Sep 09 2008
Lighting Redundancy
One of my pet peeves is bicyclists who for some reason or another do not use lights at night. I wonder if they have a death wish?
Half of my commute is normally done in the dark, thus making good reliable lighting important. On the rear of my bike I have one of those psycho blinking Planet Bike lights and I keep my old blinking tail light in my pannier just in case my psycho light fails. On the front I have a Jet Lites headlight along with a Cateye led headlight. I usually use both of front lights when I am riding in the city with the Cateye set to blink, this combination makes me stand out more in the mix of surrounding ambient city lights.
However, yesterday I forgot to charge the battery for my Jet Lites. Yeah that’s right I forgot to charge the battery, so of course it ran down before I made it home tonight. This left me with the last 6 miles to ride by the light of my led Cateye. It is not the best light for lighting the road, but I was riding on well lit streets and was more concerned about not being seen.
Commuting at night has always been fun for me. I enjoy the sensation of riding at night, especially when I am traveling downhill at 35 to 40 miles per hour. This makes having a bright headlight important and the Jet Lites headlight is insanely bright. But tonight was one of those nights I was happy I had lighting redundancy and a blinking led light to get me home. I’ll ride fast tomorrow night.
Bob – ever thought of a hub dynamo? Mine came with the new bike, and I wouldn’t have thought of buying it separately, but it’s great – surprisingly bright lights, and, of course, always there, at least until the bulbs go.
PS – 40 mph?! Be careful out there…
Daves last blog post..Cheerio
Dave – I have seen them advertised in cycling magazines originating from the UK, but I have not encountered any in the local shops here. They do look like something I may be interested in with as much riding I do in the dark.