Cycling in the Dark
Aug. 19th, 2012 12:28 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tajaselCycling in the dark, alone, is a unique experience. I've done overnight before, with damerell on the London to Brighton night ride, but going it alone is a whole different kettle of fish. I've also ridden in the city at night - well, 10pm or so - but that again is different to the countryside.
Riding alone, there's nobody to talk to, and I felt so infinitesimal. Every sound was magnified, from the wind rippling past my jacket to the owls hooting in the trees. I saw bats, and rabbits, and foxes, but no humans - none at all, for 35 minutes zipping through the night.
In the country, all the roads look the same. Single track, lined with hedges; they go on for miles and miles. None of the landmarks I had doing the route in daylight earlier in the day (twice) existed once the sun set; the cottages and the passing places and the funny looking trees all blended into the darkness.
Even with a headlight chosen specifically for this kind of cycling, I could only see 20 feet ahead of me, and I was riding in the centre of the road to get the best possible vantage of the tarmac ahead. Signposts appeared, sticking out of the the hedgerow, for less than a second, gone before I could read the lettering.
The adrenaline coursing through my veins right now is intense.
damerell on the London to Brighton night ride, but going it alone is a whole different kettle of fish. I've also ridden in the city at night - well, 10pm or so - but that again is different to the countryside.Riding alone, there's nobody to talk to, and I felt so infinitesimal. Every sound was magnified, from the wind rippling past my jacket to the owls hooting in the trees. I saw bats, and rabbits, and foxes, but no humans - none at all, for 35 minutes zipping through the night.
In the country, all the roads look the same. Single track, lined with hedges; they go on for miles and miles. None of the landmarks I had doing the route in daylight earlier in the day (twice) existed once the sun set; the cottages and the passing places and the funny looking trees all blended into the darkness.
Even with a headlight chosen specifically for this kind of cycling, I could only see 20 feet ahead of me, and I was riding in the centre of the road to get the best possible vantage of the tarmac ahead. Signposts appeared, sticking out of the the hedgerow, for less than a second, gone before I could read the lettering.
The adrenaline coursing through my veins right now is intense.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-19 08:00 am (UTC)I hope you were suitably dressed and illuminated so that other road users could see you....
And if you're going to ride in the centre of a narrow winding country road - all too many of which have barely enough room for 2 cars to pass each other - it's you're lookout if an oncoming motorist coming round the next bend hits you.
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Date: 2012-08-19 09:05 am (UTC)I like riding in the wee hours of the morning, especially if it's a moonlit night.
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Date: 2012-08-19 09:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-19 11:17 am (UTC)(And yes, I was wearing reflective clothing, and I thought the mention of the headlight implied that I was "suitably illuminated".)
Thank you for preaching to me about what I should wear anyway. (I wonder if you'd do the same to any other group of people, or if this post weren't about cycling.) And anonymously too! How brave.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-20 09:41 am (UTC)