Who does solo night rides in the woods?

A lot of my riding I squeeze in midweek from around 7pm onwards. Now with the nights getting darker I tend to road ride if none of my riding buddies are out.
I just don’t like riding alone in the woods at night. It’s illogical really as it’s probably safer than riding on the road but I think “what if I fall off and no one finds me”. I think in truth I’m a bit scared 😯
I do ocassionally MTFU and ride solo, when I last had a puncture in the woods I almost s**t myself several times due to badgers / deer whatever making noise close to me. Anyone else get the heeby jeebies riding solo?

Me. I do a solo night ride every week. The scariest thing is the amount of eyes watching you at any one time. A quick sweep of the undergrowth with my headlight uncovers dozens of eyes at any one time.

I do, and yes it’s the eyes that are a bit freaky.

Just remember that anything that’s hidden in the woods during the day is still there, it’s just awake at night 😉

It does a bit for me, but the last time I went out round Cannock for a night ride I found a guy swimming alone in Fairoak pools at 10pm.

I don’t know how his steel balls didn’t sink him.

Like most things, it’s just a matter of getting used to it. I don’t see it as being any more dangerous. I do most of my rides alone (as I prefer it that way) and on routes where I rarely meet people even in the day. My wife knows where I am, when to expect me back and she can even get a decent idea of where I am by tracking my phone. I also tend to ride a bit slower at night as I can’t see as well and as a result have fewer crashes. So, if anything, I may be safer at night. The rest is all just a matter of getting used to a strange environment.

quite a bit, its always good to turn your lights off in the middle of the woods and see just how dark it gets….

It can be a tad freaky. The only time I’ve been genuinely petrified was when riding along a river bank I disturbed a heron – when the damn thing took off, just for the briefest of moments, it looked like a pteradactyl in my lights. 😯

Anyone else get the heeby jeebies riding solo?

Part of the fun of it! Seeing bushes in the shape of swamp monsters and giant owls peering from the side of the trail. Love it.

You always ride faster in the dark when alone in the woods, great for your fitness! 😀

I do over at Thetford and occasionally you’ll get loads of deer eyes looking at you out of the gloom.
Last time I was there, on ran across the path as I was barreling along, so I slowed just in case there were more. All of a sudden about 4 more large deer hooned it across the path, so I was pleased that I slowed down! I didn’t even have a headcam, so there wouldn’t have even been any internet based deer-strike glory!

What gives me the heebie jeebies is when you hear something that doesn’t sound like it shouldn’t naturally occur in the woods. Last time I was at Thetford towards the end of my ride I heard a noise like someone banging two large nails together; like a metallic tink tink tink. Just sounded really out of place and put thoughts of Blair Witch in my head! Made me ride a bit faster to the car park, I suppose!

agree in the woods no one to hear u scream!!

its good as i get to see badgers/bats and owls. if i hear a thundering through the undergrowth i’ve scared a deer

Yes, no problem with it. I do ride a bit more cautiously than I would in daytime or with others, just knowing it could 10 hours until someone passes by to pick up the pieces if something goes wrong.

Night-running in the woods scares me though. At least on the bike i can turn downhill and outpace most things…

You should try night riding where the eyes you see could belong to something very large and potentially scary )

edit – I don’t mean big alice in dogger’s wood btw.

Sort of – I do early (5am) rides on my own so same difference. Can’t say that it overly concerns me.

I disturbed a heron – when the damn thing took off, just for the briefest of moments, it looked like a pteradactyl in my lights.

: )

What gives me the heebie jeebies is when you hear something that doesn’t sound like it shouldn’t naturally occur in the woods

The farmers around my way use wind powered bird scarers, they make a random metalic clanking noise. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get the image of someone dragging a ball and chain along behind them.

I’ve also done a few night rides around Broxbourne Woods, which backs on to Paradise Wildlife Parks. You can hear the lions very clearly, which is pretty weird…although not as scarey as the creatures your imagination has invented..that really don’t exist.

i do too,
and as i said in an earlier thread,

i turn my rear light off
play loud music on my mp3
i shout “there are 10 of us” every now and again
and i call the missus as soon as i get out
its a great way to get the adrenaline going and to be truthful im more worried about having my bike taken than it is about me being hurt

Ride Delamere all the time on my own.

And yeah, still get a bit twitchy if im honest..

Never been a great fan of the dark ever since my Dad came out with the lines- “Don’t worry Son, theres’ nothing there at night, that isn’t there during the day… Only now, its awake, and hungry….”

I try not to stop and look around too much! Although, it being Bristol, am never too far from civilisation.

I found road riding in the dark far scarier, as you don’t have time to swerve round the pot holes at 35km/h when your lights only illuminate 10-20 yards in front of you.

