Thought I'd get this forum started. How many people do we have here that ride at night, and what type lights do you use.

I have an older NiteRider HID. I scored it in a box of NiteRider stuff I bought from a guy off of Craigslist. I have a NR digital something piece of crap that I bought brand new and paid big bucks for, but the one I scored in a box of junk is the best. It's helmet mounted, so what I look at gets lit up.... Big time! When we did the growler ride a week ago, I really got to compare it to some of the newer LED lights. This thing ROCKS! The downside is, the battery weighs a ton. Oh well, I can see!

My tail light is just a cheapo LED AA battery powered thing. It's bright and you just change batteries every couple months.

Mark

I have an old LED headlight that I salvaged off my hard hat at work when the strap broke (goooo, ducttape!), a 3-LED cap light glued to the visor of my bicycle helmet and a Wal-Mart Special red flashing LED taillight (cheap but bright, like Mark's taillight). As long as we're on the subject, does anyone know anything about those Reelights, powered by magnetic induction? I saw one for sale on eBay not long ago, and the idea of frictionless light was a real ...er, turn-on (oy).

Okay, so I bought a Reelight off eBay. I'm waiting for it to arrive, and when I install it I'll post an update.

I installed the Reelight headlight on my EZ SunRay, but the taillight went on my trailer. Tomorrow morning is my first commute with the setup - stay tuned, I'll let y'all know if the blinking Reelight helped or caused a headache - I'm not replacing my other lights, just augmenting them.

I just use the Planet Bike lights. I use the Superflash on the rear and the Blaze 1W on the front. I sometimes supplement these with an older helmet mounted Nightrider. This combination provides me with all of the light I need.

I must admit though there are times when I ride the deserted National Seashore beach roads at night with no lights. A starry moonlit night is really hard to beat.

Walt

Amen to that, bro! A full-moonlit night in the Carolina Pines is gorgeous, too! Of course, I leave the taillight on, just in case a car comes up behind me.

I have Blackburn Voyager 3.3 headlight/Mars 1.0 taillight combos on both my EZ Sport and my Giant Yukon SE MTB.

I also have a Planet Bike headlight and taillight combo; the headlight is mounted on the Giant, the taillight is on the Jandd Rear Rack Pack. So, no matter what bike I'm riding on my early morning commute, with the Rack Pack on, I always have two taillights.

BluesCat

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I ride some crappy streets, so I like all the light I can muster.

Mark

My commuting is done on rural roads - on my way in to work at around 4:30 AM, there have been many days when the grand total of other traffic I encounter along the entire 12 miles is 1 vehicle - sometimes none at all - there's an almost surreal feeling about gliding quietly through the woods on a moonlit night. Very dreamy.

Nightturkey:

Wow.

I have a different, yet also surreal set of feelings on my ride to work beginning at 5:30 AM.

The first mile or so takes me west along a major collector road towards a crosstown freeway, and the quality of the homes and neighborhoods starts to deteriorate rapidly. I, too, see very few cars moving about at this time of day, and all of them are police cruisers.

I then cut northwest for about a half a mile on a paved, multi-use path which runs parallel to an irrigation canal. Yes, it is pretty quiet: only the gurgling of the water in the canal on my right and the puking and coughing sounds of the drunks and vagrants sleeping in the bushes on my left.

I reach the east noise abatement wall of the freeway and turn north. The balance of my eight mile ride to work consists of crossing several collector streets and major arterials while dodging the broken beer and wine bottles and other flotsam thrown out of the crack houses on my right and from speeding automobiles on the elevated freeway on my left.

As I approach my office, I have one, sort of dreamy, activity to accomplish. It consists of attempting to cross a really busy major arterial without getting hit by a car driven by a psychopath who speeds up the second his headlights paint and light up the reflectors on my panniers and spinning wheels. Actually, "nightmare" would be a more appropriate word than "dreamy."

Ahem.

So, tell me: what is job situation like for Network Engineers/Administrators in the Carolinas?

BluesCat

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