The dark makes everything worse; something primal awakens in us when the sun has gone and we are wrapped in the black cloak of night. Laying in bed, my worst thoughts and fears come knocking like some used-car salesperson who won’t leave me alone. There is no shutting down of this process, our imaginations are given free reign to do their worst.
Darkness makes the cold feel colder, and the rain more wet; it wraps us and removes all the visual cues that might otherwise distract us from their lightless work. This is a difficult time of year, when the days are at their shortest; we leave for work in the dark and return home in it too. It never leaves us.
Leaving for a ride at night takes the same sort of resolve that riding in bad weather does; you need not think about whether you want to do it; you simply set about kitting up, and then placing one foot before the other until you’re standing outside with your bicycle at your side. Then you pedal.
Riding at night puts me in an cocoon of isolation, there is life inside the cone that spills from my headlight; beyond its borders I do not know what creatures and thoughts dwell – I don’t need to know. There is only the small triangular section of road within the cone. Like a carrot spurring on a donkey, perhaps if I push a little harder on the pedals, I can overtake the far edge of the light and explore what lies beyond.
Winter Solstice is behind us now, and for the next half year, our days will get longer. Though the days will remain dark for some time yet; each coming day will be a little bit longer until finally, the headlights will be put away. Until then, I will ride inside my cone when I need to, and cherish daylight rides when I can.
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Riding the bike in the dark of night is an art form all itself. Riding at night in the woods of NWNJ is one creepy experience. The best lights cannot negate the increased awareness of sounds and smells that somehow become louder and thicker in the darkness. Images of the boogyman, the hookerman or the JeseyDevil become more fixed in the brain. That stump that was so easily jumped over during the day appears twice it's natural size. And speeds that during the day time that you would consider a joke feel like top speed. Oh I like riding in the dark but man the thought of some beastly creature eating my face after I fall off the trail and into a picker bush freaks me out. Perhaps this is why my pile of high quality lights sit untouched in the bike drawer down stairs.....Enjoy the night fellas.
Well said as always @frank. I'm not keen on night riding, particularly as the roads around me resemble a war zone with all the pot holes these days, as @teocalli can testify. However, my family commitments need to balance with training, so very early starts are a must that I do my utmost to embrace. I love the growing sense of expectation as those mornings do start to lighten.
Very succinct as ever Frank. I've often wondered if deposits made to the V bank whilst earned at night were of a stronger currency than standard daytime deposits? It sure feels like they took that much more mental stamina to earn....
Night rider
The twilight hours are by far one of my most antisapted rides. What the darkness takes in visual white noise emerges in greater focus and energy. I like to think of it as going to the bank of adrenaline and writing the check that feels oh so good. Like finishing off that third recovery beverage after one of your hardest rides.
I used to love going on rides at night. Now, the population boom here has made me a bit leery about doing it as often. The mornings that I commute to work are always dark, except for those couple weeks in June when the skies lighten around 0530.
I should start dong it again. More often.
@Pedale.Forchetta Great shot! Really captures the tunnel effect of night riding.
@Pedale.Forchetta
Bella fotografia!
How technology has advanced in our short lifetimes. I remember well a night around February 1995, I was riding home after helping backstage at a local theatre. It was past midnight, misty, and chilly, but only a few miles and I'd changed the batteries in my big white Eveready lamps for brand new 'D' cells. As I crested the last hill however, the front lamp died (not that this made a great difference to its brightness), and I noticed that the whole village laid out in front of me was in darkness due to a power cut. I rode the remaining mile or so in complete darkness and complete silence.
Now, for £15, you can buy a light bright enough to either put a dot on the moon, or ride at full speed off road, in a forest at night.
Winter solstice is behind us now.... Amerckx
@Deakus
Just returned from a forest loop - my god I need to scrub my bib shorts! Whatever the time of year and the weather, why is it always blowing a gale at Stoney Cross?!