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Good idea or not?
I ride at night to try and keep my fitness up and not to get "speed thrills". I generally ride a local blue trail but my wife thinks I am mad (not sure if this is mountain biking in general or riding alone at night - probably both) but I always tell her which route and what time I will be back
Done it - mainly on cheeky trails in some frankly silly conditions. Solo Night Snow Ride anyone?
Being out by yourself with just deer, owls, etc for company, getting to the top of the biggest hill in the Charnwood Alps and looking out over Civilisation* and having a nip from the hipflask is ace.
Just be careful, take extra clothing/snacks/spares.
Having your phone ping your location to family isn't the worst idea either.
*well, Leicester.
Fine if you have the right Kitt.
You are never alone on a night ride............
I've been doing it for years - well, ever since the first semi-decent lights came out. It felt a bit odd at first, then I'd gradually start encountering other folk with the same idea.
Riding right through the night and seeing the sun rise is also an amazing feeling.
I do it, but i stay in less riskier, more travelled areas, and take a it a bit easier.
It's a great experience, only time you really get to see all of the wildlife
Night riding is great fun, it feels way faster than day riding but probably is half the speed. Love the anticipation of dips in the trail that look like deep pools of darkness but in reality are only shallow. Sometimes I'll ride trails better at night, especially technical ones, because your can't see the hazards at the side of the trail.
You could try joining a local group ride, check out your local cycling club or Facebook, but if you're set on solo rides then you can set your phone up to share your location that your partner could track, you can also do this in Garmin & Strava if you have subscribed.
Stick to your regular routes and right within your abilities and I'm sure you'll be fine. Oh and good lights help, ideally a flood type light on the bars and a more focused beam type light on the helmet.
It's fine. You are leaving a route/timings and not pushing your limits, so all good. Owls are awesome at night, especially when they silently do a close pass over you. Amazing.
Having your phone ping your location to family isn’t the worst idea either.
True, though when I moved to Aviemore I actually used a Spot tracker due to the lack of signal.
And just remember to ignore 'the fear' when the hair stands up the back of your neck with the feeling that someone is right behind you, I'm sure there is no one there...... mostly.
Its fine, I used to do this all the time and I'm a terrible mountain biker. Life's for living and sitting on the couch all the time will also kill you, just much more slowly.
I have google trusted contacts on my phone so if my wife wakes up at 2am and Im still not back she can request my location
Been doing it for years and haven't died yet. Only ever hit the one deer and owls screeching like banshees only mildly terrify me now. Much prefer riding in company at night, as there's someone to share the whisky with, but beggars can't be choosers as they say.
I just use it to justify buying really expensive lights as a "safety measure" .
And try to avoid the dogging carparks, unless you're into that sort of thing. I'm not sure who was more surprised when our Tuesday night gravel ride burst out the woods amidst a busy carpark.
Reminds me of this 🙂
And try to avoid the dogging carparks, unless you’re into that sort of thing. I’m not sure who was more surprised when our Tuesday night gravel ride burst out the woods amidst a busy carpark.
I once rode past the same couple twice, kudos to them both for the stamina!
You are never alone on a night ride…………
+1
There's nothing in the woods at night that wasn't there in the daylight, it's just that it's now awake and hungry.
I do it, but i stay in less riskier, more travelled areas, and take a it a bit easier.
It’s a great experience, only time you really get to see all of the wildlife
I prefer road riding alone at night, figure the mad axe murderers are hiding in the woods waiting for you lot. Prefer one other with me off road
I prefer road riding alone at night, figure the mad axe murderers are hiding in the woods waiting for you lot.
But axe murderers tend to drive to the woods to axe-murder, and they'll pass you on a long and lonely highway, all lit up like a neon target....
(That's why we don't get axed into little pieces, they're busy dealing with you.)
I used to do it loads pre kids, 5 nights a week around the local trails in all conditions - just take it easy and ride familar trails. I'd ridden these routes hundreds and hundreds of times. You need to know the trails exceptionally well as you can't see far ahead and everything looks very different -
I got completely freaked out on one ride, kept hearing a sound like someone was chasing me, every time I stopped and looked around there was nothing there. Later on after numerous stops realised I had a small branch with dead leaves jammed in the rear derailer which was dragging along the forest floor as I pedalled making a rustling sound. fun times
Take your own axe. The chances of there being two axe murderers in the woods are slim to none.
