[Closed] Solo Night Riding

Don't think about the Blair Witch!

APF

Ride fast, don't look back!

Or get a head torch that is brighter than the sun...

Oh, and MTFU! 😉

Decent bright lights (flood and helmet spot), listen to music, often I forget it's pitch black until I get home....

Just focus on the trail ahead and riding it smoothly. If the bogey man does come out of the dark for you you will ride noticeably quicker IME 😀

I have had deer, cows and all sorts spook me on night rides. It is all part of the fun.

Just hope you don't get a puncture. That's when the woods come alive!

helmet lamp helps - you can look at where the noise is coming from without falling off trying to point the bars at it.

Just always remember theres nothing there at night, that isn't there during the day.

Only now, its awake.

And hungry.

Don't rest by a tree when a tawny owl about 4 feet from your head decides to yell to his mates 5miles away.

Scared the crap out of me!

Other than that, embrace the fear!!

lol, great responses.

I once came across a strange creature on a night ride sitting on a fallen tree. It looked like a man only, with a woman growing out of his lap.

Best experience was meeting an owl sitting on a rock at the top of a climb. He just sat and looked at me as if it say 'evenin'.

Letting people know where you are going and when you'll be back just in case you break yourself up a mountain and die of exposure before morning.

[img] [/img]

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood....

. If the bogey man does come out of the dark for you you will ride noticeably quicker IME

The bogey man is the voice in your head saying "go out on solo night rides...do all the stuff you do in the day when your riding mates are around...oh dear you've mangled yourself...no bogey man out here coming to "rescue" you, just me the voice in your head."

Or something like that.

Bah, Townie.

Have been riding solo on the Chase two or three times a week since 1996. There are no werewolves, panthers, mad axemen, aliens, UFOs or any of that shit.

The shadows of the ferns can look like claws racing along the trail towards you, there are sometimes walkers dressed in black walking black dogs and the stags can get a bit prickly during October but otherwise there is nothing to worry about.

I often stop and kill the lights and just soak up the darkness. Enjoy

I have pooped myself a couple of times on solo night rides.
One time at Hamsterley something big came crashing through the forest towards me and then suddenly stopped a few metres away. I couldn't see what it was as the undergrowth and low branches were too thick.

You see so much more wildlife on solo night rides. I followed an owl on a local trail recently for about 50m before the owl swept through a gap in the trees. It was only a few metres in front and flying low directly in my lights. Simply amazing.

Rocketman, that's good to know.

Thanks. Might go for a ride in the deep dark wood tonight. I'll let you know how I get on.

Its good to be scared every now and then though... gets the heart pumping and the adrenalin racing.

Headphones do help if you are scared, however I prefer listening to the sounds of the night anyway.

Its all good.

Best experience I had was when an owl swooped down and flew beside me for 100yds or so. That was soooo cool!

Oh, and that noise behind you. It's probably the sound of your rear wheel crunching through the frost, stones, twigs, etc. But it could be that big angry nostril flaring, fang bearing monster just behind you. Just don't think it's the latter and ride so fast you crash. 'cos then you'll have your limbs torn from your body and your gentlemen vegetables eaten by whatever it is. This is a fact!

Argh headphones!! Erm..nope.

You need to take it all in man, the dark, the coolness, the sounds and the tingle of not quite knowing where you are.

It is a most excellent way of tuning the senses.

Just a note, Owls fly without making a sound, and when you turn your head and spot one just off your shoulder you tend to scream, very loudly, and fall off....

I crapped it on my way to work this morning, about 6:30 along the Speyside way and a Heron took flight just in front of me, the headlamp lit it up superbly 😯
They look prehistoric at the best of times but that really freaked me, a proper OMGWTF!?! moment 😆

Might go for a ride in the deep dark wood tonight. I'll let you know how I get on

[img] [/img]

I started to build up to solo off road night riding last winter, and this winter am ok(ish!) with it.

My method was to de-sensitise myself to the dark by riding on unlit rural roads first, then I chose a route that goes through open fields - riding through wooded areas in the dark freaks me out. It's one of my standard routes anyway, but since last Winter I have ridden it all times of day, dusk to dark rides in Sept/Oct really helped - being able to see what kind of wildlife there is around in the evenings and what sound they make as they move! Depending on how I'm feeling I can cut the off road sections short and just go back onto the unlit roads. It's all about enjoyment for me and some weeks I feel braver than others!

