The Night Riding Experience

**Crinkle** · 08-25-2006, 10:00 AM

I recently have purchased a wonderful Niterider HID light, which is the equivalent of wearing a car headlight on your melon, it makes shadows scared, its so bright. With the upcoming 24 hr race and dwindling afternoon hours, the boys set out on a mission. Unfortunately here on the front range most of the trails close at dusk, some at 10pm, so renegade style is the way to go. (please save the lectures) Last nights mission was done from a friends house to an un-named location. 16 miles and plenty of vert.

Damn, it was only my second ride on this set-up and my third ever night ride. It is soooo fun. Even got rained on a little on the ascent. More fun than the preverbial barrel full of monkeys, and no, not the DM kind (thats more fun than anyone could handle) We weren't trying to be too quiet on the descent as we hooted and hollared our way down (not so renegade). Apparently johnny law caught up to us at our friends house as we were loading the truck back up with bikes. Someone had called the cops, probably from us riding through the neighborhood with our lights still on, we probably lit someone's living room up by accident with two of us wearing HIDs at 10pm. Johnny was cool and didn't even give us a warning, had more important items to attend to and was on his way, leaving us to our cold beer and after-ride glow.

For all of you lovers of two wheels, I highly suggest you scrape up some dough or borrow a friend's light and try it for yourself. It is truely a unique experience. It put a huge smile on my face to stop and watch my friends' lights whip through the dark, twisting and turning amongst the trees, knowing they were enjoying it as much as I was. Light is getting to be endagered commodity now as fall approaches and we need to keep ourselves entertained till the snow falls on the trails, so get out there, rent, buy, borrow, but check it out.

The thought that hit me pretty hard last night was the fact that I knew that none of my friends from my hometown could possibly wrap their heads around what we were doing. 3 guys with headlights and 5+" travel bikes, climbing mtns at night.....for fun. Well, while they can't understand ever doing it, I now won't be able to understand NOT doing it.

**Particle** · 08-25-2006, 11:10 AM

Nice Crinkle! I've never night ridden before (well, intentionally), and the price tag has always scared me off. But when we were camping in Fruita, a group of about 6 riders came barreling down Joe's Ridge right near our campsite. I think the fact that I was pretty imbibed made it even cooler, but ever since then I've wanted to get a setup. Soooo cool watching those guys cruise the ridge in the dark with these blazing bright lamps.

**Andy_B** · 08-25-2006, 11:20 AM

Well played.

I love night riding, and long for days when night laps come early.

**The Reverend Floater** · 08-25-2006, 11:22 AM

This seems like it would be super fun. Just one NR headlamp or do you need bar lamps, too?

**Conundrum** · 08-25-2006, 11:34 AM

I borrowed a bar mount and helmet mount a couple years ago and it was awesome. There's was always light in front plus I could look "through" corners. I tried one or the other and I think I would go bar mount before helmet if I could only use one because that way there is always light in front of you-maybe just how I ride but I would look around with just the helmet light and then not see rocks/roots. Those bastards are spendy but fun. On my list for next year's purchases.

**Crinkle** · 08-25-2006, 11:38 AM

I run just a headlamp, it puts out 40 watts of light for 4 hours of burn time. I find that its bright enough for me to ride "full out" with.

"THEY" (endurance racers and night light fanatics) say that the best bet is to run a dual set-up, head lamp to see where you are looking and bar lights to give additional shadows and more dimension to the trail. I have run just bar lights once and it was adequate and worked fine for me, acting very much like car lights, very steady. With the headlamp only, its a little more shaky, your helmet has to be pretty tight (as it should) but bumps and twists of the head change your orientation a bit, due to change of the angle of the light. With my HID light and the soil types out here, it is so bright that it actually blanches out the finer details fo the trail that are closest to me. Last night I was lighting up the trail over 50 yards ahead of me on straight aways, but when I would look down in the corners I wouldn't see the brake bumps or smaller rollers. I imagine with darker soil on the trails it would be fine. I even tried wearing yellow tint lenses last night, which helped tone it down a little.

