6 Answers

• Reputation: 115 Q&A: 0 0 4 37 2 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 emor

  3 0 I doubt it's intrinsically unsafe to ride on those trails in the dark. The reason that you didn't see anyone else riding is because most people prefer not to ride in the cold, wet, and dark Seattle winter. Understandable. Regarding mugging, it's probably not a super serious issue (especially on the east side and on Mercer Island). HOWEVER, I have heard several stories about people being mugged or otherwise threatened in the vicinity of the I-90 tunnel. I have personally ridden through that tunnel at night many times and have not had any issues, but there is definitely a risk present. One option would be to avoid the tunnel and ride up to 31st, turn right, and then take a left onto Jackson and take that all the way to downtown. In any case, I would avoid the part of the trail that goes through the park west of MLK, even if you do ride through the tunnel. I would jog north onto MLK, despite the extra hill. All you really need to be safe on those trails is good lights. If you're serious about commuting this time of year, you really need to invest in quality lights. Skip the cheap little ones you see at the bikeshop. The best, and most expensive, option is a "Dynohub" lighting system. This system includes a special wheel with a hub that generates electricity. You attach a light that is typically MUCH BRIGHTER than any battery light you can easily buy in the states. You can find cheaper Chinese or Taiwanese dynohubs and lights, but the best stuff is German made. Schmidt and Busch & Muller are two excellent lighting companies and their products are of the absolute highest quality. These lights will allow you to ride at night with ease. They are often designed to allow you to do things like descend mountain passes at 40mph in the middle of the night. Thus, adequate for commuting! There are also high powered battery systems that throw out a lot of light. Niterider, Dinotte, etc. My issue with these is that while super, super bright they have a tendency to blind others due to their unsophisticated optics. Ever been blinded on the bike trail by another commuter? Probably he had one of these bright lights, which shine just as much light up as down. As such, I personally use a B&M Ixon IQ battery light. Pretty spendy at $140 from Peter White Cycles, but it is designed to send most of its light at the ground, where you need it. The difference between the Ixon and all the other battery lights I've used is remarkable. I suspect it is the best battery powered light available! emor answered in Bicycles about 1 year ago | Report 2 comments by emor and drpvd… 0 0 What I meant to say was "Jog north to Jackson." emor commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 I agree with the Busch & Müller Ixon light, great one from what I have read. You can search for Peter's site -great information there drpvd commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 6000 Q&A: 113 0 11 4226 721 3 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 6 Fnarf

  2 1 All I can say is, wear bright clothing and get a good light. Bright clothing, especially in Seattle weather, means YELLOW RAINGEAR. You might be surprised at how warm just raingear, with just your ordinary clothing underneath, can be on a bike. I used to ride all winter in Boston, which is ten times colder and snowier than here, with rarely as much as a sweater under my good rain jacket and pants (I wore a balaclava, gloves and booties, of course). Good light means high intensity motorcycle-style light, with a separate battery pack. I used to keep a battery pack charging at both home and work, switching off. The thing was heavy and annoying but it WORKED. This was ages ago; they make much lighter and smaller ones now. But I'm serious: anything less than, say, 200 lumens is just not enough. Those little blinky things are especially worthless; cars can't really tell where you are, especially if you're wearing black. Blinky lights are also seriously irritating to drivers. I wouldn't put a blinky even on the rear. NiteRider makes awesome lights up to 1500 lumens. So does CygoLite and Light and Motion. Good lights are expensive, but your life is worth it; if you're spending less than $200 you're not getting good enough lights. Fnarf answered in Bicycles about 1 year ago | Report 3 comments by dwight moody, Fnarf, and Mr. Happy Sunshine… 0 0 " Blinky lights are also seriously irritating to drivers. I wouldn't put a blinky even on the rear." The point is to be noticed, and if it takes annoying the drivers, then fine. Blinking lights are MUCH more noticable, and the only reason to have a rear light is to help drivers not run over you. Plus a blinky in the rear is required by law. I rock 120 Lumens up front and have no problem averaging 15mph on the Burke in the dark. I wouldn't want to have any less light. dwight moody commented about 1 year ago | Report 1 0 The reason they're irritating is because you can't really see them. You can't get a fix on exactly where you are, which in Seattle's crazy street network is extremely important to know. What lane are you in? Are you heading up thataway or thisaway? A blinkie doesn't give a driver ANY of that information; it just says "there's something, possibly a bike, somewhere vaguely off to your left up ahead, dunno how far, who may or may not be in your roadway and may or may not be entering or leaving it, or something, I can't tell". Especially when you're wearing black clothes. A steady light gives steady information that can be tracked and understood. It needs to be BRIGHT, though. Motorcycle bright. Really: motorcycle bright, if you want to live. This has nothing to do with you being able to see the road (that's what streetlights are for) and everything to do with making drivers SEE YOU. REALLY see you. Which is hard enough even during the day. You're not running up against cars on the Burke like you are on Stone Way, which has some deeply crazy intersections that are difficult enough even in daylight. Plenty of other streets like that here, too. God bless the grid, but we don't have that much of it. Fnarf commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Less than $200? Easy. Check out geomangear.com for BikeRay and MagicShine LED setups. The 900 lumen MagicShine is about $120. I use mine for daily commuting and MTB night-riding in horrible winter conditions all the time with few problems. The helmet mount is better for trail, but handlebar mounted is way safer for street so that you're not high-beaming drivers. Mr. Happy Sunshine commented 11 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 Do they still sell mechanical generators that power your front light and blinking rear light based upon your pedal power? A great invention! O my captain answered in Bicycles about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I will leave the technical equipment details and route advice to the experts that have already posted. My thought is just to add that you should have a well charged cell phone with you and even take the precaution of having someone know when you are in transit and expected home so that if something unforeseen happens (even just a ride terminating equipment breakdown) that folks will be looking out for you or come to get you. Russ Campbell, NWEBS answered in Bicycles about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by inquisitive206… 0 0 I recently found an iPhone app called Glympse which could be used to do this very thing. You can 'share' your location with any number of users who can then 'follow' you virtually on the map. You determine how long to 'share' your signal, and you can even program it to message user(s) when you reach a predetermined location. Seems it could be useful here (if you have an iPhone). inquisitive206 commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I recommend riding the route while it's light a few times, like an expert rally driver pacing the course, perhaps on a weekend outing, and be mindful of irregular dips or gaps in the trail, places where water may accumulate, where unscrupulous people may hang out, where other trails merge, etc, so that on the first nocturnal adventure, you've best-prepared. You don't want to get a needless pinch-flat or other mechanical breakdown because you weren't aware of the trail features. inquisitive206 answered in Bicycles about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 0 Q&A: 0 0 0 0 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 Keith Newham

  0 0 Acknowledging the answers below, there are some basics here worth mentioning - if you want to significantly improve your safety on trails, definitely do what you can to travel with a partner. This doesn't have to be a regular coordination - could be as simple as waiting for the next cyclist to come along your same route and politely ask them if they don't mind sticking together for a duration of the ride. The second thing is minimize the potential costs, are to not carry anything valuable with you. This doesn't improve safety but it better than losing a number of valuables such as laptop etc. Other security improvements include carrying mace in a convenient location. I don't mean to concern anyone here, but I grew up in a large European city as well as living in some rough parts of San Francisco. Even painting my bicyle to be less 'fancy' looking after an encounter in SF where someone tried to steal the bicycle. We're in good shape here in general in Seattle compared to those other places. Be seen, see where you're going, travel in numbers where possible, and don't carry anything of value. And of course, be aware of your surroundings helps too :-) Hope that helps. Keith Newham answered in Bicycles about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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