Nightime Mountain Biking

Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

yoothgeye

I build stuff.
Joined
Jul 1, 2010
Messages
8,257
Reaction score
2,026
Location
Roanoke Rapids, NC
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Anyone up for a ride?

Earlier this week my friend (and fellow RRB member) Cody aka: the-rookie said we needed to go riding more, most of our time has been spent building. We wanted to hit the local MTB/hiking trail, but time just isn't on our side, so he suggested we ride it at night. This is a trail, no lights, big drop offs, deep ruts, bad washouts, lots of wildlife, etc... I told him he was crazy, then a couple nights later I met him at the trail head at around 10:30pm. He had recently mounted a headlight/taillight on his bike and I was rocking the wearable LED headlamp with a bicycle taillight clipped to the rear strap.

As we slowly pedaled into the dark trail barely lit by our lights I joked about us dying then said "Well, we know there's a downhill coming up..." as I sped up. He fell in line as I bombed the hill just as we would in daylight. Big mistake... BIG. There had been a lot of rain since our last time on the trail and I soon realized I was in a mine field of ruts, I did my best at the speed I was going and avoided the really bad stuff, but hitting the bottom of the hill where the ruts caused a loose washout the bike started fishtailing and it threw me. I rolled down the trail and off the side into the undergrowth, my headlamp fell on my last somersault and all I could see it illuminating was the big dust cloud I had just caused. They cover the trail in some sort of finely ground granite and it was in my hair, my shirt, my mouth, everywhere, but I was fine, just a few scratches.

I laid there just waiting for Cody to come barreling down and getting tangled up in me and my bike, but I hopped up, grabbed my light, pointed it uphill toward his light and yelled "I'm OK!" to which he replied, "I'm done!" I gathered my belongings and walked up to where he was. The worst of the ruts that I had avoided was the one that he got into, it kinked the sidewall on his rear rim, jabbed a large finger sized hole through his tire and tube and now we are finding out that it jacked up his bottom bracket too.

We were defeated, not even 1/8th of a mile into the trail, I had eaten it and his bike was broken. This wouldn't be the end.

We walked to his house and grabbed a wheel/tire from another bike and slapped it on and went back to the trail. Using a tiny bit of sense this time we tried again, slower. We ended up going a few miles in pitch darkness, taking time to stop and watch the deer and racoons. The cool night air was a welcome reprieve from the summer heat.

2 nights later we attacked the trail again, this time starting after 1am. Cody back on his rim, now fixed, but with a clicking BB. He also upgraded his handlebar light and added his wearable headlamp to the equation. With the extra light and a new respect for the night, we made great time and had a ball.

Lemme ask again, anyone up for a ride?
 
A good friend of mine,and a friend of his ride it at night regularly. I never have. But this summer I took my youngest daughter to ride it for the first time. We started at the canal museum and crossed Roanoke Ave and less than 200 yards down the first down hill she hit a rut and wiped out. Cutting her leg and skinned her hands reaching for the fall. I thought the ride was over! But with some coaching and talk, she picked herself up and we rode to weldon and back to the canal museum. She is 9! So proud of her.
 
I used to ride at night all the time when I had a day job. but only on bright nights with a good moon and NO LIGHTS! once your eyes adjust. you can see better than with lights IMO.

and go a safe speed, bombing around at night is for the city.. :mrgreen:
 
Cody and I hit the trail tonight...errr... last night at 10:45pm and hit the 6 mile mark at 11:25. I feel like 6 miles in 40 minutes on a mountain bike trail in pitch dark conditions is pretty good, we stopped a couple times to look at deer and just cruised and talked for a while.

I did ditch the wearable headlamp and opted to wear my helmet with a brighter LED flashlight zip tied to it. It worked out great. I tell you, doing a trail at night is a great way to get to know the trail, you have to know it, or else you'll run into a fence like Cody. :mrgreen:
 
i raced mtn bikes for a team a while back and i trained at night on the trails several times a week , legal and illegally . : ) I also competed in the 24 hrd of canane in west virginia which is a 24 hour race thru the mtns of west virginia including single track , uphill , down hill . mtn rocks , . u def need a handlebar light and a helmet light to ride at high speeds , this allows u to look ahead with the helmet light , your handle bar light may not always be pointed in the right direction . it is only focused were the wheel is currently pointed. so the two together make it much better to ride fast and clean.
 
longshort said:
i raced mtn bikes for a team a while back and i trained at night on the trails several times a week , legal and illegally . : ) I also competed in the 24 hrd of canane in west virginia which is a 24 hour race thru the mtns of west virginia including single track , uphill , down hill . mtn rocks , . u def need a handlebar light and a helmet light to ride at high speeds , this allows u to look ahead with the helmet light , your handle bar light may not always be pointed in the right direction . it is only focused were the wheel is currently pointed. so the two together make it much better to ride fast and clean.

Yeah, and wheelies with a bar light only light up tree branches. I've still got only the light mounted on my helmet, but Cody has both.
 
I love riding with both It allows you to kinda look around the corner to see what huge spider web is just hanging there waiting!!!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top