A more cheerful reflection on Autumnal cycling.

Along with cooler weather, Autumn brings other changes. For example, it's darker longer.

Bicycle/bicyclist illumination is an often misunderstood topic. The government's Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) requirements for bicycles are laughable. The side-visible spoke reflectors are useless, and the front and rear reflectors are not much better. I do happen to like the pedal reflectors bikes are supposed to come with, but that are too often deleted at delivery. The up-and-down pattern the pedal reflectors make is surprisingly visible to an overtaking motorists, and always communicates to me that there is a cyclist ahead (long before my headlights illuminate the rider). Most higher-end pedals lack these reflectors. That's a bad thing.

Headlights serve two purposes. First, they SHOULD illuminate the road in front of you (some are so pathetically powered that they're doing good to even illuminate your front tire), and the speed you ride plays an important factor here. In darkness, I like my headlight to illuminate the road for two seconds ahead of me: one second to recognize the open manhole, another second to maneuver my escape. The faster I ride, the more power I require. I'm needing less power now than I used to.

Secondly, they tell people you're coming. Back in the very early 1980s, when I was young and stupid (as opposed to now being old and dumb), I was on an autumnal pre-dawn ride in East Dallas (commuting back to my house from my girlfriend's house, I believe), wearing blue jeans, a navy turtleneck sweater and a watch cap. I passed through an unlit, tree-covered residential intersection heading south (Alderson at Llano, perhaps), when another cyclist going east came out of nowhere. Both of us were moving pretty fast, and we JUST missed each other. Neither of us had any lights. We were like Ninja cyclists in the dark, and we darn near took each other out. We were lucky (if you believe in luck).

So if the first purpose of a headlamp is to illuminate your path, the equally important second purpose of a bicycle headlight is to let others know you are coming their direction.

But I believe that reflectors and reflectorized accessories and clothing are even more important than head lights and tail lights. A good S.A.E. (Society of Automotive Engineers) approved reflector sends more light back to a following car than does all but the most expensive bicycle lighting. The picture of two of my bikes above shows rear led blinky lamps, CPSC approved reflectors, reflective material on bags, and S.A.E. reflectors from the auto parts store. The best one of the bunch is the 4" diameter reflector I've attached to the rack on the bike on the left.

With the exception of one blinky light, all of the lights and reflectors on these bikes have been attached with zip ties and plumber's straps. For some bizarre reason, the bicycle industry is moving away from the universal mouthing brackets they use to use for rear lights and reflectors to new styles that aren't very adaptable. Plus, just try and find a big reflector at a bike shop.

(Note: As is mentioned in the Comments Section below, the reflectors appear to be amber, they are all red, with the exception of the white on the panniers. The flash was reflected back with such intensity the camera was fooled.)

When I ride at dark, I also wear a safety lime-green mesh vest with wide stripes of 3M reflective tape. I am visible to both overtaking and approaching motorists, and with my helmet and vest, I look like a construction worker in the roadway, which is a bonus. Why is that good? Because the motorist's brain will issue an alert to be prepared for road construction. PsyOps is a cyclist's friend.

You don't need to be afraid of the dark when riding your bicycle, and you don't need to spend $500 for lighting, either (although if you can, that's cool!). You can easily make sure you can both see and can be seen.

Please do it.