Who does solo night rides in the woods?

I am getting to the point where my rides have at least the end in the dark and things are getting darker.
Here in the FoD we do have things that will get you. The axe wielding psychopaths I can live with, they are contractors, but the boar! They are either big and black and look like shadows until you hit one or little and camouflaged and multiple and have big black mums who chase you. The noises they make in the ferns make you think of Jurassic park. Deer are no worry, they move, boar just stand there and defy you to come through.

Does anybody find rabbits get in the light beam and seriously get in the way.

I also had run ins with badgers and dogs.

Once I was cycling up a singletrack and a badger came flying down. It was being chased by two dogs. One of the dogs absolutely maimed my front wheel. Never heard such a fuss.

yep, ride once or twice a week. No bother.

nearly killed a rabbit when it got confused and ran AT my front wheel.

Not in the woods, but my commute has about 5 miles of fen bridleway, complete with massive drainage ditch. I often think I was scared by one of the many deer in the area, my body wouldn’t be found until the spring.

Had a fantastic night up Cannock on my tod, a great ride but real spooky on my own. There were deer all over the shop, which was scary until you got used to them, and after awhile I started thinkin about big cat sightings and seriously freaking myself out. I thought “think logically, you’d have heard if there had been anything like that up here – besides, what would they live on?” Then I saw another deer and aanswered my own last question.

It was scary but fantastic – deffo be doing that again.

I enjoy going out I’m my own at night, but do tailor my rid e accordingly.

There is a byway that we use where quite often a car or two will be sitting. I don’t tend to look at what’s going on in there, but there are some very herbal smells coming out occasionally. I usually avoid this byway if I’m on my own.

Not scared of axe wielding maniacs or spooky sounds, but can do without bumping into scallies on my own in the middle of nowhere.

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

Genuine LOL at this.

I expect one day someone will shout back
” if there are 10 of you, how come there is only one set of lights?”

All the time.

I’ve been “ambushed” by soldiers in the Pentlands. I don’t know who was most surprised as I doubt any of them had seen such bright lights on a bike.

I’m about to invest in a Spot Tracker as the consequences of an off up here, especially during winter, could be dire.

I do. Made more interesting when the big cat story is running in the local press

They are either big and black and look like shadows until you hit one or little and camouflaged and multiple and have big black mums who chase you.

I’ve been ticked off by the mods for posting less offensive things than this… 😯

but can do without bumping into scallies on my own in the middle of nowhere.

IME they are more scared of you than you are of them and once they calm down they share 😉

kcal – Member

trails by moonlight! one of the perks… stunning, wondrous.

exactly – my only rule is only ride stuff familiar with and now living in Aus if a wombat is bigger than 700c it has right of way

I’ve always thought this was a daft idea, for many of the reasons mentioned above. But with a two-year old, and a brand new boy due 1st November, I reckon late evening is going to become my only riding window for a while. So I’m going to be ManningTFU and heading out Blair Witch winter-stylee

Does anybody find rabbits get in the light beam and seriously get in the way

It’s bats for me. Always encounter several of them

I do and rather enjoy it off road. Find it scarier to ride solo on the road bike at night along country lanes though. Had a very close encounter with a deer that shot across my path the other day. Suicidal rabbits are pretty common too. And then there’s those car drivers who’s judgement of speed and distance seem worse than usual in the dark. Scary stuff.

I expect one day someone will shout back
” if there are 10 of you, how come there is only one set of lights?”

: ) At that point it’s ok be scared.. particularly if you hear a banjo playing.

I bivvied on top of a hill about 1800m up in the Verdon once, scrub oak and bushes up there and nothing else. Woke up as something shook the bush I was tucked into, as I came round and moved I heard a loud grunt-snort and the bushes shook as something big forced through them. Nearly ruined my sleeping bag. Wild boar.. they’re pretty big out there I think!

There is a byway that we use where quite often a car or two will be sitting. I don’t tend to look at what’s going on in there, but there are some very herbal smells coming out occasionally. I usually avoid this byway if I’m on my own.

Unlikely you’ll get attacked by dope smokers. Bored to death, yes…

I don’t quite get the “What if I fell off?” argument for not going solo night riding.

More to do with where you ride than the time of day, surely?

When and where is “Someone will be along in a minute.” an acceptable contingency plan for immobilising injury? Popular trail centres on a sunny Sunday perhaps…

I assume everyone rides within their limits when solo whether it is dark or light summer or winter.

Yep solo night rider 3 or more times a week depending on the OHs rota, which hopefully will mean every other week he will come with me. I take comfort from the fact I have a 40kg jingling idiot running along next to me though. Dont think I’d fancy it completely alone…. mostly I’d struggle to get motivation more than anything!

Cannock at night quite often since about 1998 when all we had was halogen Cateyes and a couple of kg of batteries that lasted 45 mins. I dont find the wildlife paticularly scary except when something in the woods gets killed by something else in the woods – the screams are quite unsettling.

Ther have been a few unusual sights but I guess riding round on a bicycle on your own at night counts as one.

Go tubeless if you value your life when riding at night. The Trolls throw the thorns down in your path to make you stop and fix the puncture. That is when they pounce on you, when you least expect it..

😆

but can do without bumping into scallies on my own in the middle of nowhere.

IME they are more scared of you than you are of them and once they calm down they share

Hmmm – now that would make for a good float ride around the woods. 😆

I’ve just started night riding again and get out a fair bit on my own round Cannock. Generally not too fussed although a few weeks ago when I rode before sunlight (so I could get a ride in before heading to Twickenham) a badger poked its head out of the ferbs and scared the hell out of me.

Its only when you stop and look behind you that you realise just how dark it is.

I’ve always been surprised at Cannock at just how few people seem to be out riding, especially over the last few weeks when its been warm and dry.

Done a fair few road rides at night too which i really enjoy. Although it was a bit minging last night.

my regular week ride starts through the forest and I can chose wether to do a whole lot more of the same wood or spank it through for some bridleway and then road/canal action. Have to say most of the time unless my mates there I like to spank it on through. Have had to watch out for loads of toads recently, they go pop when you accidently cycle over them, ughhh.

I do road riding at night but that’s not really scary! Seems to go quicker with less distractions/views. I’ve done a bit of off road riding at night and thought it was a bit overrated but then I dont exactly have the most interesting trails locally.