Last evening I rode on my local bike trail from Milford to Loveland, an 18 mile ride up and back. I started around 7:30 PM and I knew sunset was around 8:50 PM. Learning from last year's crazy ride from Newtown to Yellow Springs, I took some lights with me.
On the way up, the trail was still busy with joggers, dog walkers and cyclists. As I reached Loveland (8:15 PM) the people on the trail became less and less. I was hoping to find some cyclist riding south at Loveland, but no luck. I quickly attached my lights on my Strada's handlebars, put on a light vest (the temperature was dropping to the high 50's) and headed south.
On the way down there were only a handful of people on the trail, mostly riding or walking up north. As the sun started to set it really got darker on the portion of the trail where it's heavily covered by trees. There are a few things that could get a cyclist going faster, one is being chased by a dog and the other is riding at night on a desolate trail.
As the trail started to get darker and darker, my heart beat started to get higher and higher. Fear of the unknown is a great motivator to make you pedal home faster. I started to hear the sounds of the trail much more, such as birds flying or chirping in the woods, dogs barking in the distance and the leaves rustling in the wind. You start to get paranoid of deer running across the path or some loose dog jumping out of the woods coming after you. This is when I wished I had some racing tires instead of touring, just to get that extra speed.
I reached my truck around 9:00 PM. There was still enough daylight for me to not really need my lights, but better safe than sorry. The next time I do a night ride, I'm taking someone with me. Strength in numbers as they say.
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