Mating foxes is always a heart warming noise to hear in the woods at night

I solo nightride and I sometimes commute offroad across the Quantocks in the dark, but if anything was to happen to me I could be right in the s**t (I’ve fallen off and broken my ankle on an summer evening ride before) at least now I’ve got Garmin Live Tracking so the wife might have some idea where I am (where to start looking).

I ride follow the dog at cannock at night quite often. It’s less scary if you wear headphones, but it’s surprising how much you judge your grip with your ears.

Lots of wild life about though, but less chavs than there are in the summer so I actually feel a bit safer.

Yes. Not a huge amount but – up til now – has never bothered me. Probably should on grounds of accidents and so on!

Regularly. I can often get out earlier than the rest of the gang so then I’ll do a longer loop and meet them for the mid ride pub stop.

The only slightly worrying one was last year, after an afternoon and evening of torrential rain when no-one else wanted to go. I went out to see how a local river bank trail was and found half way down that the river had burst it’s banks. From there on I had a mile of following the tree line through axle deep, fast flowing, muddy water. I took a dunking in a dip in the trail which stopped my bike light working for a while and at another point had to wade thigh deep. Thankfully the bike light started working again as my helmet light started to fade.

Turning your lights off for an open bit when the moon is bright and high is fab.

Used to, not much anymore as there’s enough local groups to tag allong to the back of, when I’m not broken anyway 🙁

Be careful out there…..

Every week and it never bothers me tbh. I dont even think about except when these threads come up

Safer in winter at 8 pm than you are in summer as no one is out in winter anythign else is just irrational fear/paranoia

I grudgingly do solo night rides, if I didn’t I would get very few off-road winter miles in..
I totally get the heeby jeebies, to a crippling extent, which is odd as I’ve contentedly lived large swathes of my life alone, outdoors..
I can only put it down to being on the bike.. On foot you can be still and tune into the surroundings, identify anything approaching, but on the bike, you’re handicapping a lot of senses..

I do, I am OK riding but hate stopping for punctures or to adjust my helmet or lights.

I definitely FEEL like I am going faster riding solo in the dark.

It definitely concentrates the mind and I try not to think of Dog Soldiers etc when I’m out on my own.

I reckon I see more wildlife on my own at night than when in a group which is a wee bonus except when deer jump out in front of you. If you get the willies, try stopping in thick trees, turn off your lights, sit down and tell yourself that you are in fact the scariest thing in the woods! 😆

Nacho

You’re not the only one who sometimes gets the heeby jeebies. I guess it’s human nature.

Riding solo without lights under a full moon and clear sky is an absolute joy. It’s hard to beat the feling of riding by moonlight when you can see your own shadow and make out colours. Add in snow and you get to experience an almost dreamlike view of familiar trails. Marvellous!

I used to do it all the time, until I came off and broke a rib in the middle of nowhere when it wasn’t much above freezing.

That time I managed to get myself home, but the thought of a more serious injury leaving me stranded for hours has put me right off.

I’ve got one of them stupid bright lights. Actually, two. One on the helmet and one on the bars. I reckon they’d be pretty good protection if I did meet anything unpleasant as you can’t look a them.

trails by moonlight! one of the perks I think.
Last year, full moon, in winter – it was glowing bright, it was like scenes from old films where they film in daylight then put a filter on the result — stunning, wondrous.

i shout “there are 10 of us” every now and again

Genuine LOL at this.

Ride home from work through the woods (which are also a military training area), a couple of years ago riding with fairly dim lights in the dark I nearly came off as my front wheel hit something. I couldn’t work out what it was and so picked it up – nearly had a brown trouser moment when I realised it was an anti-personal mine, thankfully clearly marked For Training Purposes Only.

Depends

The two places I ride regularly are still pretty near the city, you can see the city below you so its not really scary in the slightest.

Alone somewhere like Carron Valley, which is a frickin massive big forest pretty much in the middle of nowhere its easy to get the heebie jeebies.

Logically you are safe because you are the only bastard in a 5 mile radius daft enough to be in a forest on their own in the dark.

But in the dark alone, the fern at the base of a tree that casts a weird shadow is actually an axe murderer with a fetish for tubeless tyres.

Still it all adds to the fun!

Have occasionally added an extra loop on the way home after leaving others, starting to head out solo a bit more this winter.

May have a night on the turbo after reading the ghost thread.

LOL, some great replies, I love riding at night (we try to go out once or twice a week) and where I ride locally isn’t exactly a big forest – Woodbury common. I just need to MTFU and get out into the woods more when no-one else is out. I know the fear is totally irrational but it’s there. Bumping into marines hidden in the woods on night manoeuvres can cause all sorts of bodily functions to briefly fail as well 😯
I must try turning the lights out on a full moon though, that sounds good.

I night ride local trails solo, no worries or problems whatsoever.