Become a Prince of Darkness
The season is here for night riding. In fact, the season has been here for a while. I’ve had the lights out for over a month, and my after-work rides for the last couple weeks have started (not just finished) after dark.
In recognition of that fact, I decided to put together some tips for people who are wanting to get into nighttime mountain biking. I don’t claim to be THE expert on night riding, but I’ve been riding by light for over 5 years now, and during the winter will do up to 4 night rides a week all through the dark season. I was thinking today that I’ve accumulated some good gems of knowledge around night riding that somebody out there may benefit from. Some of them are pretty basic, and some of them I think even seasoned night riders could benefit from thinking about.
So, in no particular order, here are some small pieces of advice that may help you out if anyone out there is looking to keep riding through the darkness.
*Buy a GOOD Light System*
I’ve showed up to numerous beginner night rides where people have come with everything from mag lites to LED camping headlamps to small commuter lights. These lights are great for their purpose, but for riding on a trail in the dark, they just don’t cut it. You will be much happier if you get a light which is made for trail riding at night. They have come down in price a lot, and a basic halogen with a couple hours burn time can be bought for under $100. It will make the first night ride much easier, and motivate you to ride more.I won’t go into the benefits of handlebar vs helmet, HID vs. Halogen, or Li-Ion vs NiMH. That could take up an entire other post (and just might. . .)
*Start with Something Familiar*
You know that trail that you hate to ride because you’ve ridden it 100 times this season already? Start there. Believe me, even if you think you could ride with your eyes closed, riding it in the dark will be close enough. Trails take on a completely new character when you’re riding by headlight, and it will be nice to have some idea of what the other side of that ledge has in store for you (because chances are you won’t be able to see it).*Ride with Others*
There’s always a safety aspect to this, but in addition, it’s a really great time to be able to feed off of other people in a night riding situation. It’s motivating to see somebody clean a section ahead of you by headlight, and even more motivating to see a light moving through the woods which stops abruptly and then accellerates towards the ground (usually followed by a combination of expletives, groaning, and the inevitable laughter). This is especially good if you can find a couple different experience levels to ride with, because you soon realize that somebody who has been riding at night for a long time can almost ride by feel. Don’t worry, you’ll get there.*Test Your Equipment*
I know that the light you bought is rated for 2 hours and 25 minutes, so why should you try that out? Because that was probably done in a lab situation, at room temperature, and was an average of several different batteries. Unfortunately, you can’t be guaranteed that your battery was ‘average’. I always set up my lights next to my desk at work at the start of each season and see how time the batteries have until full discharge. This gives you a good idea of average time you may have for each of your batteries and lights.As a side note, battery performance does tend to degrade with temperature. I haven’t done any tests of my own, but I’ve read various articles saying that NiMH and Li-Ion batteries can perform up to 20% worse as you get down to lower temperatures (think sub-freezing). When in doubt, throw the battery in a jersey pocket if you can, and then it won’t be an issue.
*Take a Timepiece*
This follows directly from the previous suggestion. Knowing how long your lights last will do you no good if you have no idea how long you’ve been out. It is much harder to judge time at night, and trails can take vastly different amounts of time to ride than during the day. I’ve had trails that I ride in the same amount of time, and I’ve had ones that take 50% longer. A lot of lights will give you warning when the battery is low, but sometimes that warning is when you have 10 minutes of light left. Not a good situation if you’re 25 minutes from home.*Bring a Backup*
This is the place where your LED camping headlamp or your mini maglite belongs, in your pocket or bag. No matter how careful you are with your riding time, you WILL have an issue at some point in time which will keep you out longer. Maybe it’s just a flat, maybe it’s something more severe that forces you to walk out. Either way, it’s better to walk out (or ride slowly) with a crappy light, than it is to try it with none at all.I personally ride with 2 full lighting systems (one on the bars and one on the helmet) and they both have good low battery indicators, so I can make sure I am conserving one when the other gets low. It’s saved my ass on numerous occasions.
*Be Extra Prepared*
I know, I know. You bring a tube, pump, patch kit, tool, etc. on every ride, so why am I saying this? Do you bring extra clothes? Do you bring food normally? How much water do you bring? During the day, if something goes wrong, there’s a greater chance that you will see somebody else out on the trails, and the walk out is much easier when something catastrophic happens. It gets cold at night, and there isn’t any sun to dry you off, so you’ll get colder, hungrier, and more dehydrated. And chances are, if something keeps you out there, it may be a longer time before somebody comes along (possibly even morning), so consider it training weight and load up the camelbak.*Adjust your Light*
Make sure your light is pointed at a comfortable distance in front of you, and don’t be afraid to change that position during the ride. I frequently adjust my handlebar light from ‘ascending mode’ (4-6 feet in front of me) to ‘descending mode’ (10-15 feet in front of me) several times on a ride. You’ll start to notice if you’re always looking into the dark, or your neck will tell you if you’re looking too far up or down all the time.*Don’t Get Tunnel Vision*
This is related to the light adjustment as well. When you first start night riding, you’ll have a tendency to stare straight ahead all the time, and concentrate on a very fixed distance in front of you. When you ride during the day, you’re constantly adjusting your gaze from side to side and up and down. Do that at night too. If you have a handlebar mount light, don’t be afraid to look off into the dark occasionally, if you have a helmet light, you can actually see off to the side. Believe me, the trail will still be there when you look back. Just make sure to take a look at what’s ahead before you look away. . .*Stay Loose*
Keep your weight back a little more than normal, and stay loose. Things come up on you fast, and you have to be ready to suck something up that you weren’t expecting. Just remember, though, the rocks aren’t any harder at night, so you’re used to them already.*Enjoy the Darkness*
My final suggestion is to enjoy the darkness. When you’re waiting for somebody, turn off your light. When you take a break to eat something, turn off your light. It’s a great feeling to sit in the dark for a few minutes and let your eyes adjust. You’ll see things you never see during the day.
Night riding is a lot of fun, and can really increase your abilities as a technical rider. It opens up possibilities for rides at times of day and times of the year previously unaccessible to riding. It’s really not that big of an investment to get a light and go out and try it, and it’s a great addition to your quiver of skills.
Remember, we still have “about two weeks left”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice of days getting shorter, so now’s the perfect time to fight that urge to sit on the couch.
