October 21st (Morning)

MY LIGHT FINALLY ARRIVED!!!!

Canada Post attempted delivery to our house twice yesterday, but Corrie was out with Levi’s speech therapy so they just left a note on the door. It said I had to wait ‘till this afternoon to get it, but I figured I’d go last night anyways and luckily they had processed it and so I was able to pick it up. It came fully charged and ready to go. It was much smaller than I had thought, so that was cool. But, boy, does it pack a good punch in terms of light!

The cockpit is getting pretty full… But still enough room for another one? As you can see, the light is not much bigger than my computer or heart rate monitor, so that’s cool. Note the battery pack attached to my head tube, that’s the biggest part of this setup yet still not too bad for size and weight.

I left the house at 6:42am this morning, 18 minutes earlier than I have been the last few days/weeks. My first observation of this light is that it is near impossible to operate with big gloves… Meaning I had to stop to turn the light on/off. I had it on low while riding through Juniper, and then cranked it up to high once I hit the trails.

Again, my cellphone takes some pretty blurry pictures and I can see a bit more than this picture shows, but this is my new riding experience now. And it’s a blast!

I can suddenly SEE again! The rocks on the trail are now something I can see coming and actually avoid, rather than just bouncing wildly along… I was hitting the same speeds as normal through Juniper, a bit slower than I used to due simply because of the colder temperatures, not because of the light. A good test came at the Rose Hill pipeline section. As I came over the first hill and pointed the bike down into the valley, the trail was well lit. I probably went a bit slower through this section than when I can see, but still got some pretty good speeds, I would probably guess around 40-45km/h? Normally this section is where I hit 50km/h when I have daylight. The rest of the valleys and climbs went good. At the end, where the trail veers off onto some single-track that bypasses the final hill and goes to Frolek’s gate, I took the corner too wide and ended up riding off the track for a few feet. I guess corners like this is where it pays to have it mounted on the helmet instead of the bars. The handlebars are pointing straight, but I would be looking off to the right, and the light would be where I needed it to be. Well, maybe I need two then? Corrie, are you reading this???

The real test of the light came at the end of that bypass trail, where I take the trail down the “cliff” just before Frolek’s gate. It’s a fun little 8-10 foot descent pretty much straight down. There’s a perfect line in the middle that is easy. Too far left, and I hit some nasty bumps that want to throw me… Too far right and I’m sliding into a bit of a ditch at the bottom… As I came up to the edge, the light did pretty well at letting me see the right line. However, I slowed too much at the top and as such, just as I let the front wheel go over I twitched the bars a bit left, meaning I was now going too far left! Well, let the bike do what it needs to do! I let go of the brakes, stuck my butt back and braced for impact. It was over in a flash, and although the rear tire was sliding sideways at the beginning and I ended up bouncing through the ditch I would much rather avoid, I did end up coming out rubber side down still, so I let out a whoop and continued on. Sweet! Another section where the handlebar mount showed it’s limitation was at the dip/corner section of single-track across Frolek’s land. As I couldn’t see around the corner as I came through the dip, I didn’t make this section at all, and ended up walking it. Again, with a helmet mounted light, I would’ve had it pointed where I was looking. Regardless, as things get darker and if I can afford it I will most like pick up another one of these for my helmet. Once I got to the bottom of Peterson’s Creek (I made the crossing!), I switched the light down to low and once I got to the top and onto Summit, I switched it to flashing (just to make motorists aware of me). Finally, as I got onto Howe, I turned it off completely as it was pretty light out by then. First ride = Success!

The only thing about riding in the dark is I can’t see what gear I’m in, something I’ve become used to knowing. Maybe it’s a crutch of sorts, but knowing these trails so well I know exactly what gear to use for every hill and section of the trail. Just something to get used to I guess! Also, I did have my heart rate monitor on, but in the dark I, of course, cannot see the numbers. As it’s a cheap monitor, it also doesn’t record my average or peak rates. As I rode through Juniper, it started beeping like crazy, meaning that I was running close or over my maximum rate. Seriously? I wasn’t even working yet! Maybe it was the excitement of the night riding, but I just turned the thing off so it would shut up…

Oh, this morning was also my first ride with my new Rocket Ron tire on the rear. Did I notice it? Not really, so that’s a good thing. It didn’t slip out on any of the climbs, it didn’t wander on the corners, it just dug in where it needed to and did its job rather well! I will like to see how it does on the bypass climb out of Peterson’s Creek valley, as well as the final climb at Rose Hill this afternoon. And if my average speed is any higher? So far so good!