Is riding on unlight country roads at night suicide?

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Badgers...

This is a major reason I don't ride at night. Around here there are loads of badgers (up to five in my garden) and if I'm going downhill at 30mph and one jumps out it's going to end badly for me

Okay, fair comment; I stand corrected.

I didn't realise a Badger was big enough to do that much damage, but equally I'm sure I don't reach 30mph / 50km/h very often, least of all at night.
 
A mere rabbit is big enough to do a fair bit of damage if collided with at anything much beyond walking pace, in that they might easily throw you off the bike. Rabbits weigh something like 2kg. Badgers, on the other hand, the sort found in the UK, are in the 16-18kg range, so something in the medium sized dog range, with very sturdy bodies and short legs. Definitely a very bad thing to hit whilst on a bike.

Not terribly good for the badger either of course.

Honey badgers are only about 2/3 of that, but thankfully not prone to wandering around the dark, country lanes of the UK since any collision with one of those would probably annoy it and that's not something you'd want to do to a honey badger ;)
 

Poacher

Gravitationally challenged member
Location
Nottingham
Oh yes the animals. Where I live in middle Georgia, there are some wild animals. I hope to be able to maintain sufficient 360 for those things. Oh, for my area, wonder if anyone considered scenarios where some not so good ole boys may see you as a victim. I am thinking of preparations for feeling intensities of stops turns and other sounds to perhaps have a heads up for those also and may breaking for the woods early to make for a smaller target.

I'm not sure what's the problem with digging out an old thread, that already has a lot of useful replies, instead of starting a new one. Makes sense to me.

Been to Georgia, without a bike though. Wildlife is aplenty: wild boar, deer, wolfs and bears. Out of these the boars are by far the worst. I think what people do is make sure that they can be heard - fit the bikes with bells and the like so the animals keep away. Most dangerous thing in Gorgia was the rakija ;):laugh:
Hang about! Which Georgia are we discussing, the country or the US state?
If the latter, I'd definitely be more concerned about the "not so good ole boys".:eek:
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
It's sad trawling through threads like this. So many riders who are no longer with us. Have they seen the light and gone to a better place?

Talking of lights though, I used to go training at night with eveready lights that hardly gave out any lumens. Just good enough to be seen by. Used to keep to main well lit roads. The roads then were a lot quieter than they are now. For the Merseysiders around, I was quite happy cycling along the East Lancs Road and felt quite safe!

In the last 20 yrs, commuted, often in the dark, but by now front lights are so much better and I'm not talking about the really expensive ones. Nearly all the led ones are bright enough to see the road clearly.

But now retired and no longer need to go out when it's dark. Although sometimes when I go out late afternoon I can be doing the last few miles in twilight.
 
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Honey badgers are only about 2/3 of that, but thankfully not prone to wandering around the dark, country lanes of the UK since any collision with one of those would probably annoy it and that's not something you'd want to do to a honey badger ;)

I've heard that as well, one clip I recall showed one chasing a fox down a pipe. Vicious critters if they're roused.
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
I used to ride a lot at night and favoured decent quality dynamo lamps. I enjoyed it but got out of the habit in the past few winters as the roads got busier and the local boy racers use them as race tracks some times.

I aim to try to get back into night training rides this winter to try and lose weight and get my fitness back following injury last winter.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
I know the UK has changed since I left; are the squirrels more aggressive?
Well, this sort of thing
IMG_20220703_183107.jpg

has led to this...
squirrelmuscles.jpg

But they still only two legs.
 

Pat "5mph"

A kilogrammicaly challenged woman
Moderator
Location
Glasgow
I ride in urban settings: a major wildlife hazard after dusk are foxes.
I think they are attracted by bike lights, like dogs.
Once I wanted to try out new bike lights, so I rode through my local, unlit, park.
Never again, a dozen dogs started to bark at me.
The new lights were not good enough: I couldn't see the dogs! :laugh:
 
I ride in urban settings: a major wildlife hazard after dusk are foxes.
I think they are attracted by bike lights, like dogs.
Once I wanted to try out new bike lights, so I rode through my local, unlit, park.
Never again, a dozen dogs started to bark at me.
The new lights were not good enough: I couldn't see the dogs! :laugh:

I have had trouble with farm dogs. I saw someone deal with them in an interesting way: there was a dog in the road in front of a farm. As he approached; he accelerated directly towards it and as he was almost on top of the still barking (and rather large dog), he stood up suddenly and roared at it.
I've never seen a dog move so fast.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
I have had trouble with farm dogs. I saw someone deal with them in an interesting way: there was a dog in the road in front of a farm. As he approached; he accelerated directly towards it and as he was almost on top of the still barking (and rather large dog), he stood up suddenly and roared at it.
I've never seen a dog move so fast.
I've used the sudden increase in size before, and a growl, which seemed to put the dog off wanting to get closer.

Glad I'm not the only one doing it.
 
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