I tend to just think about the fact that frankly I'm the scariest thing out there.

[img] [/img]

Once you are in the middle of the forrest stop and turn off all ya lights.
Then listen (you may hear your own heart beat too). 😀

Saw a black panther on the eastern edge of Clumber park (Near Sherwood forest) once whilst out on the bikes.. no one believes us though 🙁

That puts me off being in the forest alone.

If you want to hear some strange noises then take the next step & bivy out in the woods. Last time I couldn't quite make out if the mystery animals I could hear were shagging or fighting.

Aw Mark ,you could at least have photoshopped a bike over the mouse 😉

You need to take it all in man, the dark, the coolness, the sounds and the tingle of not quite knowing where you are.

It is a most excellent way of tuning the senses

Night riding is one of the few times that I never consider wearing headphones ,soak it up

I once came across a strange creature on a night ride sitting on a fallen tree. It looked like a man only, with a woman growing out of his lap.

WTF?

hadnt been eating mushrooms off the forest floor had you?

Similar experience with running in the woods at night. Preparing for Lakeland 100 ultra a few years ago and needed to stop being a scaredy pants about solo night running in the woods. Eventually plucked up courage and set off for first night run. After 1/2 mile spooked a deer a few metres away from me - scared me *******. Good training though because in first night of the event, I entered dark woods on my own (nr Seathwaite) trying to catch a pair who had left the CP a few minutes earlier. Did the same thing with a deer - same result - but with extra incentive to sprint to catch the others up.

I am not sure the added fear really goes a way but this quickly becomes part of the 'experience' - but headphones, nah, what's the point? Experience the sounds of the night.

If you have a partner at home, I've found it handy to setup Endomondo on my phone and live tracking on my Mrs Ipad, so she can just check where I am (Pub spying).
Helped when she went into labor.. she decided to let me finish my ride as she could see I wasnt far from home, bless her.

organic, he means a couple doing the do (I guess!) 🙂

Solo night ride - did it a couple of times, didn't really like it much. I like to natter too much 🙂

Enhance the experience by watching Dog Soldiers first 🙂

I once came across a strange creature on a night ride sitting on a fallen tree. It looked like a man only, with a woman growing out of his lap.

WTF?

hadnt been eating mushrooms off the forest floor had you?

Read it again, slowly.

I've done a fair few solo night rides over the last couple of years now, the spooky feeling only really comes into play when your right in the middle of some woods.

Best way to deal with it is a good dose of MTFU and just roll on through, if you do stop you'll notice all sorts of noises but these are typically just squirells, deer and Owls pissing about as they do, spend a couple of minutes with your lights off being still and listening and you'll soon get used to the sounds of the woods and the limited visibility, and it will spook you far less...

You are probably at far greater risk of attack when you head back into a town/city late at night, on a blingy bike, past all the chavs than you are in some pretty much empty woods at midnight TBH...

Solo night riding is a lot easier than solo night running.
At least on a bike, if you get scared you can turn round and get downhill fast. If you're stuck to running, the beasties can catch you!

rocketman
The worst thing that could happen is ... a large group of mincers riding up your favourite descent

It only happens rarely to me but I hope it doesn't spoil Garburn tonight.

Try riding from a short time before it gets dark, enjoy a sunset, then ride a bit longer. You'll often need to stay out a while after sunset for proper darkness, but it might help you get accustomed to it as you're already 'out there'. FWIW, almost all my rides are solo (night or day) and other than commuting I rarely see anyone locally. For some reason I'm more wary about meeting other people out in the middle of nowhere than any accidents/ creatures (except places like the Cairngorms/ Lakes/ Pentlands etc where there are often tonnes of folk out running/ climbing/ riding).

Alternatively, if you have decent 'dark' areas of open riding (not woods) get out with a full moon and no lights - even better if it's snowy/ frosty. You'll be amazed how much other stuff you can see when your eyes aren't adjusted to artificial light.

You are probably at far greater risk of attack when you head back into a town/city late at night, on a blingy bike, past all the chavs than you are in some [s]pretty much empty[/s] woods at midnight TBH...

