The Night Riding Experience

[Crinkle]

word, doing the Kona 24hr event at Winter park next weekend. I'll keep an eye out for you saturday. I'll be rockin my PM gear jersey. You going up tomorrow for practice?

[mtnbikerskierchick]

The Kona 24 is fun! It's a good venue, lots of support there, and a nice lodge to stay warm. Last year temps were definitely below freezing at night, so come prepared.

I can't go up to Keystone for practice tomorrow b/c I can't skip a day of school when it's not even been 2 weeks! I plan on practicing the morning of, the course is open for an hour. There will be a few girls in pink there, most of us w/ blonde hair, so ask for change or something, and if she looks at you funny, then it's not me

[Crinkle]

yeah we are planning on packing everything we own that involves biking to bring with us. I'm sure I'll see you saturday, good luck

[mtnbikerskierchick]

Bring your puffy jacket too! You'll be cold after finishing those night laps!

Note: The laps are super short there, at least they were last year. 40 minutes a lap or so.

[Natedogg]

I always found it funny that the only reason some people broke out their lights were for riding in the fall and winter when they could potentially get stuck on the trail after the sun was down. I havent really done any good night riding in years, but we would go out in the summer all the time at 11PM and go tear it up. Ive crashed more times in one night ride than I have an entire season of day riding (the good kind of crashes--nothing broken: bike or body).

Someone mentioned riding under a full moon--another ethereal experience. Especially late at night with snow cover. What a cool experience!

Whats all this about trails closed after a certain time? Is this a western thing with all the tree-hugging trail nazis? Ive never dealt with such BS anywhere Ive ridden at night (PA, CT, MA, ME).

[dfinn]

so you are looking at spending around 2 bills for something decent or can you get a good 'nuff setup for less?

[altasnob]

I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on this soon:

http://www.jetlites.com/psb_ss.html

Based out of Truckee; seems like a cool company. Any yays or nays? Should I go cheaper and get both a helmet mounted and a bike mounted light?

Also, I do have a bad habit of finishing backcountry ski outings in the dark. Does anyone use their lights for skiing?

[Natedogg]

Also, I do have a bad habit of finishing backcountry ski outings in the dark. Does anyone use their lights for skiing?

Never used my Niterider for skiing, but Ive used it for caving and setting up camp after dark (when the car is close by). Id imagine skiing would just be similar to using it for riding--same speed in general, and plus you get a bit extra with reflection off the snow...

[Lunch]

I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on this soon:

http://www.jetlites.com/psb_ss.html

Based out of Truckee; seems like a cool company. Any yays or nays? Should I go cheaper and get both a helmet mounted and a bike mounted light?

Also, I do have a bad habit of finishing backcountry ski outings in the dark. Does anyone use their lights for skiing?

In my opinion, Jet Lites is the best. I've used mine about 4 nights/week in the winter the last 2 years. No problems. Good design, durable and excellent customer service. I also have Niterider, Night Sun and others but not as reliable. Reliability is kind of important when it comes to lights, IMO.

[Arty50]

Just went on my first full fledged night ride. That fucking ruled! I made the classic mistake of looking at the trail right in front of the bike too much. Had to fix that quick and was soon looking down trail to where I wanted to go and could open it up pretty well. Totally new experience. Even hit a couple of sweet jumps.