velotel
11-11-2011, 06:51 AM
Twilight riding, I love it. Here in France the daylight hours get short fast once autumn has settled in. Most of my rides are after finishing working on the house or in the garden and this time of year, that used to mean either quitting earlier than usual or cutting short my rides, which are short anyway. Or finishing up with the dark starting to roll up around me. My winter clothes are all black mostly so that meant I was a veritable stealth rider at times.
My son decided he didn't want me to end up a road frisbee (he's a sentimental kid all in all) so last time he was here he gave me a set of Blackburn lights, fleas or flys or something like that. Tiny buggers, looked completely worthless. I mean no way anything that small is going to put off any light worth a damn. Finally put them on my bike the other evening. Wow, major light. Very cool. The back light on flashing is positively brilliant. The front light puts out good light too. Maybe not enough for major rides but for twilight riding, it's awesome.
So yesterday evening I rolled out late. Normally I would never have left that late but with the lights, no problem. Got to the edge of the village where I live and bam, there the moon was, full, hard yellow, floating over the Alps, wisps of clouds streaking the lower half. And just to the left, Mont Blanc, rose colored slopes, fading rapidly with the sun already over the horizon. No other summits lit. Never saw that before. One of the those times when I wished I had an iphone like my son's with that amazing little camera inside. But no, no camera. Just my old brain cells absorbing as much as my eyes could see.
Then I was in the trees in the twisty section and feeling good because I knew I was visible. Ended up doing the full out and back, used the full beam front light on the return and saw all I needed to see. Great little lights. Maybe there are others out there, I don't know. Regardless, these Blackburn items are excellent. Probably would be a good idea to have a second pair mounted for any longer rides to switch to. Not sure how long these last, long enough for me. I'm not a night rider; I like the views too much. But twilight! That I love. Now more than ever. All thanks to my son's sentimental side.
My son decided he didn't want me to end up a road frisbee (he's a sentimental kid all in all) so last time he was here he gave me a set of Blackburn lights, fleas or flys or something like that. Tiny buggers, looked completely worthless. I mean no way anything that small is going to put off any light worth a damn. Finally put them on my bike the other evening. Wow, major light. Very cool. The back light on flashing is positively brilliant. The front light puts out good light too. Maybe not enough for major rides but for twilight riding, it's awesome.
So yesterday evening I rolled out late. Normally I would never have left that late but with the lights, no problem. Got to the edge of the village where I live and bam, there the moon was, full, hard yellow, floating over the Alps, wisps of clouds streaking the lower half. And just to the left, Mont Blanc, rose colored slopes, fading rapidly with the sun already over the horizon. No other summits lit. Never saw that before. One of the those times when I wished I had an iphone like my son's with that amazing little camera inside. But no, no camera. Just my old brain cells absorbing as much as my eyes could see.
Then I was in the trees in the twisty section and feeling good because I knew I was visible. Ended up doing the full out and back, used the full beam front light on the return and saw all I needed to see. Great little lights. Maybe there are others out there, I don't know. Regardless, these Blackburn items are excellent. Probably would be a good idea to have a second pair mounted for any longer rides to switch to. Not sure how long these last, long enough for me. I'm not a night rider; I like the views too much. But twilight! That I love. Now more than ever. All thanks to my son's sentimental side.