I got some nice new lights with the idea of a few evenings blasts without the hassle of coordinating with my riding buddies. I can be on nice MTB trails within 10 mins of leaving the house.
So, got my bike out, rode to where the trail begins and found it a little unnerving. There's a 20 min winding climb to begin where you can either hear insects, distant dogs and the odd strange noise or yourself breathing through your arse, depending on how quickly you want to reach the top. I began with the former but after one inexplicable crack and rustle in the undergrowth sped up more and more.
You know that feeling where you think there's something behind you. You know there isn't really but rather than be rational you go more and more quickly and the increased adrenaline freaks you out even more....
I got 3/4 of the way to the top, really, really jumpy. Spun my bike around and rode home as quickly as I could!
Anyone else unsure about solo night rides? Not a commute home but MTB'ing. Do I need to man up?
I have a seriously over active imagination and can scare myself silly on solo night rides. You're not alone, although I quite like the element of fear.
Part of the fun of it! All I do if I'm solo in areas without people is leave a trace on my phone so if I do bin it then someone can find me
Solo night-rides in thick fog are the best.
Lights do f*ck all, your senses are really heightened and you can't go fast because you can't see a damned thing..
I tell myself there isn't anything there that has any interest in hurting me. But you're somewhere exotic OP, aren't you? Is there anything that'll actually eat you? 😉
Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean that there isn't something out to get you.
Hope that helps 😉
LOL. well funny. you actually rode home! how old are you? mind me asking.Spun my bike around and rode home as quickly as I could!
When your helmet light passes a leaf which makes a shadow that rushes from the bushes towards you...
Wear headphone and listen to music. Job jobbed.
You could take your own axe and wave it around. Odds of there being two axe waving loonies on the same footpath must be lower right?
Do I need to man up?
you soon realise that you are the weirdo in the woods.
not war of the worlds. That's scary at night.ashies sage advice
I use to ride at night, and it can be unnerving, especially once when I tumbled at speed...
Now I pretty much always ride with a buddy, but if I wasn't I'd just set my Strava so my OH can see where I am, constant feed option.
[s]Take a hatchet or machete with you. It's very unlikely that there will be more than one killer in the woods - make sure it's you, and you're safe.[/s]
Too slow.
You are the weirdo in the woods.. Revel in the knowledge that you will scare the utter crap out of anything that sees you. Except maybe badgers which will maybe just run alongside you.
Man up!
Unless you ride in densely used areas, the only weirdo in the woods is going to be you 🙂
(beaten to it ^, but worth remembering if you get the fear..)
Yes you do 🙂 but I would imagine it's quite normal. I once swore I saw a clown with a knife standing at the end of the fire road climb.
I think with solo night rides it is a good idea to tell someone where you are going to be/ride etc. If I can remember I send a quick msg home to say I've arrived/done.
but pretty much this sums it up!the only weirdo in the woods is going to be you
I like solo night riding - it's complete escapism, but I'm used to walking/running at night on by own; There's more chance of seeing wildlife with the lack of chat. It turns an ordinary trip out into a big adventure, and I usually get home elated. Embrace the darkness!
But i'd [i]rather[/i] go with someone else though, its a question of taking the opportunity to get out when I can at the moment.
Remember your at more risk on your own if it all goes pete tong - the other night I bit off more than I could chew, went otb, landed on my head and broke a helmet light mount. I was very lucky, and I've restricted my route ambitions/speed considerably.
Just remember there's nothing in the woods at night that isn't there during the day.
Except now its awake and hungry
Happy Trails!
What tracker apps do people use?
You just need to watch out for doggers, some things can't be unseen 😥
some things can't be unseen
But 3 isn't a crowd, sometimes 😉
you get used to it. not that you get scared less but that being scared and the adreniline rush that comes with it is familiar.
Having said that i mostly ride at night with people - and i've got less used to being alone.
on my old regular loop, I'd set off the security light on a really creepy house (on it's own in the middle of the woods) when it was ~200 m behind. It wouldn't light me up - just change the angle of shadows a bit. suddenly I wouldn't be overheating and working hard - i'd be flying up the hill!!
Do I need to man up?
Yes. I used to get scared, but I got a grip 🙂 Until I startle a barn owl, which happens regularly. They are white, shine brightly in your lights and quite scary at first...
My favourite is being on the mountains night riding, rather than in the woods. Ace 🙂
I've not ridden alone at night for about 3 years now - apart from a very occasional hour and a half blast up and down a couple of local hills.
