Categories: Accessories and GearNostalgiaProduct ReviewTechnology

The Eye of Sauron

Aside from wheels staying in one piece and the frame holding together, the thing we take most for granted when riding a bike is how our bodies instinctively respond to and absorb bumps. The human body is, in fact, an incredible shock-absorber; our arms and legs are capable of flexing and shifting in ways that no mechanical suspension is capable of and reacts at near-instantaneous speed to the intelligence streaming in from the ocular system. Remove the power of sight from the equation and the effect is staggering.

My first encounter with night riding was during a 24-hour mountainbike race in Minnesota. Until that race, I had taken care to always ride during the day, partly because I couldn’t afford a reasonable headlight and partly because I could always arrange my training to take place during daylight. A 24-hour race, however, held distinct implications for nighttime riding.

I never bothered practicing riding at night, and I didn’t bother with buying a proper headlamp. Instead, I recommissioned my semi-reliable headlight which I used for nordic ski training in the dark winter months. The week before had also seen the decommissioning of my first-generation Rock Shox which had always graced the front-end of my beloved Schwinn mountainbike, made of what I assume were sand-filled tubes. I didn’t maintain the shock the way a shock should be maintained, and with its death came the rebirth of the fixed fork that had originally steered the machine.

I don’t need to go into detail on the race, but suffice to say that my headlamp stopped functioning within minutes on the first nighttime lap and that I rode the remainder of the race by the light of the moon and my insufficient instincts. Climbing was unpleasant, flats were uncomfortable, and descents were a blend of suicide and anarchy. Each bump the front wheel found blew through my unprepared arms and cascaded through my body, usually focussed on the saddle which ungracefully found its way to my crotch whether I was sitting on it at the time or not.

With this induction into the dark art of night riding, it has been something I’ve typically done with some reluctance. In other words, I’ve avoided it like the plague. Living in Seattle and having the privilege of a fulltime job does have certain ramifications on riding in daylight hours in Winter; namely that it isn’t possible. With the introduction of a good headlight comes the surreal solidarity of riding cocooned in a cone of light. The shorted line of sight together with the elimination of one’s peripheral vision has an inexplicable calming effect despite the sense that you can’t properly judge the bumps in the road as your headlight briefly illuminates them, and that every puddle looks like a small lake whose depth cannot be judged until you’re on top of it.

I’ve ridden with a Mammut Zoom headlamp and a Lezyne Super Drive, both of which served the purpose of making nighttime riding slightly less terrifying. But with my new 45km commute, I moved to the Lezyne Mega Drive, which is basically a car headlight refactored to fit on a handlebar. I heard that the lights in small villages dim when I turn it to full power and I’ve noticed that deer come running towards it when I ride by with the mistaken belief that it signals the arrival of a deity.

Never one for half-measures, I still mount the Super Drive on the helmet and the Mega Drive on the bars; its like riding with the Eye of Sauron on your bike. Oh, and I have three different red flashers on the back of the bike and another white flasher on the front. You know, just in case.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

frank says:

Nov 20 2012 at 10:28 am

@brett

Although I have never interfered with a sheep, I may indeed have been lurking in a dress on Oli's night ride. Nothing sus.

Agree with Marcus, flashers on the front and too much lumenage is worse than not enough, it is distracting to drivers and can impair distance perception. 350 lumens is more than enough for a road bike. Same out back, super bright flashers can be almost blinding to drivers (not to mention riders when in a bunch)... we ride through winter at night on the road, and most of us run one up front and two out back max. I always have one of these mounted permanently now, un-noticeable and there if needed...

I love those little back lights for sure, except I've found they fill up with sand and stop working (oh, I can feel the mudguard convo coming back already!)

Those lights are perfect for dryer conditions so they stay in one piece longer. Such a great design, though, to reuse the clip in the saddle. God, I love fizik.

Frank; a shock is on the back of the bike, a fork up front.

Not in the 90's it wasn't.
frank says:

Nov 20 2012 at 10:36 am

@Skip

Wow. I see that and raise you this:
frank says:

Nov 20 2012 at 10:39 am

Wow, I found a picture of me in 1993 with my old Schwinn with the Rock Shox. Merckx, I loved that bike.
Deakus says:

Nov 20 2012 at 10:50 am

@frank

Wow, I found a picture of me in 1993 with my old Schwinn with the Rock Shox. Merckx, I loved that bike.

I know its a grainy photo but jeez you don't have to show off that you hang to the right!!!
Skip says:

Nov 20 2012 at 11:28 am

@frank

@Skip

Wow. I see that and raise you this:

Where to start? Aside from all of the crazy stuff going on with the bike itself (look at that saddle tilt!) what makes the scene for me is the full face downhill helmet. Did you not get a picture of that beast in motion?
Oli says:

Nov 20 2012 at 11:43 am

@frank Seeing you seem so interested you'll have to ask Marcus for your ovine romance tips. As I say, I've never dated one.
wiscot says:

Nov 20 2012 at 12:12 pm

@the Engine

My dad sent me in to action with one of these on the lamp bracket on the front fork of my Raleigh Shadow in 1977. It was like cycling with a candle in a horn lamp. The battery (unrechargeable) theoretically lasted for 24 hours (well it only had to light a lamp with the intensity of those they used to use on telephone switchboards) but it would start to brown out after half an hour or so.

The rear right used big torch batteries that you couldn't swap with the front and was equally useless.

Tweed and wool are not reflective at night and there are no reflective strips on brogues either.

At best they were warning lights because you could see fuck all even when they worked (which they often didn't because the contacts would work loose or the bulb would expire). Once they'd gone out you had to try and fix them in the dark - hilarious.

Obviously they bounced off their mounts and self destructed when you went over cobbles too.

You're only a wee bit older than me. I started with the BIG Every Ready (boy, was that not true) lights. Two D batteries and they were crap. Almost all bikes back then came with either a headset mounted lamp bracket or one brazed on the fork. This was considered a selling point! I remember when Wonder lights appeared in the 80s with their plastic clips and decent clamps for the light. Compared to the Ever Readys, they were great! Still the same shitty bulb scenario though . . . Thanks to LEDs, you can light yourself up like a Christmas tree for less bulk and weight than any old Every Ready lamp. Don't get me started on generator lights either . . .
wiscot says:

Nov 20 2012 at 12:18 pm

@Skip

@frank

@Skip

Wow. I see that and raise you this:

Where to start? Aside from all of the crazy stuff going on with the bike itself (look at that saddle tilt!) what makes the scene for me is the full face downhill helmet. Did you not get a picture of that beast in motion?

I don't have the pic, but the Times printed a pic of Wiggo going on his first training ride after his wee accident. One pic showed an EPMS, which, given his Euro-roots is understandable. What was unforgiveable was the big-ass clip-on fender thing on the back. There are all kinds of sweet skinny fenders (mudguards) available, but this was awful.
Deakus says:

Nov 20 2012 at 12:23 pm

@wiscot The pic already got posted but I know what you mean it was a seatpost clip on stolen off a Grifter or Chopper from the 80's I reckon his Dad lent it to him...ffs you would have thought the team would have given him a fully dressed up rain bike for his winter miles!
itburns says:

Nov 20 2012 at 12:49 pm

@Deakus

Posted here: @Wiggo