Night Riding is Tons of Fun, but comes with a particular set of risks

If the frequent cars and high speeds of daylight driving have you turned off of the idea of cycling, trying night riding is a viable alternative, but there are a number of risks and benefits that you should take into account.

The Good:

Riding at night often comes with many fewer cars on the road, which means you have fewer vehicles to deal with. Depending on the road conditions in your area, these cars could be going faster or slower than they would in the day, and it's definitely worth looking into ahead of the ride.

Cooler temperatures are usually prevalent in the night time, and that can be a real life saver, especially if you live in an area where it is normally very hot during the day. Night riding can make cycling tolerable.

The Bad:

Visibility is decreased at night, and while this can be compensated for to a certain degree by lights on your bicycle, body, and clothing, you might still blend in with the dark, especially if your bicycle or gear doesn't have any reflective material.

Obstacles are common when riding at night. Many cars park in bicycle lanes, regardless of prevailing laws in the area, and there are also frequently disposal containers, construction projects, and in some cases animals all over the road.

Time constraints can be a limiting factor for many cyclists. This might be dependent on your length of commute, but I had a 90 minute commute at one point in time. If you can't really manage to leave home at 5 AM to get to your office by 6:30 AM and leave the office park area at 6:30 PM to get back home by 8 PM, it might not be feasible. I could make it work as a single guy with no dependents, but if I had children, responsibilities, or other commitments I might not be able to swing it.

Regardless of why you want to ride at night, there are a lot of things that you need to take into account for your safety. The most important of those are lighting and protective clothing.

Most states in the US require a strong white light in the front of the bicycle, and a flashing red light in the back of the bicycle.

In addition to that it is wise to add additional lights to your clothing, luggage, and bike in relevant positions, like along your helmet, on the edges of your handlebars, and attached to your backpack and panniers.

Spring Cleaning your Bike

I think that there are a lot of cyclists and casual riders that let their bicycles sit in the garage or, god forbid, out in the snow over the winter. It's a big challenge that can seem overwhelming to clean out and prepare your bike for a ride in the spring, and there are a lot of things to think about.

That being said, it's quite possible to spring clean your bike all by yourself, with only household tools and some elbow grease.

You'll likely need a few different things, I usually gather together a good plastic brush, some detergent, a few rags, and a clean container of water. I start out by trying to run the chain through the gears, and if the chain doesn't bind on any of the links there is no need to replace it. After running the chain through, clean it up by running the chain through a soapy rag. Scrub the gears and the sprockets with the brush and make sure to wash and rinse with soap and water.

Finally, you should rinse through the chain and the gears, and run the chain until it and the gears dry up.

Once the drivetrain is clean, you can hose down the rest of the bike and give it a quick wipe with a clean rag.

After your bike is all clean, you need to decide how you want to lubricate the chain and gears. I use used motor oil as lubricant, because I have a surplus and it's essentially free since I have a car. Other options include gear oil, graphite, WD-40, and petroleum jelly. It really doesn't matter what you use to lubricate so long as you clean regularly and lubricate regularly.

Back on the Trail

I made it back to my local bike trails this weekend.

It felt nice finally getting my tires dirty, but it felt nicer getting back to my apartment and cleaning up in the hot water. I got really cold while I was out, probably because I wasn't fully insulated against the wind and moisture.

Hopefully next time I head out for a ride of any distance I'll be in warmer weather, or warmer clothes.