Last week, we were playing outside and it was dark,
street-light-necessary dark, by five o’clock. I know this happens every year,
but this year it seems like winter darkness caught me off guard. But not
anymore; I am geared up and ready to go.
Riding a bike during the winter nights takes some planning
and forethought. Not much, but the time I spend preparing for winter evening
rides is time I have spent keeping my family and me safe. Night riding is different than tooling around the neighborhood with kids. During the winter, you
have several variables working against you. You have earlier nights, so what
you used to ride in daylight, may now be shrouded in black. You have less
amicable weather—cold, windy, rain, and then some more rain. You have people
that are more tired as they drive or bike around the city.
PLAN: To start, I think about my routes. Often I am in a
place where I know the best route, one that is low on traffic, has bike
lanes, and is well lit, but when I do not know the best route, I reach for my free bike maps (download from the Cascade Bicycle Education Foundation). When I have my kids with me, it is even more
important that I not wing a ride.
After folding (and refolding) the map a until it folds up
correctly, I head for the streets with my sons. My eldest son does not ride his
own bike at night. All three jump in the box of my bakfiets.
LIGHTS: In Portland, it is required by law that cyclists
have a front bike light and rear reflector. My bakfiets comes with a front and
back light run by a generator. I also use several
blinkies on the milk crate on
my bike rack. These lights are red. In addition, I have two
repurposed clear cups with several multi-colored LEDs on the inside, hooked to the side
of my milk crate. These look like turbo boosters and make me visible from the
side.
Another way I increase my visibility is to make eye-contact
with drivers when I come to traffic lights. In this way, I will know that the
driver knows I exist. It also increases the positive interactions between
bicyclist and driver,
seeing eye-to-eye.
REFLECTIVE DODADS: In my wheels I have little, kid-shaped
reflectors
, as well as the circular reflectors that came with my
bike. I wear a yellow vest with reflective orange stripes. The reflective sidewalls on my wheels are great for being seen from the side. My helmet has
reflective material. Other options that I have seen that work well are
reflective material on panniers, reflective stripes on backpacks and messenger
bags, and reflective stickers on helmets or fenders. In the end, my goal is to be
seen. I am not worried about how hip I look. To my kids, we are awesome.
We may be a few steps down from the carnival lighting of
bicycles during the
Portland Night Ride, but we are surely many steps up from
being an unseen bicyclist at night.
Maybe you have a bicyclist friend who could use a little
lighting up in this new year.
- Read the adventures of The Wheel American Family by clicking the blog name above.
- Use a coupon at a local bike store for lights and other safety gear. Save $5, $10 or more.
- How do you travel? Download our Travel Diary to calculate the cost and time of your commute options.
- Read our biking resources on pages 38-39 of Chinook Book. We suggest: