Night riders.........

j williams

j williams

Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Messages
11,135
Anyone like mtn biking at night? I just went out for a bit for some urban thrashin, and hit up a local trail. Pitch black, 70 degrees, an awesome ride.

Its been a long time since I rode at night.....

Sorry no Kit, or hasselhoff, but I got your attn huh?:D

Took the little Koyote necker with me. I like neckers when Im biking.....
 
I spent the better part of 10 years night biking here on the North Shore of BC. I started with the old 1/2 watt BLT lights, then Nightsuns, NiteRiders, then some custom made lights and headlamps.

love nightriding. Wish my knees still like riding.....
 
i don't mountain bike, might get into it at some point or another. i do find a headlamp very good for lighting up roads at night. when its dark it doesn't take much to illuminate everything pretty well.

i do some roadbiking, mostly just to get places, but i was lightly entertaining the idea of doing something resembling a cross country trip in the next year or two...
 
I too like the headlamps for night ridin....

Simon you need to join the fat tire club, mtn bikin is a blast......
 
today just for giggles me and a couple of friends did some high-speed descent of a trail down the side of a small local mountain on foot (read: very fast running). very fun, i can imagine that it would be alot of fun ripping down the same trail on some tires.

right now its a matter of funds...in a year or two or three i should be able to afford a second bike, and hopefully have the time to use it. in the meantime i guess i will have to stick to trail running...
 
Trail running is sweet. Its waay cooler on knobbies though, and way more dangerous. Those downhill mtn bikers have some serious ballz.
 
Wow Bushman, that could be my post. I still have an old BLT lightset, lol.

My favorite thing about riding at night was how your world shrinks down so much. Familiar trails are new and any speed feels fast. Around here, if you're riding in the winter you're riding in the dark. After work it's dark but we don't get snow (well, lots of pre-melted snow !) so you can ride all winter.
When I worked in a bike shop, we'd head out after work to an area that isn't particularly challenging (Endowment Lands for the locals) but it was a lot of fun after dark.

Haven't ridden in 10 years and I'm getting a new mtn bike next month. Should be...interesting
 
Dude, thats well put. I agree, at night all my favorite spots become new ones. Its cool. Also, I feel more solitude while ridin at night for some reason...
 
When I first moved to the city I used to bike 9 miles to work at 3 in the morning. I loved bombing through central park on a cold fall morning and then coming home during the day busting through traffic in Times Square. It was really an addictive thrill, you had to be hyper-alert and hyper-defensive. I remember when a cabbie cut me off and I started yelling and cursing at him, which was really out of character for me but somehow symbolized that I had now become a New Yorker :eek: But those crisp fast, nightime/morning rides when the city was sleeping are some very fond memories.
 
Ill bet that was insane. I see the dudes doin that brakeless on fixed gears and im like holy crap that is waaay crazy. I love the ocasional urban thrash though, takes me back to bein a crazy kid on a BMX bike.......
 
I took my mountain bike out at night a few times on the trails. A couple of times alone, which is pretty dumb on my part. The trick to riding at night in the woods is having high quality lights.

I never really got into urban riding since I'm really know good at too many urban tricks.
 
Siguy i love to run down steep hill at full speed. Still do but not as much after i hurt my ankle a few years ago.. I think its so much more fun then riding a bike down hill. Not that i want to take anything away from anyone else. But for me its a rush, untill you end up rolling down the hill not knowing up or down lol...

sasha
 
I never got up to the brakeless on fixed gears level. But I was pretty good at maintaining balance with almost zero rolling. :)
 
HAHAHAHA Ill bet thats pretty intense Sasha!!! Reminded me of the Beavis and Butthead movie where Beavis jumped out of the trunk on the highway and Butthead told him to run real fast before he hit the ground.........LOL
 
theonew said:
I never got up to the brakeless on fixed gears level. But I was pretty good at maintaining balance with almost zero rolling. :)
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Track stands are pretty hard to do. I can maintain for a little bit, but Its definatly tough!!
 
right on J...:thumbup: night riding is a lot of fun... i need to get a new light sytem.. the killer light system i used to have part of it got ripped off..:(

there is a lot of folks around here that ride trails at night...
 
mtnfolk mike said:
right on J...:thumbup: night riding is a lot of fun... i need to get a new light sytem.. the killer light system i used to have part of it got ripped off..:(

there is a lot of folks around here that ride trails at night...
Click to expand...

Most of the headlamps discussed here in this forum are focused on weight saving and long battery life.

For high speed sports you need to focus into wide beams and LOTS of light. You also need to wear the battery separated from your head so your neck doesn't have to cope up with the extra weight of bigger heavier batteries. Among mussers Silva Headlamps used to rule. Check them out, I think they are worth it.

The last headlamp from Peltz may suit you as well, but it is very expensive.

Mikel
 
Yeah, I need to upgrade my bike light too. It has developed a few problems, so I have been usin my headlamp for the trails....
 
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