Had my first solo night ride of the season last night, and couldn't help thinking to myself that it could be a bit risky, if a crashed or had a mechanical etc. I've ridden at night lots last winter and during races but just seemed more risky than before.
Depends if you go risking your neck or not. Just ride within your abilities and you'll be fine.
i dunno about risky but its ****in scary! i got spooked by a badger who i met on a singletrack blind bend, an owl swooping through my beam and a white stag on a high speed fire road blind bend.i have a strong suspicion they were all of the vampire variety.
Risky. No more risky than in daytime really. Just carry a phone and the usual spares / tools / emergency foil blanket.
I find some solo night rides are more spooky than others. And some not at all.
i was fine night riding in my local woods up here till my boss told me about some chap who was tortured in them there woods and has his balls cut off.
Tend to venture out in groups now !
No more risky than solo riding but clearly more risky than a group ride. I ride solo and in a group.Ride within your limits. Make sure your route is known by someone and do not vary from it.
Ride within your limits did I say that you really dont want any kind of stack in your own and take a spare PROPER light and battery.
Done it quite often in the past, but as other's have said, it can be quite risky at times. The other month I was out late and everything was going fine till I was taking a short cut through a housing estate to get home. I was about half a mile form home, went to bunny-hop off a curb and the front skewer failed. First thing I knew was sliding down the road on my face!!
Luckily two friendly chaps appeared and helped me to search people's gardens for the AWOL wheel. Walked home definitely not right in the head (to this day I don't know which way I walked!) and wondering why drivers of cars were giving me strange looks till I looked in the mirror when I got home & saw the state of my face.
Lesson for everyone.... if you're going to ride on your own, make sure your bike's in tip-top condition, as you won't have your mate's with you to help fix mechanicals / pick you up off the floor and you might not be in a fit state to use your phone if you take a knock to the head! 😕
not really, depends where you ride I suppose, just don't do anything stupid. Take a torch so if you have to fix a puncture/mechanical you can do it by torch light and not risk running your bike lights down.
Kev
way less risky than daytime riding.. I often don't even wear a helmet when I night ride locally
In the unlikely scenario that you fall, are incapacitated, and unable to get a phone signal etc, it might be reasonable to assume it will be longer before someone discovers you at night. And in that time you might be eaten by werewolves, and spiders might crawl into your open wounds and lay eggs.
Let someone know where your going and when you expect to be back if you are concerned.
It can be a little spooky. Just dont ride outside of your ability and come equipped for an emergency, phone, tools and spares.
WHAT THEY ALL SAY ABOVE - STICK TO YOUR LIMITS AND LET PEOPLE KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING AND WHEN YOU'LL BE BACK
(apologies just noticed caps was on and can't be **sed to retype)
As for the spooky factor. There's nothing there at night that isn't there in the day too. It's just at night, it's awake and it's hungry.
I ofetn find myself asking running through the same question to myself while on said solo night ride.
Yes, I am more likely to be unfound until the next morning than when I ride late during the summer but, even in the summer it cannot be assumed that help will wander along.
Most of the stuff we do in this lark, day or night has an element of risk and I comfort myself in managing the risk, mostly by regulating the extremity of the riding.
I find I dont need to "rag it" as much at night anyway to get a good ride in .... unless whatever is behind me making so much noise decides to run after me which is not unheard of.
Did one night ride solo last year. Came to a gate in a fence which divides 2 fields with nothing but a heard of sheep for company, unclipped and went through it making sure it was shut properly, got 20 seconds down the path and heard the gate slam shut................ 😯
Never again 😥
No way bigsi???? where was that?
I did my first solo night ride the other week in Sheffield... only to see six other blokes during the ride doing solo night rides in Sheffield !
South Downs near Worthing.
OOOOO! LOL bigsi! that a bit close to home (SDW Harting etc) I will be heeping an eye out behind me!
It all in your head - any solo activity can be dangerous - why should it be more so at night? Usual rules - let someone know where you are going and when you are due back.