Why would you need an emergency blanket in a knocking shop?
Don't kink shame me.
Drac
Full Member
Fine if you have the right Kitt
Brilliantly done ?
Been doing it for years. Since kids, night rides are my main outlet. Agree with the comment above; feels faster, and sometimes makes the trails easier as you don't see half the distractions that often try to take you down.
Not met the axeman yet!
Not met the axeman yet!
It's werewolves that spook me, and tonight is our regular night ride and tonight is a full moon. Actually it's tomorrow, but it will look full enough tonight to fool a partially sighted werewolf!
Fine if you have the right Kitt
Deserves applause.
There’s nothing in the woods at night that wasn’t there in the daylight, it’s just that it’s now awake and hungry.
Not as hungry as me, usually.
Honestly, I don't even think of it as a risky thing. But I do stick to places I know really well.
I'm a big fan, and really need to do more night riding - alone or otherwise. I think the mouse in the Gruffalo said it best "I'm the scariest creature in this wood"... But I do admit to frequent attacks of the fear, particularly if it's a really quiet night and the sound of my own breathing could easily be that of someone following... Although so far it never has been!
Carrying a spare warm jacket and hat in case of a walk home, shared location on Google maps, Strava or WhatsApp and a flask of hot drink in the bag all work well for me too.
If you have a Garmin or Garmin connect on your phone activate the crash notification.
Someone will tell you they once ran over a leaf and the bump set it off.
I crashed heavily on Sunday and thought I'd broken my leg. It was on a wooden bridge. It's a route I ride in the dark and alone. If I had broken my leg as badly as feared there's no way I'd have been ina state to contact anyone but at least Mrs 100th could have started the life assurance claim.
Ride at night all the time, dont vary trails, just do what i do. I tell Mrs SSS where im going and use Strava Beacon so she can see where i am upto if solo, and Garmin crash alert.
I send Mrs STR a Strava Beacon too for every ride I do so she can see where I am at any point in the ride
I've done it a fair bit too. When the kids were young it was the only chance for a bike ride!
I'd generally ride an off-road route from home that me and my OH know well, so if fell off and wasn't home on time, she'd ring the emergency services. I think...
Honestly, I don’t even think of it as a risky thing. But I do stick to places I know really well.
Long ramble coming up....
Like plenty on here I've been night-riding since before decent lights were a thing. After a while it's just something you do and you forget that it used to scare you. However, there are places I feel safe and some that make me uneasy - could be all sorts of logical reasons but a very small number of places don't feel ok in the dark.
An illogical example, there is a hill near here that I've been using for all sorts of things since I was a boy. I know every inch of it. My bedroom window when I was about 8 faced this hill and I have a distinct memory of my brother and I playing in our room facing that window and seeing a bigfoot type thing striding along the hill, dwarfing the low trees around it. I always put it down to childhood exaggeration, even when about 12 years ago my brother, unprompted, mentioned the same event. We had probably seen someone walking through the trees and egged each into believing it was a giant yeti. A little before my brother mentioned this event, I was riding up there with a friend, a GP, and he was spooked by a glass bottle being launched at him. Probably kids or druggies, was my response. Odd that we didn't hear any other movement, see lights, or hear conversation or laughter.
Then, one day more recently, one of my kids mentioned the bigfoot on the hill. When I pressed her, she looked sheepish and said it was something to do with the 'pawprint' on the side, an old quarry which you could see from their school. The same school I went to many years ago. So, some sort of tale passed down from person to person, even though I don't remember anyone in school ever saying anything about it? I'm still puzzled about why my kids would refer to a bigfoot - they aren't exactly a modern thing. And, let's assume something lived up there, where? It's not a huge place! So many questions!
Anyway, I still go up there in the dark, but, irrationally, it is somewhere I wouldn't wildcamp.
I ride out mostly on my own and night rides are no different.
My rides are gravel over ‘t Pennine moors on trails I know very well and are not “technical”
I’ve seen badgers, deer, owls, stoats, foxes and a few folk……. ahem at it when off trail dropping into a bomb hole (easy please at the back)
20 years in and every night ride is as fun as the first.