**homerjay** · 08-25-2006, 11:42 AM

Night riding rules....handlebar and helmet is ideal if you're rich or spancered, but one HID on the head is all you really need. I need to get a new light rig....did you get a deal on yours? I borrowed an HID for Moab 2 yrs ago and going back to my old POS niterider is embarrassing!

**Andy_B** · 08-25-2006, 12:24 PM

I run a Light`n Motion Solo Logic Li on my helmet and a Niterider Moba HID on my bars. I don't like the weight of a HID heads/nightrider heads on my noggin when I'm banging around in the single track.

**homi** · 08-25-2006, 01:39 PM

I'm also pretty new to the nightriding thing and agree - very fun

I have this light (helmet-mount) and it's super bright and doesn't move
http://www.jetlites.com/psb_ss_fg.html
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Lights/product_122246.shtml

anybody nightride solo? anybody worry about this ?

**Crinkle** · 08-25-2006, 02:19 PM

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/148...-HID-Light.htm it was on sale cheaper than they have it hear ($250) I think I paid 2 bills plus shipping

niterider enduro HID is what I got, same light as the Blowtorch/Flight, just different battery pack.

Night riding is spooky enough, I know guys who do it solo with thier dogs, but you won't catch me doing it.

**Superstar Punani** · 08-25-2006, 02:23 PM

..........

**kidwoo** · 08-25-2006, 02:32 PM

My whole intro to mtbiking was riding at night. I went to school in florida and with the heat and high degree of illegality of the trails we rode, it worked well. We had old turbocat halogens but I did a 24 hour race a few years ago and got a nightrider HID. Those things are freakin insane. I still use it in the fall when the days get shorter and I end rides in the dark.

**springsproject** · 08-25-2006, 02:50 PM

riding with lights is fun but my favorite type of night riding is when there is a full moon, without any artificial light. Usually if the weather is clear you can ride for a few nights before and after the moon is actually full. it makes for a very cool (and slow) experience. the shadows can get pretty decieving at times and i have defenitely gone otb a few times so i try to stick to places that don't have a ton of trees and aren't super technical. nothing really compares to being alone on a trail at 2 am and being able to ride without lights.

**shirk** · 08-25-2006, 08:46 PM

Been riding the nights since 1994 and loving it. Bar mount and helmet is the best combo.

I think I need to knock over a 7-11 and get some HID's.

**freshies** · 08-26-2006, 02:16 AM

night rides rool! its the only way to ride the goodness here in Marin County (the "bithplace of mountain biking"), where all the good single track is off limits: except when the sun goes down

we have a Wed night ride where we hit the goods, and I love riding at night. we hit that harvest full moon 2 weeks ago, and it was sooo beautiful, we didn't even need our lights for most of the ride.

but i need a new light. i have a 8 year old nightrider digital pro bar mount light with the huge battery that is shaped like a water bottle, its losing its juice. all my bros ride with the super sweeet halogen helmet + bar set-up, so i follow them as my light is pitiful in comparison.

**1wsguy** · 08-26-2006, 06:25 AM

Nite rides....oh so much fun!
HID lights are incredible!.They make other lights seem like BIC lighters. If you have a HID and ride behind someone with a regular light, thier light will be totally useless for them, and actually gives them a nasty black shadow to look at.

I prefer head mounted if I only use one light. But you gotta have a good helmet fit, or it bounces all over the place, and slides down your forehead. I tape my rear helmet straps together to help with this. Bar mount only, doesn't work as good as head mount only, on tight single track, (around here anyway...lottsa trees/rocks).

**Pedro** · 08-26-2006, 08:18 AM

My First Night Riding Expereince was a Night Time Trial as the First Part of a Three Day Stage Race....The Best Time i have ever had on the Dirt!!!!!

I picked up a Cateye Double Shot LED Light, The battery Lasts 5 hours and It works really well in the Tight East Coast Single Track.

If you Live In PA or the Area You need to check this out!!

**HobieTony** · 08-26-2006, 09:51 AM

Just got a HID headlamp this summer - it is like having your own patch of the sun!

Down here in Arizona, they have let me beat the heat, and ride when it only 90 instead of 110. I see lots of critters that are also geting out of the summer heat - rattlesnakes, gila monsters, tarantulas.

Makes those poached wilderness rides a little more do-able as well...

I have found almost no loss in the ability to ride techy trails, etc - the vision and brightness is that good. My wife just about shit, however, when the bill came through.

**intheways** · 08-26-2006, 02:35 PM

I picked up a pair of Halogens from REI for pretty cheap (Sigma EVO helmet and bar). My only ride so far was on ice and snow. I had got the Bullit that I bought off of Ebay, and couldn't wait to ride it. Tacky styrofoam snow...so much fun!

Thanks for the reminder to get 'em charged up again! It's getting to be poach season

**Crinkle** · 08-30-2006, 09:35 AM

whoops I did it again {britney}

trying to make this a weekly gig, so cool to be the only ones on the trail besides some wildlife. Saw some HUGE spiders on the trail last night and LOTS of buck. Two 8-pointers. Really psyched to race at night now.

**mtnbikerskierchick** · 08-30-2006, 11:09 PM

I LOVE my HID light! I try to ride a lot at night in the fall. It's a BLAST! Crink, I wouldn't mind joining you on some night rides sometime, if you'll let me join you that is

!!!!!

**brettf** · 08-30-2006, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by homi

anybody nightride solo? anybody worry about this ?

Homi - speaking of mountian lions, I had a little encounter on Apex last spring.

I was climbing Apex from Heritage. It was completely dark... like 9PM or thereabouts. I got up to within view of that armored climb where the trail forks up Sluicebox (I think it's called that) and saw a couple of reflectors on the trail climbing to the right.

I stopped dead in my tracks because it occured to me that it might be the eyes of a mountain lion.

With my heart beating a little faster that normal, I stared at the reflecting lights, turned my head away to put the main beam elsewhere, but kept a little light on the reflections.... I did this over and over again for a couple of minutes before realizing they were just from a trail marker or something... UNTIL THEY BLINKED. And started coming down the connecting trail to Apex! No jerky movement like a deer or something, but really smooth and snakelike and low... shitshit shitdamnfuck!!

I've never dismounted, 180ed my bike, remounted, and hammered on rocky terrain so fast in my life. I didn't look back, didn't hear anything (minus the loudest chainslapping ever and rocks being thrown everywhere)... I got to about within 50 yards of where Apex completely opens up when I noticed something flopping around in the trail ahead of me. A bat!

Normally, I'm not scared by bats... but somehow with my adrenaline going and me thinking a mountain lion is about to tonya harding my jugular, I did what any red blooded american would do... I barked at the bat. Not a little yipyap, but a mean, repeated king-hell fury of canine barkage that would frighten Kujo... that bat freaked and lit out full bore down the trail. Of course it didn't fly up or away, but down the trail.

So if anyone would have been there to witness it, they'd have seen a bat flying down Apex being chased by an idiot on a bike with a light on his head barking his goddam ass off.... my guess is that if that was a mountain lion, it wasn't hot in pursuit... it most likely would have dined on me already if it was really chasing me. But who knows, maybe the barking scared it off....

</storytime>

**Hutch** · 08-30-2006, 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by freshies

night rides rool! its the only way to ride the goodness here in Marin County (the "bithplace of mountain biking"), where all the good single track is off limits: except when the sun goes down

we have a Wed night ride where we hit the goods, and I love riding at night. we hit that harvest full moon 2 weeks ago, and it was sooo beautiful, we didn't even need our lights for most of the ride.

but i need a new light. i have a 8 year old nightrider digital pro bar mount light with the huge battery that is shaped like a water bottle, its losing its juice. all my bros ride with the super sweeet halogen helmet + bar set-up, so i follow them as my light is pitiful in comparison.

Say hi to Nora and Matt Davis for me!

**Crinkle** · 08-31-2006, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by mtnbikerskierchick

I LOVE my HID light! I try to ride a lot at night in the fall. It's a BLAST! Crink, I wouldn't mind joining you on some night rides sometime, if you'll let me join you that is

!!!!!

hell yeah, i'll keep ya in the loop.