Just take it steady and concentrate on your riding. Be prepared to imagine stuff and have a laugh about it.
There is an emergency filter for DX lights. If you crash you just point it into the sky and it projects a massive batman-style beacon. Within seconds whole teams of bike nerds turn up with flasks of tea and a stretcher whittled from nearby saplings.
way less risky than daytime riding.. I often don't even wear a helmet when I night ride locally
You must be fookin crazy 
I know 3 people personally that have come off their bikes and smashed the helmet to bits (would have been their head if not for the helmet). Its not worth the risk even in daylight.
As for the initial question only do trails you know when on your own then there will be less chance of coming across something unexpected.
In Feb on one sunny sunday morning i had a silly little off and broken my left tib and fib just below the knee. Still being repaired now. it was the first nice day we had had for a while, i was with 2 mates and there was lots of people about on bikes (thanks to all that helped.)
Whilst in the ambo i can remember saying toe the paramedic, but i rode the same trail at 20.30 in the rain by myself on thursday night.
It would have been a longer night.
But hey s**t happens.
I know some else who's night ride ended when the woke up in the woods at 06.30 missing their front teeth.
But will i ride again in the dark by myself -probably.
But make sure you've got your phone a torch and a whistle where you can reach them.
Its spooky lets be honest and when its just you and the dark woods its difficult to keep the imagination/fear factor in check. First time I did a solo night ride was a Macc Forest/Cat and Fiddle loop, and during the final couple of miles through the pitch black forestry plantations I saw a ton of light...and the first think i think is 'shit, the local Satanist's are out doing something bad and are gonna chase me forever like in the film "Race With the Devil"...not 'oh its a late night logging operation' And do you know what? it was the local Satanists...probably.
This time of year my commutes turn into solo night rides...
Sometimes you get spooked, and it is worth taking a bit more care and ride within limits etc.
The main risk is if incapacitated and getting cold. We all think we are tough etc when riding, but there is a big difference between being hot with exertion on a night ride and soon finding yourself shivering with cold trying to fix a puncture - all because you kit is sweat soaked and your no longer generating heat through exercise. Factor in an injury...
...but as said, same can happen daylight solo
I night ride on my own all the time just stick too familiar trails and dont push it too much,and yep it sometimes scares the bejeezuz out me
but it gets you up the climbs a bit quicker 
Ohhh, and...
to selectively quote
As for the spooky factor. There's nothing there at night that isn't there in the day too
... that's not entirely true
There's one piece of forestry on my route home that I don't do on dark evenings 
just go out and get loose! enjoy yourself & think to yourself how much of a good thing riding your bike is.
...and just remember the werewolves and man eating monkeys that hide in the dark are easily scared by goon riding, so get out there, lean right over the bars, bar hump the s**t out of jumps and drift round every turn!
matt
I have a set of photcopied routes and tell the wife I am doing the 'red' route tonight.
Of course I never then change my mind half way round thinking 'It'll be nice to just pop down there' 
I love it.
What I don't like so much is the dark, rain, puncture combo. That can be offputting at times. Especially when it also includes getting covered in unseen hidden dogshit whilst repairing, which more often strikes in the dark. - But I prefer to remember my sweeter rides.
I went out for my 1st night ride to test out my sisters ayups round pirbright ranges way and came across more people out nite biking that you normally see in the daytime!
but when on your own the woods sure are creepy, especially with squaddies and cadets moving around
Worst I've had is an involuntary dismount, smashing my HID against a tree.. the tinkling sound told me I was up for a long walk home.. though I rode when I got back to a road and that was scary with not much lighting me up.
Moral is take a secondary get you home light, and use LEDs 
my solo rides mean that i dont try any new stuff and i dont push too hard, its just nice to be out.
at night, encounters with wildlife and spooking yourself in the dark woods adds back the rush that is usually in place from riding on or near the limit.
i rarely tell anyone where i am or what time i will be back, so realistically if i stack badly on a night ride, i could be on my own for 12hrs or so till someone realises. That said if i do the same on a saturday afternoon i might not be 'missing' till monday.
always have lights and phone, and its the chilterns after all.
At the moment all of my rides are at night and solo.
I do a very similar route so people know where I go. I prefer it at night as there is always the slightly scary, s##t yours pants moments when you realise it was a shadow of a tree rather than a witch on a broom stick!
I tend to ride normally, push myself on hills and come back down at normal speed.