For me it is a safety thing - I had a fairly big off when I first got into night riding (and was only riding solo). I did a couple of ribs, but had to crawl home afterwards - 10pm on a Sunday night in early April, no phone reception - likelihood of anyone coming along until morning = slim.
Plus communal night riding has to end with a pint - it's the law.
When you are riding down a trail and a bastard big badger is startled, runs down the narrow-ish trail, but not as fast as you can ride.
You could overtake it (making progress?), but then if it's startled and possibly hungry, it's probably not a good idea.
My brother in Michigan rides on trails through the glacial drumlins, small lakes and birch forests around the area. He was out a couple of weeks ago alone in the dark when he heard a snort like a large animal then the thunder of hooves, right behind him. Says he didn't look back but was so frightened that he rode on like a demented nutter, not stopping until he reached his car. Fear gives you wings!
The woods are full of the same monsters that live there during the day... But now they are awake and hungry.
The problem with the countryside is that it just isn't a target rich environment. Hardly worth sharpening one's axe for. Plus have you seen how much the train fares are to get out there? 🙄
quite like night rides, and solo - don't have a problem with them (mostly). Particularly great are full moon night rides in the snow. Just lovely / magical.
I think in 12 years or so of solo night rides, these are my incidents:
3 or 4 dogging session interruptions. No bother.
1 loose guard-dog. Properly terrifying as my headlight had failed so I couldn't turn around to see how close it was.
1 odd bloke in a field. He looked startled. No idea what was going on.
Many bats in my face
1 big crash, but could ride home
But lots of lovely empty trails. Many owls and other wildlife spotted. Lots of long rides where there is no deadline for the finish.
It's well worth the effort.
What tracker apps do people use?
Road ID on an Android phone. Works ok for nothing. Little flakey if you ask it to do something like send out the start message at the same time as you're starting another app like Strava but otherwise ok.
As others have said, you've just got to get used to riding in the dark. I remember being nervous when I went out on my own for the first time as a young twenty something but I'm doing 2 or 3 rides a week through the woods and trails on my own in the dark these days and don't give it a second thought.
i ride alone at night sometimes around MOD forests in Surrey/Hampshire. tbh you always see loads of other riders about so not too bad, but when youre plodding along, you glance to one side and your light pics up a bunch of ghillied up soldiers with gas masks, night vision lenses and machine guns crouching in the trees you tend to shit it a bit!!!
I find the trick us to stop.
A couple of minutes with the lights off and its fine.
Its the half heard noises over your own arse breathing that are unnerving i find.
Try night-time scuba-diving instead... and learn how difficult it can be to convince yourself there isn't a shark behind you. And then have your mask fog up... after that night riding is a breeze!
I love night riding, which is fortunate as that's the majority of my riding
Don't mind going out on my own, don't mind the solitude, quite like it to be honest
But I'm rarely in the middle of nowhere, or up in the mountains, so it's relatively safe if something goes wrong
It was heaving down last night, night riding was quite wet and I would have bottled it if it wasn't for the fact that 3 of us had agreed to meet up
We have wild boar in the forest, and elk, and (thousands) of deer.
And wolves apparently.
Hours of fun.
And wolves apparently.
Where are you?
We have porcupines. I believe they're the apex predator here in Hong Kong 🙂
We have porcupines
aka Big **** Off Puncture Fairies
Paint this on your helmet and dig the whole 'nam thing
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I am the baddest mountainbiker in the goddamn valley.
[quote="BigDummy"]Where are you?Sweden. We get semi regular sightings all over this bit of the country. I've seen one in 15 years.
The elk worry me more. I see them fairly regularly out walking.
Pah - I saw a MOUSE run across the trail in the rain yesterday
Yes, a MOUSE
I'm in Thailand. I've bunny hopped a cobra before. Really though, the wildlife isn't of the man-hunting sort. It'll get out of your way and if you ride over at speed it is unlikely to bite or sting you. If you're going slowly you can avoid it.
My wife knows my regular loop and the fact it's only 90 mins means if I'm more than a couple of hours she'll or I'll call.
I find the trick us to stop.
Easy to say when you aren't being hunted by whatever the hell is in the bushes!
you actually rode home! how old are you?
32 and not embarrassed to admit it. In vague defence of my masculinity, straight up and back down is a great route and one I sometimes detour to on the way home from work.
Sounds like I should give it another go. I do enjoy moonlit solitude.
I'm in Thailand.
Shame, you will never experience the joy of wearing a helmet light in a night time snowstorm and pretending you are the millennium falcon.
Stick to the roads, stay off the moors.