What is the attraction of cycling through the night?

[Ticktockmy]

and in response to the OP....

the blackness of the night and all its shades of purple, the orange light on the horizon, the lack of other traffic, the silence when you stop, the isolation, the riding in a bubble of light, the velvet darkness of the night sky, the "look at that moon", the "look at those stars", the "look out for that hole!", the damp patch on road surface you mistake for a pothole, the swooping owl you mistake for a bat, the bat you mistake for an owl, the deer crossing the road and not running away as you approach, the getting hopelessly lost and not caring, the satellites arcing across the sky, the meteors shooting earthwards, the way the hills are easier to climb when you can't see how steep or long they are, the waiting at a country crossroads for your mates to catch up with nothing but your own frosty breath for company, the unbeleiving drunks, the mystified drivers, the astounded shift workers, all of these and more, but most of all...


dawn over Seasalter, or over the Weald, or Romney Marsh, or the Downs above Chichester. I love night rides.

Now I know why I like riding at night, it brings out the poet in us

 

[GrumpyGregry]

...and going back to the OP...not quite sure where all this isolation and silence comes from on a ride with 50 + riders

Others have explained how the silence works on FNRttC. Marshalling on Slugwash Lane for the Martlets ride was transcendental. I rode my bike, alone, the long way' to my point and stood, alone, in silence, and in no little awe, for much of the night before tagging on to the lanterne rouge

I used to do a spot of off-road tam-of-two night time mtb orienteering in the 90's, then, having (re)discovered road night riding with FNRttC, I find I sometimes now enjoy a solo ride, an ANRtsE, an any night ride to somewhere else. Often to visit friends for breakfast or some landmark or other attraction.

Riding through the night is addictive. I need a fix between the FNRttC's I can 'do' and the off-season is a long one.

 

[Tigerbiten]

...and going back to the OP...not quite sure where all this isolation and silence comes from on a ride with 50 + riders

There was +80 on the Whitstable ride and I still did a few miles with nobody else in sight.

If your towards the front and working in the chaingang, then it buzy.
But if your close to the back then its easy to find a spot where it's quite.

I've got hooked on these type of ride since I did my first one in feb.

Luck ...........