Bike Lights

Enjoying Safe Bicycling At Night

by Larry Lagarde

Night riding is a form of cycling I really enjoy. Here in sultry New Orleans, the temperature at night is regularly more comfortable; there's also less auto traffic in the streets and fewer bikes or pedestrians on the bike trail. As a result, the ride is far more enjoyable - but only because I have an intense lighting system that enhances my safety by providing incredible visibility.

I ride with a custom made Luxeon LED lighting system, Hokey Spokes side lights (see photo at right) and several red LED rear lights. With so many lights, I cannot help but draw attention and for the sake of safety, that's just the way I like it. I've been stopped on the bike trail by law enforcement that thought I was a motor vehicle (the officer complimented me on the lighting system and claimed to have seen me from a mile away). When I ride by, kids squeal and adults smile (or even clap). Rather than chase me down, dogs run away from me barking and looking over their shoulders. If only daylight riding was this much fun...

To help others enjoy safe night bicycling, I'm writing a multi-part series on visibility for night riding. In the first segment (coming next weekend), I'll concentrate on bike headlight systems and introduce a great new system from Wayne Johnson (seen at right with one of his custom lights), the lighting guru and machinist extraordinaire at Elektro Lumens.