First ride in the dark

[TheReaper]

Well, since I got my endorsement on Tues I decided to take my bike to work tonight. I work the 2nd shift on Thurs which means leaving work at 11 and a short 3 mile trip home in the dark. My first. Not as bad as I was fearing, but it did open my eyes, both literally and figuratively, to the dangers of riding after dark. The low beam did a decent job, but anything over 60 is pushing the limits on my FZ. At least for my riding skill. Thankfully it's a posted 55 on the way home. The brights worked awesome though, almost too good as I was getting some pretty good glare off the larger street signs along the road.

All in all it went really smooth, but it definately reaffirmed how important observation is when riding.

[iwannadie]

i really hate riding on roads with no street lights at night. my low beam doesnt have that much range out front i over run it even at slow speeds(45mph). i dont like seeing my light end and just endless black road in front not knowing whats coming at me. i probally should see about adjusting my light up a little if i knew how ha. my high beams are like sun guns they are amazingly bright and flood a wide long area.

[bennettoid]

We have a huge deer population here that makes me nervous at night. I've almost hit them at noon, let alone after sunset. I still ride, tho- just slower.

[Randy]

I love riding in the pitch black with no street lights at night. The smells and general stillness make me very happy.

[Fropa]

My first night ride was supposed to be after work on Tuesday but the bike died. Now my first one should be this Monday. Kind of looking foreward to it.

[Mag7C]

I love riding in the pitch black with no street lights at night. The smells and general stillness make me very happy.

Same here. It's quite peaceful on a smooth dark road. Very floaty.

[iwannadie]

I love riding in the pitch black with no street lights at night. The smells and general stillness make me very happy.

Same here. It's quite peaceful on a smooth dark road. Very floaty.

i love riding at night also, but not seeing the road is a bit freaky. having just a sea of blackness where i think the road should be isnt fun, anything can suddenly pop up in the middle of the road with no warning that way. sucks to come onto a hazard and have 10 feet worth of warning space to avoid it. ill stick with street lights when i can

[Gummiente]

I knew a guy when I was in Germany that used to love night riding with his old Norton. He'd switch the headlight over to the parking light (a tiny 5W bulb) feature and then go blasting down his favourite twisty back road. The parking light was just bright enough to illuminate the reflective dots on the roadmarkers and nothing else, he said it was like riding in a video game.

[Telesque]

I love riding in the pitch black with no street lights at night. The smells and general stillness make me very happy.

Me too.

But, I also have a deer problem. There's an average of about 65,000 car-deer collisions in Michigan every year, 13,000 of which occur in November alone! Not sure what the average is for the other months, but I usually am in a potential deer-bike collision situation about once a week (that is, deer by the road- deer standing in a field happens about once every day).

Luckily the bike stops a lot faster than the cage. Deer also seem to assume the 'at ready' stance more often when I'm on my bike, as opposed to just running across the road/elsewhere.

[TheReaper]

I actually enjoyed the experience as well, although the animal population does scare me. I'm a bit out of the city limits and deer aren't infrequent by my place.

I also found being followed a bit unnerving. I think being at night it really conveyed how vulnerable your truly are when you got a big truck behind you and all you see is light all around you from his headlights.

On another note, had my first little jaunt in the rain today, other than a quick sprinkle that is. Started raining while I was at work and had to ride 4 miles home. Not bad, the jacket kept me plenty dry (it wasn't pouring rain, but steady) and the pants were fine other than sitting on an already soaked seat. The two biggest beefs I had with the gear was my feet were drenched when I got home (my fault for not wearing my riding boots) and keeping the visor on my helmet clear.

Otherwise, the trip itself was good. Nice to finally see how the rain affected the road and traffic and how my skills could handle it. As long as I took it easy wasn't too bad at all.