Night Ride!

So it was my first ride in a while, the weather was finally nice, no snow, and I decided to try out my new lights.  Here's a quick review I wrote for them.


A few weeks ago I contacted Patrick from BikeRay USA, and asked about ordering a set of lights. He was very helpful and suggested I use the BikeRay-I and the BikeRay-II lights for my type of riding. I used the BikeRay-I on my helmet and the II on my bars. My typical ride is 14 miles of mostly twisty single-track through the forest in Colorado, Falcon Trail specifically. In quick summary, all I can say is WOW, these lights really performed beyond anything I was expecting. 

I received the lights within a week ordering them, and was blown away at the quality of the packaging. Each light came in its own box, with the light itself, a charger, a batter, and a helmet mounting strap with extra mounting equipment for the handlebars. Opening the lights was like opening the perfectly wrapped present on Christmas, nothing better. The batteries came fully charged ready to go, which made my first ride that much better. 





After about 5 minutes of set up on my bike and helmet, I set off for my first night ride of my life. Starting around dusk, I initially had the lights on low mode, which is more than sufficient even for dark cloudy nights like tonight. I did however switch both lights to high about 30 minutes after sundown to see their true potential. Having the wider beam on the bars allowed for better overall coverage, while the light on my helmet with a little narrower beam allowed for easy cornering. Riding the single-track with both lights on high was even too bright at times; I ended up finishing the last half of the ride with the bar light on low. 

Even though this was my first time riding at night, I was very comfortable with everything, especially with these lights. I’d say my “downhill” speed was about 90% of that in the day, while my flat and uphill speeds were 95-100% of daylight’s. Honestly though, these were so bright that on a straight trail, I could see rocks coming from over 50 yards away, just like in the day. I have 20-15 vision and can claim without a doubt that the lights will not be the downfall to your night riding. Because it was my first time, I was a little timid with my riding, but tonight’s ride might have been the best ride of my life. I saw 18 deer, 4 coyotes, 2 baby hooters and a rabbit, non of which would you see in the day. 


Here's the first hooter I saw... haha



Riding at night is a whole new experience, and with these lights selling for around $100 for the lamp and a 4+ hour battery to accompany it, you really can’t go wrong. 

(and sorry about the poor quality pictures, I was my own cameraman tonight)

Pictures don't do justice...






I really wish this one came out better than it did  

Night riding is truly a blast, and while it is easier to get distracted and lose focus, nothing matches the perfect silence that riding in the woods at night does.


Hope everyone's doing well, sorry for the short hiatus from the blog, I'll try to stay on top of it a little more...  Take care!


Matt