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Cycling fun
Sep. 10th, 2004 07:00 amI did my first full commute in the dark today, setting off at about 6:05. I must say, it was a lot of fun.
As I was getting ready to leave, Pegasus was in the sky right in front of me to the west. Orion was overhead to the south. As I started, the moon and Saturn were shining in the east.
The lighting system I put on the bike worked great. For the first 25 minutes, the 20w halogen lit things up great, and for the last 10 minutes or so I switched to just the LED front light to conserve main battery, since I didn't need the halogen to see by anymore. I did switch it on through the intersections in town just to make myself more obvious.
If anything, cars give a lot more room to bicycles in the dark. It probably doesn't hurt that I've got flashers AND a way-bigger-than-required rear amber reflector (DOT standard large truck marker reflector, about 1.5 x 4 inches). Also there's a lot less traffic, there's no 15-minute traffic backup getting through Dexter, and people don't seem to be awake enough yet to do stupid stuff; everyone's driving straight and at a sane speed. Even the contractors, just sucking down their first coffee of the day, seem to be driving reasonably.
One thing I haven't mentioned before; back on Tuesday I had my second close encounter this year with a deer. This one ran diagonally across the road, starting from my left and running diagonally in front of me and off to the right. She was so close, she threw gravel up and hit my legs. Probably 8 to 10 feet. If I was in a car, she'd have been a goner.
As I was getting ready to leave, Pegasus was in the sky right in front of me to the west. Orion was overhead to the south. As I started, the moon and Saturn were shining in the east.
The lighting system I put on the bike worked great. For the first 25 minutes, the 20w halogen lit things up great, and for the last 10 minutes or so I switched to just the LED front light to conserve main battery, since I didn't need the halogen to see by anymore. I did switch it on through the intersections in town just to make myself more obvious.
If anything, cars give a lot more room to bicycles in the dark. It probably doesn't hurt that I've got flashers AND a way-bigger-than-required rear amber reflector (DOT standard large truck marker reflector, about 1.5 x 4 inches). Also there's a lot less traffic, there's no 15-minute traffic backup getting through Dexter, and people don't seem to be awake enough yet to do stupid stuff; everyone's driving straight and at a sane speed. Even the contractors, just sucking down their first coffee of the day, seem to be driving reasonably.
One thing I haven't mentioned before; back on Tuesday I had my second close encounter this year with a deer. This one ran diagonally across the road, starting from my left and running diagonally in front of me and off to the right. She was so close, she threw gravel up and hit my legs. Probably 8 to 10 feet. If I was in a car, she'd have been a goner.
