Angry guy on W&OD

[Steve]

I’d rather have someone make almost any light infraction (blinkies on the trail, lights from behind for a prolong period, etc.) than have no lights at all. This morning when I was riding in, I went to make a right turn off of a path and a bike passed me on the left. No yell, no bell, and no light. At a little before 0600, when someone passes you unexpectedly, it’s a bit of a heart attack moment. Unfortunately I had turned already by the time I wanted to say something, which was mostly to ask why would you be commuting in complete darkness without any lights? Ninjas…..

[pfunkallstar]

Bah. Everyone needs to grow up, look to the side when someone with a death ray rides towards you, and save up your flatulence for when you get omega beamed from behind.

[DaveK]

@TwoWheelsDC 37785 wrote:

I’ll admit I leave my 1W blinkies on when I transition from road to trail, since I’m on the trail for all of about 5 minutes, then I’m back on the street. I’m not bothered by folks that have these, regardless of whether I’m using them as well or not. But I’m guessing you mean the real high-powered strobes, in which case I’m totally with you. [/quote]

Exactly – it’s not a blinky that bothers me, it’s literally the ones that blind me that I yell at. It’s the Paul Oakenfold DJ Tiesto boom-tisk-boom-tisk strobe lights that makes me want to get some glow sticks out of my panniers, put on a candy necklace, and start raving if I could only use my eyes.

Sorry, I watched Go again the other night. I’ll watch something from the 21st century tonight and be back tomorrow with up-to-date references.

[Dirt]

I rode through Alexandria and then took Holmes Run home last night. I met a bunch of REALLY NICE people. Maybe the answer is to take the long way home and meet some new people.

[Terpfan]

The MVT complaints I have are about getting blinded by car lights. Few cyclists have bright enough lights that really bother me, although I do appreciate when they try to turn light away/dim it down (as I do the same). And only one complaint ever that my light was “too bright” by someone who basically didn’t have a light on. Alas, sometimes you can’t win. I’ve never really had the complaint about being behind someone nor has it bothered me much except if it seems like they’re right behind you and sitting there for 5 minutes.

[CPTJohnC]

@DaveK 37809 wrote:

Exactly – it’s not a blinky that bothers me, it’s literally the ones that blind me that I yell at. It’s the Paul Oakenfold DJ Tiesto boom-tisk-boom-tisk strobe lights that makes me want to get some glow sticks out of my panniers, put on a candy necklace, and start raving if I could only use my eyes.

Sorry, I watched Go again the other night. I’ll watch something from the 21st century tonight and be back tomorrow with up-to-date references.

Is it okay as long as I’m blasting “We Own the Night” or, to be more current, something by Skrillex…?

I definitely don’t strobe on the trails, but I use them on the street (one strobe, one steady) most of the time in high traffic areas.

I’ve noted the problem of having a high powered light come from behind before (increased shadows) but never really thought it was bad enough to get angry over.

[baiskeli]

@dcv 37793 wrote:

I wouldn’t want to be called out on the missed connections thread.

Which I started. Did I mention that already?

[Tim Kelley]

@baiskeli 37859 wrote:

Which I started. Did I mention that already?

Thread count padding. 2 points from Gryffindor.

[baiskeli]

@Tim Kelley 37862 wrote:

Thread count padding. 2 points from Gryffindor.

But I didn’t start THIS thread.

Or…did I?

[jnva]

That darn cat – I almost hit him the other day. Oops I should have put this in the missed connection thread, sorry!

[culimerc]

During twilight or just after sunset, I’ll ride with my blinky on while on the WOD. I do it so that A) I can be seen and so I dont kill my battery riding on the trail. I do keep it aimed down and to the right as much as I can and I cover my light as others pass, but I still run it on blink. As far as people behind me; its easier for me to keep track of where they are, if they have a headlight. I know if they’re just sitting on or if they’re sneaking up to pass. Plus its just increased visibility.

[off2ride]

Wow, this Rod Smith guy sure is an angry fella. Anyway, I used be more vocal about these little things while riding on the trail but It’s not worth it anymore. YOU CAN’T PLEASE EVERYBODY. Since lights are a must nowadays, when the oncoming rider has their light angled too high and it’s blinding me, I just put mine on full burn and blind them back. If they say something back I just say “Blah blah blah blah” and ride on. Flashing doesn’t usually bother me unless it’s super dark. Of course I return the favor once again. Lastly, if you wanna draft behind me, BY ALL MEANS. I welcome the challenge if that’s your intention. The plus side is I get to turn off my light to save power. You just have to keep up. I’m not gonna wait fo yo azz if you get dropped.

[KelOnWheels]

@CPTJohnC 37842 wrote:

Is it okay as long as I’m blasting “We Own the Night” or, to be more current, something by Skrillex…?

Now I want a Deadmau5 bike helmet

[GuyContinental]

Being a lonely, early and pretty fast WB rider I don’t often have this problem, but I find that having someone with brighter lights on my tail will cause a shadow over my light path that effectively leaves me in the dark- frankly, it’s really an odd feeling, light light everywhere but not a bit to see by. It’s far worse off-road- I always make my partner in dawn patrol LFP CX go first because his newer 300 ln single LED virtually cancels out my older 150 ln dual set-up*.

Anyone dabble in the physics of overlapping light waves of varying intensity? Is this just a perception issue?

*That’s my story and I’m sticking too it. If he happens to find that dang hissing possum before I do, well that’s just a bonus.

[Bilsko]

It seems like a few distinctions might be helpful:

General consensus seems to be that blinkies – like the AWESOME free Bike Arlington ones – are ok on blink mode (front and rear) cause they’re just not bright enough to be bothersome.

Up front, three issues that come to mind are:

• Bright Blinking lights are bad for oncoming riders
• Also, on a dark trail, really bright constant lights are also bothersome, although not nearly as bad as strobing
• If you come up behind someone with bright and/or strobing lights, then know that it could seriously diminish their ability to see what’s in front of them. This one probably depends on a lot of factors:
  • the position of the rear-riders light – high or low mounted;
  • the throw of the beam – narrow or diffuse
  • their proximity to the front rider (tucked in Peloton-close or lagging a few feet behind) which affects the angle of incidence.

For rear lights, the issues are similar, but perhaps not nearly as bad. One issue for some light systems (I’m looking at you, Light and Motion Vis 360) is that the rider doesn’t have a choice with whether or not the rear light strobes.

As a side note and plug for the Vis360, the ability to easily turn the front light downward when approaching an oncoming rider is a really nice one and makes the extra co$t worth it.

For the randonneuring crowd, its worth noting that blinking lights are frowned upon while riding — the blinking pattern is reserved for the rider to indicate a problem or need of assistance.

Also, with rear lights there are typically different strobe patterns available (something that isn’t typically the case for front lights). The PDW Danger Zone has the option of a more randomized strobe alternating between dimmer and brighter flashes with a less repetitive pattern.

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