When the time change came this passed fall, I cursed the darkness. Angry with where my daylight had gone, it was quite a while until I was riding outside again. And then, I found my lights in a dark corner of the garage on a day when I was looking for something else. The special helmet mount was not in the bag, because that’s just how I put things away. Look for the least obvious place and wallah, leave it there. So, the light went on my helmet with the help of a couple of zip ties. Let’s just see how this works I thought. The light has not come off since, it has been working great. My rediscovered light has almost miraculously got me back on the road commuting to and from work a few times a week. It is magical to ride behind that blue beam. There is a feeling of it almost pulling me down the road, because I don’t want to get left behind. In the few stretches where there is minimal to no ambient light, everything else falls away. There in the fleeting moments, is only me, on a bike chasing a light. So focused at times am I on that light that things around me cease to be. There is also the prerequisite loss of depth perception. Your 3D vision is reduced to a 2.5D. Things don’t present themselves the way they do in the daylight. In the daylight there are things that are known, you see it and you know it. That curb, about 4 inches, I can do that no problem. Root across the trail, at a slight angle, ok I approach that one from the left and move to the right. In the dark, the knowns are not so known, they are guessing. It’s kind of like parking by feel in the city, at a much faster clip. Most of the time these are educated guesses, but that just makes you think you’re smart enough to do something right. Shadows, and sounds now take on a life of their own, they are magnified, and misleading. Like the parked car that did not exist until just a fraction of a second is left for me to lock up both wheels as I veer to the left in avoidance, just about escaping, but no…WOW does that hurt. Is my arm broken, my bike ok? What the derka, I didn’t see the thing and it was dead square in my path at almost 20mph. Who does that???I thought over and over in my head. So much repeating that I came within inches of a repeat performance not more than a 1/2 mile later. Well, there’s your answer, I do that. I hit parked cars in the night with a light on my head, so bright that cars are almost veering into a ditch when I approach. I see them, they are moving and menacing at times. The parked cars they are violent in their stealth. They sit and wait and at the last moment you drop anchor and pray. Even with the disc brakes, there is never enough brake, for those moments. But it was just enough for me to not go through the rear windshield ala Jan Ulrich.

Aside from that, the night has treated me right. It’s amazing how a few very annoying lights will change the mind of the masses and they avoid you like some sort of two wheeled plague. This is a great feeling, everyone seemingly giving you an entire county to get away from those damn lights. There are a few small stretches of singletrack and dirt for me to motor on during my commute. They are the golden nuggets that make the ride a delicious treat, instead of a tarmac bore. These sections then make one wonder why don’t I do more of this delicious dirt goodness. Well, the next step my dirty friend is a full on night ride on the trails. Coming soon to the Bonebell near you…it’s open season on night dirt.