It’s September and we’ve lost the daylight in the evenings. The BCC road rides have come to an end because of that, but the weather has remained really warm and dry. The club gravel rides and mountain bike rides have continued because you can trust that the people who take part will have lights.
Last night was my first daylight to darkness ride with the gravel riders. I didn’t do any of them last fall because the weather wasn’t quite so inviting. This ride was out of Millarville and seemed to be 100% uphill, somehow.
The daylight was fading by the time we had crossed the conservancy lands and reached the climb back up from the Road to Nepal/Granary Road area. I had my new light with me that I’d bought in the summer. It was 600 lumens at max brightness, and that was pretty impressive. It was good enough for me to go downhill on gravel without fearing for my life.
After dark, most of the ride was on pavement, but we did have to ford one stream. Only about four inches of water, but it was a thrill.
The most concerning part of the ride happened early. The second downhill was very steep and rough double-track. I was not… comfortable and I guess I had a “deer in the headlights” expression and wasn’t blinking much. When I did blink, both of my contacts were dry and they came out! Not all the way, just on my eyelashes. I managed to stop and put them back in at the trailside. That would have been a complication I didn’t need. I’m a bad enough gravel rider when I can see.
A whole new experience. The group light picture was great.