Night Rider

"Don't mess with 'The Hoff' ". Okay, so this ain't Night Rider as in David Hasselhoff, Mr. Baywatch himself. I mean night bike rides! The weather is returning to a more normal DC summer (damnit) and our coolish days have come to a pronounced, humid, buggy end.

So, when to hop on your bike and take a two-wheeled hike? In the cool of the evening. We still get a respite late in the day. Sometimes, especially on the "high" ground here in upper NW, there is even a little breeze. But the temperature difference, real or perceived, from two p.m to seven p.m is tremendous.

Have a light dinner, then hop on the bike. Make sure to have your lights, front and rear, in good working order. We don't need no more stinkin' bike ninjas. Lights that use AA or AAA are great, because you can buy rechargeables.

"In the front it's white when you ride at night; in back use red or you be dead!"

But seriously, I use the following combo, and my wife says I look like a spaceship: FRONT--one blinking Cateye Opticube, with 5 LEDs; one steady-on Cree flashlight mounted with a Twofish LockBlock. Out back I have a Cateye basic red set to constant blink mode and attached to the seatpost. On the rear of my helmet is attached a Planet Bike Superflash. I set this one to disco mode! The PBSF flash mode has the most distinctive flash I have seen; oscillating from red to white and changing intensity while never having a long pause without light. I have the Bell Citi helmet which has a built-in hard plastic loop specifically for attaching the clips of bike lights.

In addition to the wattage above, I have passive safety gear, too. I ride with a reflective neon vest at night, and pretty much during the day, too. I have a smaller, partial-cover mesh vest for daytime riding. It's kind of like wearing a man-zierre. I have a larger, beefier, full-coverage reflective vest for nights. Standard issue construction-type, neon green with the wide reflective tape bands all around. My Citi helmet, too, is not only an obnoxious yellow, but has built-in reflective stickers as well. Add to this my panniers. Currently I am using Nashbar small commuter panniers that are bright yellow with, again, their own reflective tape stripe on each pannier.

To top it all off, I do have reflective leg bands but have not gotten into the habit of wearing them. However, I have seen videos comparing a rider with/without leg bands, and the bands do work really well. Generally, though, I am riding in or near the city, and the ambient light from stores, cars and streetlamps might kill the necessity for any more reflective gear. As a motorist, a good flashing rear red light does the trick. Well, I think that about covers it. I was riding up our street one night and my wife just happened to be driving down the same street. Even with the car windows rolled all the way up, I could hear her howl with laughter as she approached me. "You look like an alien spaceship!". Yeah, well, I'm alive, and just you watch out or I'll surgically implant a standard-issue alien probe! Hmm, that might explain a few things about "The Hoff".