Summer night rides

Giving yourself the gift of space: Summer night rides

The sun begins to dip below the tree-line in a blaze of orange and the evening breeze draws in the welcome cooler temps that summer evenings are known for. As the surrounding sky darkens, Venus imperceptibly brightens, reflecting the sunlight that now graces the opposite side of our planet. Interestingly, the brightest we ever see our sparkling neighbor is when we view it in its crescent phase because it is then it is closest to Earth in its 584 day synodic journey during which it returns to the same relative positions of sun/Earth/Venus as we careen around the sun. Why? This is because Venus is between us and the sun and disappears completely in its “new phase” and is blocked from our view when in “full” phase; the sun being directly between Earth and Venus during that time period. Summer nights are an ideal time to take a moment to explore the amazing intricate clockwork of space and think about things that both amaze us and terrify us. There are several reliable summer meteor showers to view as our planet passes through the numerous debris fields found along our 584 million mile annual journey around the sun.

(Here is when my brain wonders…584 days for a “month” of Venus phases and 584 million miles for our path around the sun? What is special about 584? Well…not solid on that question, and I am convinced that sci-fi writers got it right when they always bring along a mathematician to communicate with aliens, but I did learn something cool. It takes 8 Earth years for Venus to travel 5 synodic distances (coming back to the same position in space from Earth view) and as we dance through space, Venus appears to move in the sky in a 5-petaled design in space as viewed from Earth: a natural Spirograph in our sky for those patient enough to view and record it for 8 years lol)

The milky-way is also frequently brilliantly visible during summer months. Why is this? Why does this starry splash of nighttime decor only appear periodically? This is due to the fact that we exist on an outside arm of the spiraling Milky Way galaxy and sometimes we face the thin outer edge (October -February), seeing only a few familiar stars, and sometimes we face the brilliant center of the galaxy (March-September) and are viewing space through trillions of stars, many with their own solar systems and their own infinite possibilities of life. It’s all enough to make us feel both very small and also very unique and incredibly grateful that we, as humans have developed an understanding of how we fit into our particular position in space.

Going on a night ride into the woods and taking time to stop, turn off all the lights and appreciate the darkness is a great way to unwind and let yourself become one with the incredible vastness of space and the unimaginable value of our tiny rock hurtling around our galaxy. Today’s smart phones do a great job of capturing the specks of photons that have traveled billions of miles from their varied millions of visible stars. Mind-bending to think that the light being captured by your camera lens has been traveling for up to billions of years.

Some of the light you see is still traveling away from stars that might have been destroyed millions of years ago and some of the black spaces might have light projecting from huge stars that are young enough that their light has not yet reached us. The Andromeda galaxy, easily visible on a summer night, is 2.5 million light years away, meaning that the photons of light traveling to us began around the time that the genus Homo emerged in the evolutionary line. Homo sapiens appeared about 200,000 years ago, enough time for 25,000 Venus flower petals to be traced in the night sky.

Tonight is a great night to get away from the artificial lights and sounds that normally fill our after-work evenings and take a moment to get out and really feel alive. Night rides are a refreshing way to grab onto the last remnants of summer as we ease into fall and winter. What do you need to do a night ride? The most obvious things needed for a night ride are great lights and some hardy companions to come out with you.

If you plan on night riding while mountain biking, you will want to go out prepared- nobody wants to end up hiking out of a trail in the dark! You will want at least two lights-and preferably a spare. You will want a helmet-mounted light to see where you are going to be and to see what it is that’s making those mystery noises in the bushes. You will want a bar-mounted light to see where you currently are, preferably at least 1000 lumens. Outbound Lighting lights are our favorite and are micro-USB rechargeable. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, you need to make sure all your lights are fully charged before you get started. It’s preferable that you travel in groups and keep talking or making noise at night, but if you are alone, be sure you attach a bear bell or some other noise-making device to your bars. Nobody wants to sneak up on and startle a large nocturnal predator, but just in case, carrying a canister of bear spray as a defense is a great idea. If you are traveling in a group, be sure to respect your companions and be aware of where your helmet light beam is facing. When you stop to chat, dim or lower the beam so you don’t temporarily blind others and/or reduce their night vison capability once back on the trail.

If you plan on night riding while road or gravel bike riding, you will really only need to have a handle bar-mounted headlight and a taillight since you will be traveling in relatively straight paths. Use a taillight with a random pattern strobe flash for best visibility towards drivers. Follow the rules of the road, and dim your light or lower the beam when approaching an oncoming vehicle. It might seem unnecessary, but a 1000+ lumen light can blind an oncoming driver and endanger both of you. Outbound Lightning Detour lights have a beam cutoff built into the light so that the beam stays below a driver’s field of view.

Night riding is awesome and gives you a new perspective on your trail, your riding capabilities and you connection with your natural surroundings. Try night riding on dark moonless nights for the full light-tunnel experience and try a moonlit night ride to get a feel of how it must have felt to be living before the time of electricity. Make sure you let a loved one know where you are headed and be smart, be prepared and be ready to become addicted to getting out at night.