If your lights are good enough, why ride differently?
I have two P7 torches and take 4 batteries out with me along with a phone, ipod, normal tools and rain jacket.
I LOVE IT!
Solo night rides are ace. Indeed, sometimes solo night rides are better than group ones, as you don't have to participate in the lights 'arms war' - try going without lights. Makes for a fantastic ride.
scary/take a phone/let someone know etc - HTFU. As Samuri says, you're not exactly going for a week of total darkness in the Hindu Kush.
mountaincarrot
A pair of latex gloves stuffed into your camelbak/pocket puncture repair kit.
as a note.
if you tell people roughly what time you get back, and you horrible miss that date and then call the dibble to hunt you down - that can find your rough location if your mobile phone is switch on via trianglulation
Nokia Sportstracker is a wonderful thing for Night Ride worriers who rarely venture beyond good mobile reception range.
yep i love solo night rides....mostly as i am too fat too keep up with the others
i carry usual tools and first aid kit phone and coat plus
headtorch
spare lamp (lumicycle)
space blanket
and often i keep a small flask of tea or coffee, perfect for those frost nights chilling out looking at the stars hmm i might get a surly hipflask too
ive done it and scared myself silly.seen some owls tho that would have been long gone if i was in a group.
my main worry is not so much animals getting me but coming round a blind bend to find humans getting up to "animal antics"
last time i went through a narrow wooden trail i was thinking, what if i crashed into two fellas in the middle of "it" and there we all are, a tangle of bike, bushes and b@lls...
now that really would be scary! and far more likely to happen at night..
I don't usually nightride alone but will do on occassion when it otherwise means not getting out. I was out on my own last night and had a great one despite the rain.
That said on another solo night ride, I crashed and almost went over a big (100+ft) drop which made me think about it a bit though I guess with a 100ft drop maybe not being found for a long time would have made little difference...
I'm ok as long as I don't stop, then I'm convinced it's going to be like that scene in Pitch Black where one of them lights up a cigerette or something and they are surrounded by nasty looking creatures
... not that I stop to light up, but I look around and can't see anything outside of my bike mounted lights
Oh, and try it on the strobe/flash mode ... far out man!*
But it's great fun, I'm buzzing for hours after
*er, of course, only on the bits of trail you know very well
look at it this way...
I work plenty of time in an office, staring at a laptop - went to the gym for the first time since last winter a couple of weeks ago...
...packed full of people, headphones on, staring at tv screens - i've ditched the gym membership, and spent the cash on some new lights
i couldn't wait to hook up with others, so far two 2hrs + solo rides, and it was great, yes i was chased by the boogie monster (and badgers) but what a great way to end the day. My tip for getting your head into it, is to ride out somewhere dark, switch off the lights and chill for a few mins - when you get back into civilisation, you really feel like you've been on a mini-adventure.
you do see a few weirdos tho (but i'm fairly certain, they feel the same way about some fella on his bike giggling like a school boy!)
i ride solo all winter - have done for the last 20 years.
i love it.......other than the daft animals every now and again.
i use an ipod these days too.
do it. just make sure someone knows your route.
after a standard route night ride a couple of years back, one that i did regularly, the farmer had (for the first time ever) closed the 5-bar gate at the bottom of a long descent, and i hit it quite fast. Bike stopped, headtube removed, i continued over the gate for a number of metre's before touching down.
Winded, and bruised, i suddenly realised how remote it feels when you are smashed up. 2 mile walk, took 2 hours with broken personal bits.
From then on, i've use alot more caution on solo night rides than i did before.
still do it tho'
There is nothing like being spat out into the harsh light of civalisation to make you feel alive, realising that you have done something that most "normal" people would never dream of having just spent a few hours hurtling around the country side in the dark with a group of mates.
The final decent is always the favourite part of any night ride for me 
I find night riding with a helmet light is relatively unscary for two reasons:
1) Obviously it lights up where you're looking i.e. for the axe murderer in the bushes.
2) The axe murderer would struggle to swing his axe accurately with 300+ lumens shone in his face.
Riding with a bar light only, now that's **** scary - I've been known to jump off the bike and swing it 180 degrees when a very noisy owl crashed through some branches one night.
Has anyone mentioned the Witches yet?
One question, that I have asked my mates, and must have answered f that, would you ride Gisburn Forest solo at night? (for the people that know it)
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