You will freak yourself out, remember years ago getting most of the way up Glentress and looking around the valley to see pitch blackness all around without another set of lights in sight. Talked myself into it being too dangerous and took the blues down as slow as possible. Was pretty much at the bottom when I saw multiple groups heading up, I was just sharp out before the rush and missed a great night for it. Having people expecting you or a text is a great settler for me and normally shuts my brain up!
However, it is much nicer when riding on the turbo clicks like it has for me this year as there is no safety, driving, cleaning or bike maintenance to worry about!
Riding alone through crisp snow, lit up by a bright moon, is one of the best feelings ever. Even if I'm out with a group, I'll usually slow down and ride tail-end Charlie for the opportunity of that peacefulness.
I do, since moving house I've not found a regular mid week group to ride with so just go on my own. It's lovely being out in the countryside in the dark on a clear night.
As for riding in scary places, I ride regularly through several places that should be spooky yet feel totally fine, which makes me think that ghosts are something that your brain creates when either tired or stressed.
Some of these 'spooky' sites are:
- Rive Avon path and Kettlestoun Mains where the Battle of Linlithgow Bridge took places where an estimated 3,000 died.
- Muiravonside country park graveyard, the graveyard is tiny but the trail goes right through the middle of it.
- Abercorn Graveyard, the path used go through the corner of the graveyard of an 11th century church, complete with skull & crossbones tombstones
- Callendar estate, Falkirk, where the battle of Falkirk took place and William Wallace was defeated, with an estimated 4,000 died.
And various other abandoned industrial areas including mines, brick works, steel works etc where there must have been work related fatalities, and I've never experienced anything paranormal.
Loads. With the awesomeness of new lights I didn't tend to bother much about whether it was early or late. Set off to do various Munros on the evening of many family holidays. 7pm " I'm off up Being a Bhuird dear, don't panic till 01:00 at least"
Not so much spooky, but places I avoid at night for various reasons. One is a a tough climb that then leads past a gated old house. Fine in the day, although a guard dog tends to rush to the gate. At night, it's the same, but you know the gate is shut, until one night it wasn't. Clearly from the sound, the dog was getting close, so I gave it the beans to get away. Then my headlight failed, so I was on bar light only. This didn't help as I then couldn't turn around to see how close the beast was. So it was a long flat sprint then a singletrack downhill. Only once on the downhill did I think I had dropped the dog, but couldn't let up as I didn't know if it was still going.
In reality, I suspect the dog was easy to drop being a big guard dog type unit. But at night, and down to one light, my mind ran away with itself and had a dog on my wheels for a huge distance.
Yeah, it's fantastic. I'd rather night ride alone than as part of a group for the stillness and focus. Deep midwinter nights are fantastic. Or those moist summer ones when the air explodes with smells. I've never found it any more scary that riding in daylight, but it has that amazing 'attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion' vibe pretty much straight out of your front door.
Ride within the limits of your own ability and sanity and you'll be fine. I don't do any high-tech beacon stuff, though perhaps I should. It feels a bit like putting a GPS tracker on a cat.
But basically yes, do it.
I think I will give it a go tomorrow. It should be clear sky and a full moon.
Only thing I need to look out for are the wild boar. Ok during the day but they have very poor eyesight so I could be on top of them before either party realises!!
Yeah, no need for the question mark in my eyes. Only ever night ride alone, and have done it from times before I had decent lights. Off road is the best as it's peaceful and exciting. I find road less interesting as you're just in this slightly monotonous tunnel of light, and the biggest danger is other road users - though decent lights seem to slow people down well!
I've never felt creeped out or scared at night, I really enjoy it and find it nice and quiet, but also full of wildlife experiences and lovely skies. As others have said, the best night rides are crisp cold nights, and it's great to just stop, switch off your lights and drink it in. I never bother with GPS location tracking either, just stick to local trails I know well and don't overdo it.
I've given up night riding on my own.
"What was that noise" gets freaked out. Clearly a rabbit. Next noise also clearly a rabbit. Again - crow. Again deer, again branch......
Until I get completely freaked out and head home swearing only to night ride in a group.
There was an assault with an axe on my local night ride wood, although on a motorbiker.
I've done loads of night riding, road and off road, although these days, as I'm commuting, I don't go back out after I get home - although much of my route can be down dark off road routes.
