Night Moves

Workin’ on mysteries without any clues
Workin’ on our night moves

-B. Seger

After a full night of charging, the eight-pound, water bottle shaped battery was primed to release a blinding three hundred lumens of light for nearly two hours.  At the time, there was nothing brighter or lighter to cut through the darkness of the woods.  Though loops would need to be contained in length, and water could no longer be stored, the trails would be entirely ours. 

For one sweet year, when my brother was out of college and living at home and I was in my final year of high school, we found a mutual interest in mountain biking.  We rode after work and on weekends.  We mastered local trails, and explored new ones all across Connecticut.  We’d wake up early, load up his car, and be riding at sunrise.  We had endless time to kill, and spent all of it riding.  We weren’t the most gifted cyclists, but we loved it as much as anyone.  When autumn’s darkness threatened to take away our fun, we read Mountain Bike Action’s reviews of bike lights, and bought the brightest in hopes of extending our season just a little longer. 

For as scary as it was at first, I was amazed how feasible it became.  We rode slower, and stuck to trails we were familiar with, but the riding was nothing short of thrilling.  Riding behind a five foot wide circle of light presented new challenges, and required a quick response to obstacles.  When your focus is so limited, it simplifies the task at hand, things to avoid are out of sight and out of mind.  Those lights, as archaic as they were, gave us a few more wondrous hours of riding, and a few more memories.

I went to college and my brother took a job in Boston, ending the best year of mountain biking I ever had, the year was 1996.

Earlier this year, I started road riding with the Pequot Cyclists, who took me in and made me feel most welcome.  We stayed on the road, and until Tim W invited me on a mountain bike ride a few weeks ago, I didn’t realize they ever ventured off road.  I have been itching to ride my Sola, and was pumped to join them, only to find myself in the same position as I was twenty-five years ago:  anxious to extend the good times with friends, but in need of a light to do so.

Lights the size of a half burned stogie are three times as powerful as the batteries I used to use, and last hours longer.  Models with batteries large enough to attach to your bike, or to put in a jersey pocket, offer more than a thousand lumens.  Night riding is better than it has ever been, and because of that, I get to spend more time with my new friends.  There is still a learning curve, and I am still very much in it, but the thrill is the same.  I had forgotten how much more you can hear when your sight is restricted, it’s eery.  I also forgot how much tighter the bond between you and your fellow riders gets.  We ride closer together, and stop to regroup more frequently.  We speak quieter, and listen more intently.  When the road rides end, we get a coffee.  When the night rides end, we get a beer, and bond over craft beer.  I am lucky to have found a group who appreciates night riding and all of the extras that go along with it.

DCIM101GOPRO

 If you haven’t purchased a light in a while, you are in for a treat.  The basics are as follows:

Cost:  More affordable than ever.

Weight:  Lighter than ever.

Batteries:  Lighter and smaller than ever.

Charge times:  Shorter than ever.

Lumens:  Bright as day.

Burn time:  3 hours plus.

 If you are interested in getting a new light this year, let us know, we can discuss how much power you might need, which model is most practical, and order them for you when ready. High quality lights, bright enough for riding off road at night, start around $100 and fit on helmets or handlebars with ease.

Don’t let the lack of light shorten your time with friends.