge battery, which straps to the frame/seatpost, so the light shines for hours without dimming.Sometimes, you do get spooked and start seeing things, shadows, "people" and hearing things over your own breathing. Gives you an idea of how scary the world must've been before the invention of proper lights.The occasional encounter with a "Spruit Monster" (aka bush-dweller / rough sleeper / homeless person) in the dark does stuff to your heart-rate that no hill or interval ever will.Most days, all the above is forgotten as soon as the sun comes up.Great way to start any day.
Spank Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 I ride in the dark often. either early morning, or early evening. Most noted was when I just strated, had a real cheap & nasty headlamp that I duct taped to my handlebar. worked great for the first half of the ride, then the light would dim as i rode along, meaning i had to hug the wheel of my riding partner who had a proper light. Then I got me a decent light and the trail was lit up properly, and I could finally see where I was going...to my shock sometimes. Was blinded by my own light one morning (started raining mid-ride) on a particularly fast downhill section I somehow managed to bump the light upwards so that it was shining straight into my eyes...all 1000 odd lumens of it....closed my eyes, hit the brakes trying to not lock up and got to a safe standstill.Lucky it was a wide dirt road and I had some room to manouvre....Thanks for the good laugh! I can only imagine the panic....
Beast Tech Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Sorry for the Hijack, But how safe would you say Conrad up to Emmarentia is after dark? 6:30 onwards? I ride fast and normally alone but after work normally pushing light so was just wondering. Would be on my way down from Emmarentia?
nonky Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Sorry for the Hijack, But how safe would you say Conrad up to Emmarentia is after dark? 6:30 onwards? I ride fast and normally alone but after work normally pushing light so was just wondering. Would be on my way down from Emmarentia? I ride along the Spruit from emmarentia to fratellis, around delta and back in the dark (05h00) by myself 4 x per week.No problems at all.I regularly speak to the CSS guys and also spoke to the area manager and they all say it's safe.There ARE people living in the Spruit but I think they're harmless...still, it is Joburg after dark, so normal caution applies.
extremelights Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Sjoe guys.... some scary scenarios i read here... but all sooo relevant! I too had a close encounter one night on Paarl Mountain where my old bike light (usually loose) shined up into my eyes and i was approaching the side cliff.... for some reason i managed to stop in time and i was like 3 meters away from riding over the edge. Since then i got a proper light and always makes sure its well secured... the safety aspect is the most important off all ! I still cant get over the night riding (doing it for about a year now and im enjoying the quiet open roads in the mountain at night)! Especially if its summertime and you want to beat the heat... then just wait till it sets and grab the bike! Cool stories guys!
RocknRolla Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 If it was not for the personal safety aspect, I would ride at night a whole lot more often. It really is most enjoyable.
cadenceblur Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 We would do night rides at Tokai twice a week before the fire - going to miss it terribly.
Albatross Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 I'm sure I ride faster at night. In daylight I'm always a bit cautious if I see loose sand around a corner or a nasty rut, but at night with less to see you tend to keep your momentum up and only realise afterwards that you ridden thru some nasties.
Hennie VR Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 My very first race was a 24h relay race at Logwood Ranch. I was about 13 years old when one of my fathers friends asked me if I will fill a spot in their team. So off we go. Race started at 10h the morning and we did plenty laps during the day. Nightfall came and we taped (yes, with insulation tape) our lights to our handle bars and helmets and off we went. Went well the first few laps but then the light started fading. Being young and fearless though I kept on pushing lap after lap and later arriving back at the start/finish with no lights. Amazing memories and I can truly say that was the start of my cycling days. I was totally hooked and soon we were doing races almost every weekend. I still remember seeing the red tail lights further down the single track and then all of a sudden see the person's headlamp then the tail lamp etc as the take a tumble.
Hennie VR Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Took another full moon ride with the lbs a few weeks ago.Now having a "propper" 1200 lumens light and a fully charged battery off we go to Rosemary Hill. Get there and start with the trails all going great. About half way through the ride 1h20min i notice the little green battery indicator turned red..........ok not good but should last at least another hour or more on dim so should not have any trouble. About 15min later the light which shines at the same strength until the battery is completely drained goes out completely on a fast single track which my brother following me found extremely amusing because a was joking with him because he did not fully charge his light and his light was so dim that he was following my wheel just to be able to see where we are going. Needless to say it was a tough ride home because if your not able to hold the person in front of you's wheel and they pull a bit of a gap then it's over. I was amazed at how quickly your eyes adjusts when you have no light and there is a full moon. The trail becomes a shadowy line and the grass almost looks whitish. But beware the rocks lurking in the dark. They will get you! Luckily the ride from Rosemary Hill back to the shop was all dirt roads and I was able to keep up with the rest of the riders and rode in their light. Can't wait for the next ride!
Amberdrake Posted March 17, 2015 Author Posted March 17, 2015 I have yet to see the point in having super bright light. I like lights with more dispersal and moderate brightness. My last ride at Jonker's was about 1hour 20min. I did not charge the light before riding and ride before that was at least 2 months before. Honestly never been unfortunate enough to run out of power but it does sometimes make me wonder what if....When I get back from holiday and ride more often again at night I might have to invest in spare battery.
Kyle Petersen Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 So last year I did my first night event. Over the moon at modderfontein. My race bike was in service so I managed to get my brothers ENTRY LEVEL TREK. Didn't mind the bike at all, besides a set of shite mechanical tektro brakes, any way. I strapped my battery pack on, put the light on, woohoo let's rock. Started riding and all of a sudden I had lost all rear brakes. Rushed to the mechanic, he also couldn't figure it out. Well then so be it, I raced the entire over the moon with no rear brakes. Worst of all when I eventually got to my car, I reliased only once the battery pack was off, that the pack had squeezed the brake line too hard to even work. FML HA HA LIVE TO LEARN
Kyle Petersen Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 So last year I did my first night event. Over the moon at modderfontain My race bike was in service so I managed to get my brothers ENTRY LEVEL TREK. Didn't mind the bike at all, besides a set of shite mechanical tektro brakes, any way.I strapped my battery pack on, put the light on, woohoo let's rock. Started riding and all of a sudden I had lost all rear brakes. Rushed to the mechanic, he also couldn't figure it out. Well then so be it, I raced the entire over the moon with no rear brakes. Worst of all when I eventually got to my car, I reliased only once the battery pack was off, that the pack had squeezed the brake line too hard to even work. FML HA HA LIVE TO LEARN
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