Any muni night riders out there?

As I've been night riding my mountain bike for years, it only made sense
to give this new hobby of muni a try at night. I must say, what a
blast. With a good helmit mount HID style light, you can see more than
enough. A interesting thing is you do have to ride a little more by
feel which I guess is a good thing. The light shines great at say 10 to
15 feet away and beyond but not necessarily right under wheel. For me
it seems I don't target fixate on whats under the wheel but look more
ahead which seemed to translate to smoother riding. If you don't have a
light, I'd highly recommend it. I know it does suck because they can be
costly but it is necessary gear. After this weekend, we set the clocks
back so it will be even darker after work. But no problem. This could
take riding right up to when snow flies. Then get the skiis out.


--
loafr
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You betcha... Like you, I was a night riding mountain biker. I like muni
at night, but I'm waiting on a new helmet mount right now. I have a 10
watt Nite Rider Headtrip. 10 watts seem like plenty, HID must really put
out a lot of light. I ordered a new helmet mount a couple weeks ago, to
be shipped "3 Day Select", but I haven't received it yet and I haven't
heard back from Nite Rider, despite a couple e-mails I've sent them. I
can't wait to get back out on the trails at night. I work evenings too,
so my commute home is always in the dark.

The only bad thing about night riding is..... I get sort of scared out
in the woods at night. But I get a good workout because I ride really
fast.



Mojoe


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Mojoe - The Muni Militia

http://mojoe.unicyclist.com/
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loafr wrote:
* The light shines great at say 10 to 15 feet away and beyond but not
necessarily right under wheel. *


u know i'm just fishing here 'cause i dont do this kinda stuff

loafr's comment (and following threads about night riding in the past)
made me wonder if anyone's ever tried mounting an additional light
almost directly underneath the front end of the seat (i realise this has
seat-grabbing implications but i'm sure that can be worked out) shining
straight down
almost providing a skirt of light around the wheel
the headlamp will still be prime illuminator, with the secondary light
ensuring light around the wheel for a quick glance down to the ground

thoughts?


--
GILD - Waffle-tosser

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the
silence of our friends.
-- Martin Luther King Jr.

'this will only take a minute...(fixed)'
(http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/actions/un.htm)
'and while u're in a good-deed-doing-mood...'
(http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com.)
'and just one more?pleez?'
(http://http://www.reuniteluna.com/email.php.)
JUST SAY 'KNOW'!

Namaste!
Dave
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loafr wrote:
*...I know it does suck because they can be costly but it is necessary
gear...*


It doesn't have to be costly. I bought 'one of these'
(http://tinyurl.com/4lsw) for around $30 a couple of years ago. It
worked fine for mountain-biking, so I assume it would be great for
slower muni's. The other plus is that they run on 'aa' batteries. They
last at least 2 hours and you can always carry replacements. I wear
mine under a helmet.

-Eric

[image:
http://a1072.g.akamai.net/f/1072/206...es/619011.jpg]


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onefiftyfour - Eric
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I ride with lumicycle lights ( http://www.lumicycle.co.uk ) with a 10w
flood and 12w spot.

The flood lets you see stuff near you whereas the spot is good for fast
riding cos you can see up to 30 feet or so ahead.

I did think about HID lights, but they seem to take some of the fun out
by being so bright, you get shouted at by drivers when you go on the
road, you can't see anything outside the beam and they also can't be
turned on and off to tune the level of light. Oh and they're really
really expensive too. But they are pretty nice.

I like the lumicycles cos they're simple and work well and have a long
(5 hours on 10w only) burn time. Oh and they recharge pretty quickly.

Best thing about night riding is seeing random animals in the night,
like badgers and foxes and owls and things.

A couple of times I've done an overnight ride which is totally to be
recommended, leave at 10pm, ride till dawn. Last time I ended up riding
down to the sea at dawn which was amazing.

Joe


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joemarshall - dumb blonde
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I'm using the Nite Hawk helmet mount light with NiMH battery which gives
10 Watts for 2 hours. I use it for my morning commute in the dark at
5:30 am. I'm very pleased with it.

A second light under the seat sounds interesting, but my goal is to keep
it simple.


--
KnowFear

Chris... who DOES have a WMD (Wheel of Mass Dismounts).
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GILD wrote:
*wonder if anyone's ever tried mounting an additional light almost
directly underneath the front end of the seat (i realise this has
seat-grabbing implications but i'm sure that can be worked out)
shining straight down almost providing a skirt of light around the
wheel *
It could be interesting. It wouldn't be able to point straight down
because the tire would be in the way. You also might get annoying
shadows from the constant movement of your knees in and out of the
light's area.

I don't know how much you'd need that extra light, as long as you can
see what's a few feet ahead. If you're looking straight down, you're not
going to be able to deal with the next obstacle. Also, if the light
source is close to your line of sight, it's hard to see the texture of
the ground. Poor depth perception. This is what happens when the sun is
directly overhead, or behind you, as you ride in the daytime.

Ultimately, you would have a light suspended overhead, off to one side
or the other. But then again, I suppose the idea is for it to be dark,
and not too light. Or is it just for it to be a little cooler out?


--
johnfoss - Now riding to work

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"In three months or so, he won't be doing that any more." -- Kris Holm's
cousin Derek, 13, on Kris' unicycling now that he's married

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Had a fabulous experience a few weeks back. I was lucky enough to be on
a sailing vacation and anchored in a quiet bay with a huge sandy beach.
Took the unicycle to shore in the afternoon and rode 5 miles to a pub
featuring live jazz. Had a pretty fine evening and rode back towards the
boat.

Is anyone familiar with bioluminescence/phosphourescence or whatever you
want to call the effect created by agitated, aquatic, micro organisms,
resulting in emission of neon green "sparks"? If not, imagine being
able to write your name in neon green by peeing in seawater. Guys only
,sorry. Don't even think about skinny dipping in this stuff unless
you're prepared for the time of your life. But I digress. Some informed
individual please elaborate (on bioluminescence not skinny dipping -
thanks).

I hit the beach at about 2 am. The tide is out. The firm, saturated,
sand a perfect track for my hookworm shod uni. The sand is wet and, you
guessed it, full of those little, neon-emitting, micro buddies. The
effect is outrageous. The wheel becomes a pinwheel, a pyrotechnic stand
in to rival any powder based display. A 'puddle' of the green stuff
follows the wheel while escapees, bits of bright green sand, fly from
the tire and cut through the night in a fashion reminiscent of Saturn's
rings. Looking behind my path appears like meteor tail fading to the
limits of my vision this dark night.

Another memorable 'spot in time' thanks to unicycling!

Cheers, Greg


--
gmoore
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johnfoss wrote:
*
...Ultimately, you would have a light suspended overhead, off to one
side or the other. ...*


Interesting. If anyone actually tries this, please post pictures.


--
Borges - High impact cerabellum workout
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I have a Petzl zipka as an emergency lamp always in my pocket, it's good
because it's really tiny and lasts forever. But it's pretty crappy for
muniing, I have a bigger one for that purpose. But I found out a while
ago that it fits quite nicely in the handle of my KH saddle, the string,
wich is ment to go around the head goes up through the hole in the
handle and down around the lamp. Like a miracle it ends up lightning the
ground about half a metre front of the wheel. Works pretty good
especially in moonlight, when you don't really need a headlamp. I look
straight ahead as usual but my peripheial vision seems to appreciate the
light, I ride a fair bit more relaxed. Dunno if all these words makes
any sense at all, sounds purty good to me, but hey, I'm Swedish.
Picture might help.


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omdetdar - getting better
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