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I like parking off-trail and bike watching. I think kitty digs bike watching too.

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I rarely commute during the week due to preventive circumstances but yesterday I got away with it. Left work at 7:20pm for a pathlete-free ride home in the dark. It was excellent.

Sadly though I found out that bike theft does indeed occur at my building downtown. I work at Voice Of America. Bike racks everywhere, people everywhere, security everywhere. I thought it was safe. As I unlocked and geared up the rider next to me was fuming. At some point during the evening somebody ripped off his saddlebag and his headlight, but failed to take the power supply for the light. They just cut, or ripped the wires leaving the light essentially useless. On top of that the dudes chain was snapped.

He told me that this sort of thing happens there regularly which had me wondering why he left his valuable equipment attached to the bike in the first place. I strip my bike of easy to steal accoutrements and it only takes a moment.

The rack is only 30 yards or so from the entrance, but hidden from cameras. Brazen thieves. Another lesson learned. Nowhere is safe.

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“”Good is something you do, not something you talk about,” Bartali once explained. “Some medals are pinned to your soul, not to your jacket.”

Brilliant words.

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I love a good ale but I’ve never understood people who mix drinking with anything remotely athletic. I did a grocery run recently (about a mile round trip) with two Sierra Nevadas under my belt and found the whole thing much more difficult than I would have imagined. I’d be useless on a brewery tour.

I guess there’s another angle…those folks who’s only transportation is a bike, and who perhaps don’t see it so much as an athletic endeavor. Drinking and biking might just be SOP for some folks.

I’ll save the beers for after the ride.

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@LBSki 97976 wrote:

Those of you who ride with red blinkies when it’s not actually that dark out, is there a reason? Is there any evidence that it’s more safe? Especially want to hear from folks that run two alternating pattern blinkies.. why???

I tend to use a single red blinkie pretty much all the time, as well as a daytime front flasher. It’s been my observation that daytime lights increase visibility so that’s why I do it.

I have two more rear lights, one on my left seatstay, and another on my backpack. I only employ those in the darkness and I run them solid. I’ve tried them all in blink mode at once but it gets a little insane and I can see how that might adversely affect a rider behind. They are collectively bright as hell.

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@timo96 97718 wrote:

Seriously? You need 750 lumens on a multi-use trail? I hope you realize that you’re going to cause an accident at some point. You’re going to blind someone and they’re going to wreck right into you. But hey, at least you’ll see them coming, right?

Seriously. I do.

Much of the MVT is pitch black when I’m on it. I’ve tried lower settings and I always wind up back at 750. The one time I was called for blinding was when my light was new and I think I had it angled too high. It didn’t help that I was coming down hill while the other rider was coming up, making my light even more in his face. We did not crash however. Not even close.

A direct hit with 200 lumens is still pretty blinding. I make no apologies for my bright light. It’s got a pretty focused beam pointed down toward the road about four meters in front of me. That’s the best I can do right now.

I get blinded too on occasion. The best strategy I’ve found is to eyeball the trail, hold my line, and avoid the temptation to stare into the light. The whole thing is over as quick as it began.

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I use a 750 lumen Cygolite on my bars. It’s switchable down to 350 but I keep it cranked most of the time on the MVT because it’s dark as hell and full power lets me see what’s ahead. Just last week I nearly rode over a large fallen branch in the darkness which would have likely been messy had I not seen it in time.

While I hate blinding people, and I know I have at least once, I also need to see. I try to keep the light pointing at the ground but I understand that it’s still super bright to the oncoming. I have to deal with bright lights too. There’s only so much we can do.

I only use flashing in the daytime.

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My Trek FX is my “do it all” bike and I’ve been very happy with it thus far. It’s sure beats the hell out of commuting on my old MTB.

I didn’t really want fenders but now that I have them I think I made a wise decision. I love riding in the rain and muck so it’s nice to have a clean arse when I’m done. I’ll probably lose them in the summer though. I don’t seem to mind the wet muck so much in the warmer months.

In the meantime I’m dreaming of a sweet endurance-style road bike. I’ve got a lot to consider this winter.

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@skins_brew 97314 wrote:

I use to hate cyclists. I would curse them on beach drive and any other time they were in the roadway. “Use the sidewalk, it is like a little road for bikes” I would say to myself.

A few years later, here I am, riding 150-200 miles a week to work.

Another funny thing, during the evolution, there were many, many things I said I would NEVER do, but ended up doing anyway later on. Such items include-
-Cycle shorts
-riding a road bike
-clipless pedals
-helmet mirror

Sometimes I still catch myself saying I hate cyclists, but then I realize it’s just those entitled pathletes that I’m referring to…the clueless ones who make dangerous passes then stop right in the middle of the path to check Strava. 😡

I’ve also graduated to Lycra, riding on the actual road…at least the ones that feel safe, and I’m keen on going clipless but I’ll probably hold off until next spring. It’s funny how things begin to change once cycling gets it’s hooks in you.

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A Performance Burrough rain jacket as seen here in action two weeks ago. It seems to work.

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Evolved Trek

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The evolution of my bikes this summer…

Fresh from the shed after 10 years. Look at the size of that saddle!

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Changes…

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New Trek in July

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Interesting stuff. Since I’ve currently got three ultra bright tail lights going I think I’ll try leaving a couple on static with the middle on blink. Gotta see what that looks like.

I run my headlamp full on at 750 lumens on the MVT on Saturday morning commutes. I have been called for blinding once then I adjusted the lamp a bit more downward. I wish I had a dimmer button within an easy thumbs reach but thats probably asking too much. I run it in the daytime strobe setting when the sun is out pretty much 100% of the time, as well as a blinkie in the back.

In the end, something is infinitely better than nothing. It’s a jungle out there.

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@Harry Meatmotor 97109 wrote:

one little tid bit, too:

I see a lot of riders using flashing rear lights. I’d recommend keeping both front and rear lights on constantly. I used to work a transportation research institute and we did a small study on different flashing and non-flashing lights for both stationary and (slow) moving road maintenance vehicles and found that steady-on lighting greatly improves other motorists’ ability to estimate speed and direction of another vehicle. Flashing lights are good for stationary objects, but not so great for moving objects.

It’s been my experience that strobing lights catch the eye and demand your attention. When I see a blinkie I know immediately what it is and that I should pay attention. I’ve never personally had any issue with judging direction or speed of a blinkie but you could also say that I pay more attention as a cyclist and a motorist.

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