Maybe statistically ... but it's the "WTF is that?" that's attacking you that gets to you ...

😆

This is funny I though it was just me who got spooked in the woods on their own. Look at all these gritty, ruffty tuffty mountain bikers who are scared of the dark!!

face the demons. Stop, get off and confront the noise, werewolf, whatever. After a short while of confronting nothing you feel daft. I don't even think twice about solo night rides nowadays. In many ways I prefer them. Twice during my puffer training in the snow I encountered child's footprints and a dog alongside that seemed to come and go from nowhere but also were miles from anywhere. I thought that was weird but was in the zone so never stopped to investigate. I will next chance I get, if it happens again of course.

Just always remember theres nothing there at night, that isn't there during the day.

Only now, its awake.

And hungry.

Haha - quality!

Just remember the quicker you ride the harder the thing in the dark has to work to catch up. The one thing I would say is slime tube or tubeless wheels. Try and avoid punctures the best you can as stopping means all the little animals will glare at you.. freaks you right out when your light catches their eyes.

I'm with Rocketman on this. Get yerself as far from civilisation as your ride allows then stop and turn off the lights. It's amaxing what can appear in the gloom on a cloudless night. That great "hey night riding alone hasn't killed me" feeling, as you listen to your own heartbeat increase, when something rustles or snaps a twig in the forest nearby.
MTFU and get out of town.

I use a frame-mounted sword for personal protection. In all these years of riding I've only ever used it in anger two or three times.

My advice would be to take a spare light source with you. Then another one. Just in case.

This is words of wisdom from someone who's lights went completely in the middle of a forest in total darkness, and left listening to the rustling in the bushes and wimpering like a girl 😳

Oh... and as pointed out in the first post, don't, whatever you do, think about this....

[img] [/img]

Be careful out there as the sun is now setting and the ghouls and monsters are starting to stir.......

Stop it! I had manned up until some at work started talking about the Chase panther.

Must think of something else....

Don't tell your mates where you are going. Not ever!
1 night they will jump out on you in the middle forest dressed in those rubber masks!!!!

The Blair witch is often after me on solo rides,the keep moving rule seems to have worked so far.
When you look over your shoulder in to solid blackness it is freaky, solved this by never looking back.
DM

done it quite a few times over the last few year and you really do needed to MTFU and remember you are the biggest baddest thing out there in the woods(unless you run into five armed bushes) 😯 😀 out tonight but not on own just me and my bro

I go bloody fast on solo runs driven by the fear factor. Grumpy badgers make interesting acquaintances. Once I happened up a bloke just siting in the pitch black in the middle of the woods on a log on his own. There were no car parks nearby. I cranked very very hard.

Having got a dog this year, I've taken up solo-night-dog-walking using my bike lights...I find it far scarier than solo night riding due to the lack of speed plus walking is quieter so you hear everything. Not helped when the dog runs off into the bushes and you'd prefer to keep moving but instead you're stood there whistling and begging the dog to come back.

There's a bogeyman in the woods? Why wasn't I told? And I'm going for a ride by myself on Friday night!

What tyres for being scared?

Tubeless 😉

May be it is not the deer we should be concerned about...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-16516500

I guess the trick of surviving the chase is to be quicker than the deer.

Aha, this old conversation crops up a few times a year

Don't worry about animal noises ... Though they do get close and close if you stop with a mechanical.

What's really scared me is (and from previous threads a couple of others have had the same thing) is riding through a gate after thrashing along a fairly popular ridge top bridleway for about 1km. Go through a bridle gate and let it slam behind me. barely 200m up the trail I hear it slam again .. 'oh they came up behind me fast' .. Look back and nothing there.

Long story short another km down the trail havng stopped and looked back a few times some freak finally emerges from the dark having been irritated that I kept on stopping glancing around with my lights and ruining his nite vision despite the fact that he'd been hanging back (keeping up with me with no lights)

EDIT .. This kind of thing has actually happened to me twice now. ... Always a logical explanation but freaks you out each time

@ Nuke . I hope you got a fast dog , like a Vizella that can run and run . Or a Husky , apparently they like running .