Ride within your capabilities
Only done a couple but have really enjoyed them.
Knowing the risks and adjusting accordingly is part of the fun, surely? Bit like riding somewhere remote solo in the daytime.
With the nights drawing in I'll hopefully be able to do more early evening night rides.
its a RUSH! 
Well you think that's bad, check out what we saw at the top of the beast one night ride...
[img] 
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Yep.......
An actual ghost
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sorry, but there's a lot of victims of society here. People used to wander around by themselves all the time for months on end with no bad things happening to them. Really, you'll be able to go on a thousand night rides by yourself with no ill effects. Even if you fall off, you'll scrape yourself a bit, oh no. Cripes, if it gets really bad, you'll maybe break a rib, or an arm even. YOU'RE NOT IN THE ****ING ANTARCTIC, YOU'RE IN BARNSELY, OR CLEETHORPES, you're three miles from the nearest macdonalds!
If you've not guessed, I ride solo at night all the time. I don't believe it carries any additional risk than riding alone during the day or going out for a quick pint. No, actually, I'm going to call people's bluff. if I go out for a quick pint I expect the chances of me getting my head kicked in or a glass in my head are slim but are still massively higher than me falling off my bike on a solo night ride and hurting myself to the point where I cannot get myself to civilization so I die.
Take a phone, or for christ's sake, live a little.
Ride well within your limits and let someone know what time your likely to be back.
Did a few in Dalby last year.. Was "interesting"..
I always end up riding a bit quicker, only beacause "they" are watching you.. 😉
It's not the same risk of coming off as riding in the daytime IME - surprised to see people say that. Maybe it's my lights, but my view is a lot more flattened under the torches, it's harder to judge depth and I've come off a few times on inconsequential stuff that I wouldn't even notice in the day.
That's not to say you shouldn't ride solo at night - you should, it rules. Just be careful - advice that it's just the same risk as the day is bollox IMO.
My last proper solo night ride earlier this year ended minuets into the ride with a rear blow out, split rear rim, a high speed trip over the bars at over 30mph, trashed helmet, two sprained wrists, massive bruising and skin loss on my left hip and a huge hole in my calf muscle, just because of a slight lapse in concentration on a trail so tame that I ride my road bike down it during the day! Luckily I was only 10 mins from home and very painfully I limped out of the woods and got home before my leg and hip seized up.
people riding offroad crash all the time, it's a risk of riding around on unconditioned trails. Yeah, there will be a few instances where people can say they had problems but really, find me someone who has died when riding solo offroad at night and I'll call him a liar and challenge him to a fight!!!
I'm with samuri on tihs one
Its a bike, its at night, not really a big deal is it?
Unless your mum took you to school in a chelsea tractor then probably you should stay on the sofa
Plum
I love the night riding bit, but get a bit tetchy loading the bike back onto the car in a pitch black deserted car park with imaginary muggers hiding in the shadows...
Solo night ride checklist
Take lights - check
Bike in tiptop condition - sort of
Inform someone of your route - errr
First aid kit and space blanket - um..
ride within your limits.....
Sod it, it'll be right, just as long as I can outrun the mad axe murderer that turns up on the quiet, still nights. (why is it the demons never turn up when its blowing a gale and pissing down?)
I'm not a big fan of riding on my own at night because it's normally colder and damper than it is in summer, but I have to do it otherwise I'd never ride. So I do it 4 nights a week.
I'm not dead, I've met some weirdos and once or twice I've pedalled like f*** becasue I was sure that someone was about to chop me up.
But all that is in the mind really.
[i]becasue I was sure that someone was about to chop me up.[/i]
If only you weren't so darned quick I'd have managed it by now.
have done a few when i cant get a group together. seen some awesome things. imagined some much scarier things!
used to go out with ipod on too, now theat's freaky. cant see OR hear what's sneaking up on you in the dark.
best thing i saw was 3 lads on their weekly night DH session in wharnecliffe! good times. though freaky to see them streaking through the night from a distance!
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 ****in 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 ****in 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)