Night riding

[Si]

Hills are easier in the dark as you can't see the top nor the gradient. And you feel like you are going faster.

My fave night riding is MTBing in the snow with a full moon and clear sky - everything lights up blue and white and becomes quite magical.

[squeaker]

Although whenever I'm out on a dark clear night, my eyes are inevitable drawn skyward , I've long ago discovered that stargazing and cycling (when you're actually in motion) don't mix....

Another 'bent (trike especially) advantage, as your relaxed gaze is already above the horizon Still need to look out for the road edges though

[fluffybunnyuk]

I love night cycling too, the absence of traffic makes it alot of fun. Only downside is I try to be back before the 4am chill sets in. Wrap up warm, and to the OP glad to hear your dress is warm...

Emma

[Ayesha]

Hills are easier in the dark as you can't see the top nor the gradient. And you feel like you are going faster.

My fave night riding is MTBing in the snow with a full moon and clear sky - everything lights up blue and white and becomes quite magical.

So you are the bloke who 'moons' in Sutton Park on an MTB !!

What lights up 'blue and white' is the police car chasing you,,,,

[Abu Milhem]

To echo an earlier poster; I too often switch off the dynamo in moonlight on quiet country lanes. I like the feeling of being cocooned by darkness at road level so that you are less aware of your own corporeal reality and focussed instead on interpreting the way ahead, the horizon and the darkness. Feeling but not hearing the wingbeat of an owl swooping low over your head. Stopping to admire the moon for more time than is sensible. A quiet and undisturbed dump in a hedgerow. These are all particular night time pleasures.

Even in deep and very late Autumn (the winter solstice being but two days away) I ache for the joys of the Dunwich Dynamo at t'other solstice (near enough). See you next July!

[JamesE]

Yes, the Dunwich Dynamo is magical and I intend to keep riding it until I'm too old to turn a crank.

This summer I was toying with the idea of doing more night riding, not only for all the reasons others have said but also to avoid the worst of the heat. Which led me to wonder if anyone has done extended cycle touring at night...?

[Grandad]

Hills are easier in the dark as you can't see the top nor the gradient.

Not always so. Starting a 300k audax from Poole at 2.00am the route used the A31 switchback to Romsey. Lots of riders so from my position near the back there was a chain of red lights that marked the uphill bits very clearly.

Similar setup riding the road up to Beachy Head from Birling Gap. Smaller groups ahead and above looked like a series of red caterpillars.

If riding through the night after a morning start it's amazing how at 4.00am a bus shelter can become an attractive bedroom - especially if it's one with the luxury of a bench seat.

[thirdcrank]

When i was a teenager, our all-night rides were really exciting affairs, just for the thrill of it all, not because we did anything particularly exciting apart from staying up all night riding bikes. When retirement was approaching and I mused about the things I'd have time to do, I briefly thought about some all night rides but for some reason, it didn't seem quite the same. So, I've done various long rides which finished - by plan or bad planning - during the night, but no all-night rides.

Over the years, I've seen all sorts when riding at night: perhaps the most memorable was the Hale Bopp comet which put in a prolonged appearance not long before I retired.

[MartinC]

......................to avoid the worst of the heat. Which led me to wonder if anyone has done extended cycle touring at night...?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gl ... e-25427407

[Abu Milhem]

Which led me to wonder if anyone has done extended cycle touring at night...?

Derby to Market Weighton in June to get to York Rally - when I reckon it was worth the bother - via Southwell and Bawtry. From 5 pm to 4.50 am without a map, satnav or phone 1990s. A lovely ride in fine weather

[Abu Milhem]

When i was a teenager, our all-night rides were really exciting affairs, just for the thrill of it all, not because we did anything particularly exciting apart from staying up all night riding bikes. When retirement was approaching and I mused about the things I'd have time to do, I briefly thought about some all night rides but for some reason, it didn't seem quite the same. So, I've done various long rides which finished - by plan or bad planning - during the night, but no all-night rides.

Over the years, I've seen all sorts when riding at night: perhaps the most memorable was the Hale Bopp comet which put in a prolonged appearance not long before I retired.

This (Hale Bopp) was a constant companion in the night sky when as a family (partner with daughter 2 in child seat and me with daughter 1 on a tandem) we used to cycle 9 miles down country lanes from Diss station in Norfolk every Friday evening (to a cottage we had then) between 10 and 11pm. Flat, quiet and beautiful. I also learned how to fix a puncture in complete darkness on a bike with a small child fast asleep in a baby seat. True, a car would have been simpler but we could not afford one then and besides, the experience and the learned self reliance are worth far, far more.