Balada Seorang Suami Mountainbiker Jalanan

Ride To Work : The Solutions Part 3 - Cycling at night

Sometimes i might need to ride to the office during night time coz my work involves supporting US customer due to the different time zone. Here night ... but in US it should be their office hours in daylight. So since i'm one of the frequent commuter riding to the office at night, i thought it would be nice to share with all the local riders on what are the things that is crucial for riding at night.

I love riding at night, riding at night can be an enjoyable as riding during the daylight but it takes more awareness when riding at night. You need to remember visibility is vital at all times.

So what are the things that you usually needs when riding at night.

• LIGHTS
  
  

If you ride at night, by law a continuous white light at the front and a red light at the rear Basically a normal white flashlight will do ussually will cost less than 20 ringgit and for the rear light, will cost you RM2 each(Having trouble finding it? do contact me or leave a message) .

If you have a budget you might want to invest in a decent flashlight such as cateye or other branded flashlight

But If you are looking for a budget flashlight like i did, you can refer to my previous entry on Cheap Solutions Riding at night

A tip for riding at night in traffic is to aim the front light at the eye level of the car drivers to maximise your chance of being seen but if you are not in traffic, aim the light beam lower to illuminate ground ahead of your bike.

• REFLECTORS
  
  

Folded the vest and pinned to the bag as the reflector

Add a reflective panels to your clothing or your equipment such as bag,helmet, your bike when you dress for night biking. As for me i will stick the rear lights on my bag and also put the reflector from the vest. You can find the reflector vests from any local store cost you around 3-4 ringgit.Apart from that you can always buy a reflective stickers from a motorbike shop or any local hardware store.For me, i stick it on my double wall rim... to me it is crucial since cars and motorcycles will ussually notice when im crossing any junction.

using the reflective stickers

• HIGH VISIBILITY CLOTHING

Different types of reflective vests to choose from

Its better to ride at night by wearing clothes that are light in color such as white,yellow or light gray. Try to avoid wearing dark clothes which make you nearly invisible to car drivers.You can even ride with reflective vest that way you stay visible at night.

• ALWAYS ALERT

Be always Alert at all times. Number one rule is to cycle defensively. Always watch out for walkers, joggers, other cyclist and cars. Make sure that they know you're there. BE PREPARED!! - at night cars approaching with their headlights on high beam might dazzle you so try to avoid it.

Other things to consider, watch your shadow.. if you are approached by a car from behind, if you shadow does not start to move to the left as the car approaches, move your bike to the left.

if you have any other ideas, feel free to comment i'll add up to the article.