I'm new to night riding..
I've never felt the need before as I've always been fortunate enough to get enough daylight riding time.. however with a young and rapidly expanding family this winter is going to be different and I will need to take the plunge and invest in lights for the sake of my sanity..
So..
Do any of you ride any super tech trails at night..?
What are the less obvious hazards..?
Have you got any amusing stories/photo's/vid's to inspire/frighten me with..?
I tend to stick to local trails that I know reasonably well, but have done some right tech stuff at night. Only thing I'd be wary of is big drops/features at speed, due to shadows. very easy to get it wrong.
Tech stuff works surprisingly well in the dark. As long as you have a fairly good light (dx etc will be fine) and know the trail then it's great fun! You go slower but everything feels faster! I've been on a few with pook and co where I haven't known the route but they rarely set me up for anything too nasty...
well yunki the only way is to do it and find out!!
personally it doesn't hinder my trail choice much, have even strapped some lights to the full face and enjoyed some night DH once!! that was err interesting but fun.
if you want to try before you buy then i can always hook you up with some lights to try around the cleave on a thursday evening, I'll be there this coming thursday around 5.30pm at yarner.
IMO night riding is way better and more fun than day riding, it gives an extra something to make it feel more adventurous if thats the right description..anyways its more funnerer!
oh yes +1 jambo head mounted is deffo needed, something im lacking at the moment since selling my ayups...must buy soon!!!
Yep. Started off riding the easier stuff but now ride everything I'd ride during the day at not far off the same pace. Sessions at the DH tracks are fun, gaps and drops are way easier in the dark....
Bar lights dont cut it, Decent helmet light is a necessity.
I've been thinking exactly the same thing recently, i wasn't sure if people attempt things like the Nutcracker at night. Also, i'm not keen about going out alone.
I've bought 1 light from Smudge but am still yet to give it a try, and due to finances i couldn't afford to get 2 lights so i'm having to wait until pay day in a couple weeks before getting another. I'm thinking of a torch for the helmet and the Smudge DX light for the bars.
I may join you next Thursday Carl
night riding - technical terrain..?
yes please! it's hard at first, but it does get easier. often you ride over 'tricky' stuff without realising it...
If you live in england/wales, all those peachy footpaths are now yours! brilliant fun*.
i suggest something like 1000 lumens on your handlebars, and 150ish on you helmet. The combination of both is better than 1 REEAALLY bright light.
(*one good reason why shorter days are a good thing - it sends the walkers home early...)
i do not ride anything technical (due mainly to my lack of skill) but riding on my own on the ridgeway at 1 am (avebury/marlbrough downs/barbury castle) with nothing but my old hope 2 led light is definitely interesting to say the least (especially when you hear all manner of weird noises 
(just stay on the path 
Go for it. I've cleaned technical stuff in the dark that I struggled with in the day. I think there are less distractions because you can only see what your lights show you.
Also far less traffic on the trails
Try riding with a big group, then if it goes wrong, theres a back up.
Check This for a typically technical Keswick Tuesday Night ride.
Others at this location too.
Sometimes its easier to focus, and you cant see the big consequence hazzards close by. Ignorance is bliss.. so far.
ride exactly the same stuff as in daylight,
i suggest something like 1000 lumens on your handlebars, and 150ish on you helmet. The combination of both is better than 1 REEAALLY bright light.This is rubbish, you just need a *decently bright helmet mount to ride anything technical (including jumps/drops) at night. bar mounts are rubbish as they rarely point where you are heading. wheely, manual, jump or even turn a corner and you're in the dark with a bar mount.
* 400lumens is enough unless you are pinning it down DH tracks and even then 700 will be more than adequate IMHO
Head mounted is best IMHO (for the reasons given by GW ^^) but some people prefer bar-mounted...
I ride the same stuff at night as in the day and again, as others have mentioned, tech stuff is actually easier. No distractions, you can only see what the lights show and you tend to just roll it.
Stick to familiar/local trails first until you've got an idea of the burn times of your lights.
With decent lights all the daytime stuff is ridable, but navigating is really hard - only ride trails you know or you'll end up in the middle of nowhere with very little idea of where you are (VOE).
And remember that it'll be a long cold wait to be found if you stack it and can't ride home
bucko i have your mail addy so will mail you time/place on wed/or early on thurs.
all good input.. much appreciated
I'll try and make it out on Thurs if I can (if that offer of a trout-loan still stands carl..?)
I've psyched myself out on the nutcracker somehow and ended up walking the gnarliest section yesterday in the wet.. maybe riding it in the dark will help.. 
Cheers, I've got a new email address, it's in my profile. My old one was riddled with spam from watching too much porn.
i wasn't sure if people attempt things like the Nutcracker at night.
I have done this, not as tricky as you might think - although I was pretty chuffed to clean it all.
Stick to trails you know well, lights on the bars and lid are essential IMO but I agree that if I just had one light I would prefer to mount it on my lid. My DX/Spokeshirt combo stands me in at less than £80 so it can be done on a reasonable budget.
one good reason why shorter days are a good thing - it sends the walkers home early..
This is a double edged sword. Should anything go wrong it may be some time until help comes along. At the very least someone should know where you plan to ride and how long you expect to be out, better still share the fun and night ride with other people.
personally prefer the bar light/head torch approach. having the pair means you still get 'some' shadow in the dips which aids depth perception IME. too much light on the lid flattens stuff out too much. YMMV.
I'm really crap at night riding. I don't know why. Friends I burn during the day completely leave me for dead during the night.
I'm not a fan of technical riding at night.
aaaah..
everyone I ride with leaves me completely for dead during the day so maybe I will burn them at night..
Personally, I can't stand a helmet light. I've been running bar mounts for 10 years & just bought an LED for the helmet. Stuck it on the bar as well after 2 rides. Just don't like the light moving around so much.
do you have a tick by any chance?
I usually run a Lumi Led3 on the bars with spot lens (very pointy angle) and use a DX torch on my head to fill in the near spaces.
On Thursday night I didn't have the torch and we went down Wonderland on the Cannock downhill area.
A bit sketchy and slow but it was fun.
The worst hazard I find at nite is that the low branches heading towards your face and eyes are much harder to spot .. eye protection for sure!
yunki, will advise if light is available, ATM someone else is a possible and he normally borrows my troutie light, if i can sort some more i'll let you know, ive asked someone for a toro loan so my buddy may want that so you can have the trout which imo blows most other things out of the water for brightness but i can't get past using the bag for the battery...my mrs uses it for her commute light!
@bucko mail me your addy and i'll let you know too, we normally just do a quick loop around NC, ravens descent farm climb then NCback to yrner oh and cheeky on the other side to BTF, couple of hours probably
Yunki, I hope the account of my "little off" on the nutcracker during our brief encounter yesterday didn't have anything to do with you walking a bit of it. Was slippy though wasn't it.
Bucko, I was also wondering yesterday if the nutcracker is do able with lights. I'm sure Trailmonkey or Slugwash could enlighten us.
From the Singletrack vimeo video stream, this one makes me want to try night techy riding, the 'commentary' makes it sound scary but fun:
www.vimeo.com/3188770
Only really done local stuff at night, one or two 'techy'ish bits but I did know them fairly well, only used very poor lights, I ought to get some proper ones and get riding a night really
Only weather conditions will keep us off trails at night. Everything is fairgame otherwise.
i like it and it makes winter fun.
Personally like helmet light as a bar points where the front wheel is going which may not be where i am about to be going/looking [ switchback for example]
I use about 600 lumens as part of the fun of night riding is it is dark and not a fan of the new scorched earth lights tbh.
I know folk who just dont so borrow a light first.
it is much easier in familair terrain but i have ridden stuff at night that when I saw in daylight I would have refused
Technical is fine as you tend to be slow. Fast with drop offs is worst as you see shadow and you are not sure exactly what this means.
Once did a very steep bit that all i could see was a pitch black edge and nothing - no idea of the drop/steepness what was coming whilst the person behind on a SS screamed at me to go faster as they knew the trail and they were about to stall ...certainly is fun :D.
Borrow a light and see if it is for you?
We've been doing it for so long now, that I often forget wether a route was done on a Sunday morning or Thursday night. Makes little difference once you've "tuned in"
you get used to riding at night. i love it.
i ride herts shore at night too. does wonders for balance
Love it, everything feels so much faster and as has been said, you maybe don't bottle stuff you would in the day. I have a Hope 4 on the bars, but will be buying another helmet light for this winter - prob a DX.
First time I rode Stanage Plantation was at night, with CruzHeckler (Rob) and his mates, about 4 years ago - pwned the lot of em 
I have done a little riding with lights, and notice that you tend not to see a lot of the trail detail that might normally bother you, with surprising results. I think it supports the theory that visual cues trip The Fear. With those cues absent or diminished, you just roll through where you might have hauled on the brakes.
Exactly this happened on an icy evening last winter. I rolled up to the curving concrete staircase in the wood and didn't think twice about bouncing down it - I had always bottled it before. I have ridden it a couple of times since in summer sunshine, and it was scarier.
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