My biggest issue locally is scallywags. You don't know if they are just out having a sneaky splif, or indeed out to rob you for your bike - had both these instances in the last few weeks - nearly got robbed (smashed through them) and then another group, totally in the dark, but my big lights picked them up, were just having a smoke.
Has great fun with some mates, we used to 'lead' the rides based where each of us lives - just not done it for a while as we are all riding to work, and a bit knackered after.
Not bothered about real wild life, it's just the human sort being on the edge of urban areas.
Had one ride where the four of us suddenly appeared into a clearing and there was a big group of lads on Sur-rons. They were more shocked than us as we appeared from no-where and said 'coming through' and just charged through.
I used to ride most Thursday nights on Cannock Chase with a group who were all much younger than me. So at some point I would peel off with a "see you at the pub" so they could have a belt around without me holding them back.
Sometimes, especially if it was a moonlit night, I would turn my lights off, wait about 10 minutes for my night vision to develop* and set off down one of the main paths which, being gravel as opposed to grass, were quite visible.
It was great - the deer grazing and drinking in the streams paid absolutely no notice as I rode gently between them. Unless it was rutting season, in which case their lion-like roars would warn me off. However one night I heard what I think was the shot of a poacher's gun - a lamper. I turned my lights on pretty sharpish and rode off quickly, not wishing to be mistaken for a fat juicy bit of venison.
*night vision, I discovered, is the process of the dominant cones in our eyes (responsible for colour perception and not good at all in low light) reluctantly handing over to the largely monochrome rods which work much better. It takes a good few minutes for the cones to get fed up and they'll leap into action again in a (literal) flash.
Historically I've found it always wiser to ride with at least 1 slower mate. Psycho-Axe-Murderer-take-the-himdmost and all that.
I think I will give it a go tomorrow. It should be clear sky and a full moon.
Tonight was clear
Good idea or not?
Used to do it all the time as i generally always rode alone anyway, mostly around Kirroughtree red/black as the stars up on top of talnotry hill were awesome, another fav was up cairnmore of fleet or out into the Galloway hills. Always carried a space blanket/whistle/lighter in my jacket/back pocket just in case. And a small petzl type head torch for emergencies.
There was a thread on here years ago about the worst song for solo night rides.
I think it was “Come to daddy”.
I've been doing night rides on my own several times a week for 15 years now. Nothing too weird, yet. I find it's helpful not to watch horror movies. Random temperature changes are a bit creepy. Usually seems to be canals and other waterways responsible.
I did* it occasionally in BC, Canada.
Solo, "North Shore" double black trails in the snow - what a rush!
Luckily, the trails are pretty close to civilization, have phone signal and, generally, there are enough other mountain bikers or trail runners or dog walkers around that you're likely to be found quite quickly if something goes wrong (particularly if you go out early enough ie as soon as it's dark).
As others have said, on some trails, the darkness actually helps as you don't get distracted by "features" outside your immediate field of vision.
I have also done lots of solo rides in bear (and cougar) country as well - though bears hibernate for winter so the combination of bears AND snow doesn't happen 😉
(*I'm far too much of a coward to do anything so risky these days)
And just remember to ignore ‘the fear’ when the hair stands up the back of your neck with the feeling that someone is right behind you, I’m sure there is no one there…… mostly.
Yes in woods I'm more spooked at night and always looking over my shoulder, daft really, but riding the bike at night is one of life's pleasures.
Round here.
If I go for a long night ride I can get scared shitless by some big cats. Not the ones in the daily heil where there is an obvious height clue in a tree protector or, most recently, the stubble in the field which shows its a a hefty house cat but the real thing. Happily the damn things are in cages at the zoo.
Closer to home the peacocks at a local farm can be rather freaky as can the muntjacs barking away sounding like the hound of the baskervilles.
A layby which leads to a not bad singletrack section has happily been barricaded off so I feel safe riding it without meeting the local doggers. Once was more than enough
For years, off & on road. just take it a bit easier & not too wild.
My wife & kids track me on Life360 - free version, never had a problem just nice & steady.
"Winter miles, Summer smiles"
Thanks tall_martin, I solo night ride in Bestwood, never heard about that although there's a couple of dodgy estates around the park. I was gonna say it never bothers me but maybe it will now. Will have to see next time I go