Best one I had, was riding along, could swear I could hear something rustling in the bushes, this carried on for a bit, so getting paranoid I stopped and looked around. Nothing. Carried on, rustling continued. Paranoia and fear set in, sprang off my bike ready to attack the rustling follower only to realise it was in fact a leafy branch caught on my rear derailler.

I,m out tonight in an hour or so, but unusually with company - their first proper offroad night ride. Should be a laugh.

[i]@ Nuke . I hope you got a fast dog[/i]

She's fast 😀

...just not necessarily in the right direction 🙁

Often see owls and all sorts of wildlife out on mine even though I never really get that far from civilisation, got a few places that could freak you out if you let your imagination go wild, like a trail over Hanging Hill and when going under some railway tunnels.

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6675166831_3fbdfbaf2e_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6675166831_3fbdfbaf2e_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt303/6675166831/ ]nightride-3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/matt303/ ]matt303uk[/url], on Flickr

Cranham at night is brilliant as there are soo many owls, deer and occasionally wild bore. The added bonus is the recent spottings of a large black cat. But we can't ride there now so my night riding is spent looking at a brick wall on the trainer. But make sure you listen to decent music. Agree with the turn the lights off at a rest point and soak up the noises.

Just remember that there's nothing there at night that isn't there in the daylight it's just that you can't see that they're not there so you start to think that they might be there and then you find that you don't want to be there either.

Brighter lights make you easier to spot & chase!

TBH you get used to it. When its a full moon turn your lights off and ride round the well known trails for proper fun!

I have a serious problem with my imagination... Always have been scared sh12less
of the dark. But then I do like to push myself... Just ran home from work...2hrs of farm tracks and woods at 9 pm.

Scariest time by far was a strenuous 2 day solo hike up to a mountainous bush clearing in NZ. Using a barely marked and overgrown hunters track.
Got up to the hut at dusk....went for a wander discovered the overgrown memorial to two Murdered Swedish back packers.
Then the penny dropped.

I'd read about the release of their convicted killer in a paper earlier that week.

Have never ever been so wired!!!!! Alone and still with a 7 hour hike out. **** still freaks me out.

I could feel myself losing the plot !

😆 at the Benton werewolf clip.

You would think i would be used to the dark as i often work alone onsite out of town through the night , but my 12 yr old imagination does sometimes appear in my 40 yr old brain with clips of The Fog, American Werewolf and such, plenty of over the shoulder looks. Nothing there though ever its just dark thats all, the voice in our heads is the primitive side of us warning us that the forest is bad in the dark, simply basic survival instincts from a bygone period of our evolution.

Still dont night ride on my own, although i lost my buddies the other night i stood still to regain my thoughts and retrace and noticed the woods were "alive" with loads of other night riders 2 of which were solo 🙂

Watch The Troll Hunter as well as Dog Soliders Pre - ride 😀

i love solo night riding (well when i do it).i ride on the ridgeway (avebury/marlbrough downs).when it's a really warm night (obviously i'm a lightweight 😉 it's fantastic (hope vision 2 led ftw 😀 i love hearing the tawny owls too 😀

A friend of mine from the LBS used to do a fair bit night riding in the local woods. A couple of times, (he reckoned), he blasted around a corner to be greeted by this ghostly figure of a woman with White hair and flowing robes, absolutley shat himself. 😆

Apparently there's an old dear around there who goes out walking in the woods at night in her dressing gown. Still not sure I believe him but it's always at then back of my mind. I should carry a spare pair of shorts for if that moment should ever arise 😐

Thing is I know I'm a afraid of the dark...yet still wouldn't stop doing what I do / love because of my very strong imagination.

I get mocked at work because of my fear...

Yet reallistically most people are so cossetted in society that they have no idea how they would react in such situations because they have never challenged themselves.

Oh and don't get me started about my solo night in the hut on Cadair Idris....Owain Glyndwr's steaming horse ;@)) 

ghostly figure of a woman with White hair

She used to wear a red cagoule though, not flowing robes 🙂

So I did it.

I didn't get attacked or eaten by werewolves or witches.
I did crap my pants when the voice of the newly installed Endomondo starting talking to me.

Did I enjoy it, not sure yet.
Will I do it again, yes.