think you...

know your favorite trail?  every nuance?  every turn?  think again...

because of my messed up schedule, and recent lack of riding, and cross season is here (first race this sunday); i have had to resort to some unusual riding.  night riding.

no worries; right?  just put on a twenty to thirty dollar light, and have fun.  wrong.

how good are these lights?  not real good when you ride on paths (metro or tow) that are pitch black.  so enter the more expensive lighting systems.  for me, my hope and nightrider.  one on the bars.  one on the head.  one for where i am.  one for where i am going.  (i know theres some deeper philosophical meaning there, somewhere; but that's for another day)  now lets have some fun.

hit the road last night.  now you have to be careful; you don't want to blind drivers.  so i keep it low key on the road.  just one light, flashing.  as i got down to the tow path, and away from traffic, both lights; solid beams.  headed down the path to the metropark mtn trail (hell, i don't even know if this is legal.  i suppose i ought to check that out).  through the entrance the shadows play tricks on you.  how close something is.  how deep is that groove.  how quick something comes up on you.  needless to say the rabbits jumping around.  i see a lot of them.  the small insects and arachnids that litter the ground.  hell, i think i built up some bad karma.  how the rocks sit in the trail.  how the roots are.  it plays with you.  the turns.  the blind turns.  the flow of the trail.  everything just 'comes up on you' pretty quick.

during the day you are able to look ahead a little bit.  to see where you are going, and how you are getting there.  at night, you are only as good as your light.  side-note:  i loved the way the shadows played off of the trees while i was riding.  side-note aside; i tended to forget where on the trail i was.  i kind of had an idea, but where and how soon the next turn was...no.  i tended to forget, because i was concentrating so much on where i was at that moment.  the initial climb seemed to be shorter than it feels during the day.

another thing to take into consideration...the cars are not aware of you.  more so at night.  be aware.  be safe.

so...anyone up for a night mtn bike ride?

amitabha...

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