Don't bike without a tail light
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Full Moon Ride
By spokesman | September 4, 2009
The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and City Bikes held a full moon ride yesterday evening. The 8 mile ride began in Georgetown and went up the Capital Crescent/Georgetown Branch Trail (a local rail trail) to City Bikes in Chevy Chase where a BBQ was held. The ride began at 8:45 PM and more than 100 people participated.
I usually don’t ride at night and really enjoyed the ride. It was fun to be part of such a large peloton. With the exception of one near miss of a deer that was startled by the oncoming group of cyclists, the ride had no problems or accidents. There was quite a mixture of bike and bikers including road riders, commuters, mountain bikers, fixed gears and a few tandems. The DC Bike Ambassador was there with his large trailer (I will discuss him more in a future post).
I rode to the start point of the ride as the sun was setting and it was just beginning to get dark. I had my bike set up with two headlights and a rear blinker. I was amazed at the number of people on the trail without any lights. Perhaps it is because the days are just beginning to get shorter and those folks are not used to getting caught in the dark.
The ride was also an excellent opportunity to see the effectiveness of different lights and here are a few tips based on my observations.
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Use a rear red blinker - You will be more visible to cars and other cyclists. Even when it is light enough that a headlight is not needed, the rear blinker makes you far more visible. It can get dark enough during a rain storm, twilight or on a shady road that the rear blinker is needed.
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Aim your headlight - A headlight has 2 purposes. It makes you more visible to on coming traffic and lights the road in front of you. Aim the light so that it illuminates the road and balances these two objectives.
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Lights vary significantly - While it is a good idea to have a headlight on any bike where you may get caught out in the dark, a small light is probably adequate for those situations. However if you regularly ride at night, I would suggest a more powerful light.
WABA has some other events coming up in the near future. The 50 State Ride travels a route through Washington DC that takes you on streets named for each of the 50 states. A shorter version covers just the 13 original colonies. These rides are on September 26. There will also be a bike swap on September 12. Check their website for details.
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Topics: Washington DC |
November 12th, 2009 at 11:08 am
be sure to AIM YOUR HEADLIGHT down
having the light shine in the eyes of oncoming cyclists on the bike path makes for dangerous riding
too many people are riding with their lights shinning too far up
the best place for this light… on a helmet mount pointed down to the earth a variable distance in front of you… depending on speed and terrain