Just because the sun is setting a little earlier doesn’t mean you need to shorten your bike ride. But it does mean you need to equip your bike and yourself with the right gear to stay safe while riding after dark. Take a glance at our list of tips for biking at night, and then get out there and ride to your heart’s content!
1. Use Lights
The number one thing you need for riding after sunset (although it’s recommended to use them all of the time) is bike lights. Cycling lights ensure you can see what’s out in front of you while riding after dark. They also make sure you are visible to pedestrians, other cyclists, drivers, and even the occasional animal that may cross your path. A combination of front and rear lights should be employed after dark, and there are a wide variety of patterns and lumen powers to suit your particular terrain and ambient lighting situation.
Here are our bike light recommendations for safe nighttime riding:
- TO BE SEEN – Front and Rear Flashing Notification Lights (aka Blinkers or Flashers)
You’ll want to equip your bike with front and rear flasher lights. Having a light in flashing mode makes it easier for drivers to differentiate you from static street lights and ensures everyone along your route can see you coming.
Your front flasher, which is typically a white light, can be mounted on your handlebars. Your rear flasher, which should be a red light, can be mounted to the back of your helmet, your jersey pocket, backpack, seat, or any other visible rear location. Some folks wear multiple flashing lights to increase their visibility.
- TO SEE – Front (Static) Light
In addition to your front flashing notification light, you’ll also need to have a static front white light (required by law) that shines brightly so you can see where you’re riding to avoid any obstacles along your path, especially when biking at night.
In cycling, light brightness is measured in lumens. How many lumens do you need? To stand out in traffic and ensure you can see your path easily, we recommend a minimum of 650 lumens up to a max of 1,200. If you opt for a light with a high lumen count, be sure to tilt it downwards slightly so that it’s not directly in the oncoming driver’s eye line. Many lights come with multiple brightness settings and flash modes, so you can adjust in response to your riding conditions.
To learn more about bike lights, check out this blog.
2. Have Reflectors on Your Bike
Just like bike lights, reflective gear simply increases your chance of being seen when riding in the dark. Many bikes come with reflectors on the front handlebar, rear seatpost, wheel, and pedals. However, it’s common to lose reflectors over time. Double-check your bike still has all of its reflectors and consider adding reflective strips on the tire sidewalls for even more visibility. Remember, though: reflectors are generally insufficient visibility aids for nighttime riding on their own, so they need to be used in conjunction with front and rear lights.
3. Get Reflective Bike Clothing
There are reflective cycling jerseys, jackets and vests, gloves, pants/tights, and more designed to make you even more visible while you’re out riding at night. You can even purchase reflective stickers that you can place on your apparel and accessories to increase your safety. Even if you have reliable lights and reflectors on your bike, it’s always smart to increase your visibility after dark as much as possible. Having at least one piece of reflective clothing while you ride ensures that others in the vicinity will be able to see you.
4. Use a Crash Sensor and Smart Helmet
A sensor that has your back just in case and a helmet that calls for help in the event of a crash? That’s right—technological advances are helping to make biking safer for all. The Garmin Varia works to alert cyclists when vehicles are approaching from behind to increase biker awareness. The Specialized ANGI Sensor, meanwhile, detects and reports potentially dangerous helmet impacts to the Specialized Ride app, which notifies your emergency contacts and sends them your most recent GPS coordinates. Learn more about ANGI on our blog here. These are just a few of the technological advancements that make night-riding safer than it’s ever been.
5. Follow Traffic Laws
Remember, a bicycle is still a vehicle, and it must conform to the same traffic laws as any other vehicle on the road. Especially at night, it’s important to obey stop signs, red or yellow lights, yield signs, one-way streets, and so on. Using hand signals to indicate turns and stops is also a wise idea at night. Sure, it may be tempting to cut corners on some of these traffic laws, but following them as closely as possible may be the difference between a safe and enjoyable night ride and an unfortunate accident.
6. Assume Drivers Can’t See You
We get it: when you’re flying along on your bicycle, you feel like you’re on top of the world. But a slight feeling of vulnerability isn’t always a bad thing. Remember, viewing conditions are worse for everyone at nighttime, and some drivers (or cyclists, for that matter) don’t deal well with all the lights, distractions, and sensory inputs that abound on a city street at night. In other words, you should assume that drivers can’t see you and proceed with an abundance of caution.
7. Know Your Route
Nighttime is never the best time to improvise a route or double-check your map: it’s harder to see street signs and obstructions, and you want 100% of your focus to be on the road, not on your phone as you attempt to navigate. So before you ride at night, take a good look at your map and plan out your route in advance. Whenever possible, stick to familiar paths and try not to venture into new areas where you might get lost. We all love exploring on two wheels sometimes, but try to keep your trailblazing to a minimum when it’s after dark.
8. Keep Your Bike Tuned Up
No one likes dealing with a flat tire, loose chain, or other maintenance issue when they’re out for a ride. But that’s especially true at night. Lighting may be limited depending on your location, and even though you may have lights on your bike to help illuminate any repair work you have to do, you don’t want to be stuck “in the wild” having to do an urgent late-night fix. Before you head out for a nighttime ride, make sure your tires are properly inflated, your chain has been lubricated or inspected somewhat recently, and there are no loose parts that could lead to unexpected delays on the road.
9. Ride with Others or Inform Someone You’ll Be Out
The more fellow riders you have on your nocturnal rides, the better. If you get lost, have a maintenance issue, or encounter something worse, you don’t want to be dealing with it yourself. Riding with a team can also help you plan your route and keep each other safe. At the very least, tell a friend that you’ll be riding (and the general area if possible) and try to let them know when you’ve made it back home safely.
Now Ride Off Into the Sunset…
Now that you know how to stay safe while biking at night, scoop up these nighttime riding must-haves at shopERIKS.com or swing by your local store to grab what you need. Then, go explore, by way of your headlight, into the night!
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