How not to dress/equip for a night commute

[rolo]

Makes you wonder what he was thinking.

I like the cheapo blinkie idea, handing them out to cyclists and runners alike. Ran across 4 ninja runners this morning…the fog made it more difficult than usual to spot them.

[Tim Kelley]

@thecyclingeconomist 32730 wrote:

I think I’m going to buy a lot of cheapo blinkies, and start distributing them…

I just bought 4000 cheap blinkies. Want to help me distribute them?

[acc]

Sounds like more than for personal use.

When and where, Mr. Kelley?

[dbb]

Taking my lead from Mr. Dirt, I try to have one or two BikeArlington (or other) reflective bands on my bike/backpack that are in like new condition. When I find a ninja, I offer a free reflective band to them. I get them to take one about a third of the time.

While I’d like to see that number higher, 1/3 fewer ninjas is a good thing, right?

[DaveK]

@acc 32745 wrote:

Sounds like more than for personal use.

When and where, Mr. Kelley?

Definitely with intent to distribute.

[Tim Kelley]

@acc 32745 wrote:

Sounds like more than for personal use.

When and where, Mr. Kelley?

November, after the DLS change. Stay tuned for details and call for volunteers…

[CPTJohnC]

Ninja of all stripes amaze me. I think the problem is they can see themselves, so they assume everyone can see them. Very scary!

[Dirt]

Like Dana said, I always keep a few extra reflective straps around to hand out. I have spent a lot of my own money over the last 10 years handing out reflective gear. Bike Arlington has been SUPER nice to help with that.

Bike light give-aways with Bike Arlington are in the works, if I am not mistaken. The lights have been ordered. You’ll likely see stuff on that soon.

What warmed my little heart this morning was the number of NON-Ninjas on the trail in the unlit section of my commute through Falls Church today. I encountered 20+ runners and walkers this morning and only one gentleman was in ninja-mode. Even he was wearing a light colored shirt. It was the best showing of non-ninjas that I’ve seen in a long, long time. I almost cried. It is super nice to see that many people are thinking about their own safety, as well as that of others.

Rock on, kids!

Dirt.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Tim Kelley 32752 wrote:

November, after the DLS change. Stay tuned for details and call for volunteers…

Would it make sense to do it a little before the time change, or have you found that people are more likely to decline if it isn’t actually dark out at the time?

[dbb]

@CPTJohnC 32755 wrote:

Ninja of all stripes amaze me. I think the problem is they can see themselves, so they assume everyone can see them. Very scary!

Do ninjas have stripes? Are they visible?

[Dirt]

I think many of us overestimate our visibility. I am usually pretty good, but when I switched over to the complete high-vis kit (tons of blaze orange and reflective stripes) I had people giving me much more room on the road. They could see me before, but not quite as obviously. Makes me want to buy more HiVis clothing.

New vest and triangles should be here this week.

[Tim Kelley]

@ShawnoftheDread 32760 wrote:

Would it make sense to do it a little before the time change, or have you found that people are more likely to decline if it isn’t actually dark out at the time?

Well, we won’t actually have the lights in hand for a few more weeks, but we have done it in past years right after the change to catch everyone who gets caught out in the dark at 5pm.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I wonder if area bike shops would be willing to put the BA blinkies (or even generic blinkies or WABA blinkies or whatever) on all new bikes they sell. Some shops might argue that would cut into aftermarket light sales, but honestly I think most “serious” riders would spend the additional cash and upgrade those lights anyway, or they would continue to buy better lights just to add to their arsenal. Shops could pitch it like “this bike comes with the barest minimum of a light, so if you plan to do much riding in the dark, you’ll definitely want to upgrade. We have some nice ones on this shelf over here…”

[CPTJohnC]

@dbb 32762 wrote:

Do ninjas have stripes? Are they visible?

Of course they have stripes. The stripes are a dark charcoal gray or occasionally a true navy blue against the primary color of black.

As to the second question: They can see themselves, so they must be, right?

[CPTJohnC]

@TwoWheelsDC 32768 wrote:

I wonder if area bike shops would be willing to put the BA blinkies (or even generic blinkies or WABA blinkies or whatever) on all new bikes they sell.

I suspect the bigger objection is that 75-85% of all bikes sold will never see darkness (I’m making up the number, but I’m willing to bet I’m not too far off). Of course, I agree that it still makes sense – because some of the offenders might be the folks who ‘weren’t going to be out after dark…’ Worse, though, the majority of the bike ninjas that I see (which may be an oxymoron of a sort) are riding walmart specials likely bought used off CL.

[Author]

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