I haven't been riding in the evenings since the time change. By the time I get home, eat dinner, and am ready, the sun is setting, rush hour traffic is on, and it is cold outside. Then if I wait until traffic dies down, then it only gets darker and colder. I can feel the end of the riding season approaching, but everyday I hope for one or two more rides.
Then it happened, we had a nice day up that hit up to 70 in the daytime and about 6pm it was still in the 60s. Of course it was pitch black like it was midnight, but still the temperature was good and rush hour traffic was past its prime. Thus, I decided to venture out.
First observation, man it is dark. Dark, as in this is why people carry around flashlights. The headlight on the bike doesn't really go that far. I stayed to roads I had ridden before to help, but there's still a bit uneasy feeling when you can't see the road that far ahead of you. Sort of like going faster on the bike, part of it is getting used to it. Of course, I do wonder how much you should strive to get comfortable with it.
I knew the road that helped, but I'd hate to be on unfamiliar roads. Even if you know for sure the road goes straight, you don't have much time to avoid potholes in the road. Anything in the near term of the road will come up pretty quickly.
I took my practice curve road that has two 90-degree bends. It goes behind two schools, has no street lights, and is away from other buildings and houses. The only light was my bike headlight. Then I came up on the first curve. I knew I was getting close, I saw the curve sign, and was preparing for the curve. But I couldn't really see where the turn in was. I knew it was coming up any second, but the headlights didn't light it up that far. I started to brake. Then remembered my high beams. I hit those. Wow, it is like daylight outside. Those lite up the end of the road and the curve pretty well.
I hardly ever use the high beams in a car. Usually, there's another car around, some other light source, and the difference isn't all that stark. But on the bike, the brights are like your own personal spotlight. Of course, same applies with the car, once I was back to the main road, I had to turn off the brights and go with the regular.
The other thing I noticed on lighting was the headlights from the other cars really do light up the road. This was something mentioned in the state manual on driving a motorcycle. It is true. It is like the one time that being around other traffic has a benefit.
Then the roads that had street lights were nice. There's this one curvy road by warehouses I take sometimes. Thanks to the street lights, it was almost like driving during in the day time. But in a car, I never felt those same street lights made that big of a difference.
Overall with lighting, it is a huge difference on a bike than a car. All the supplemental lighting from street lights, businesses, other car lights, and the difference of your high and low beam change the scene dramatically.
I was on guard for any deer, but I didn't come across any. I know that's the other big night time hazard. I was able to make out cars waiting to turn onto the road. Including one driver who was lined up to turn on the road who only had on their running lamps and not the headlights. I did see one person wearing dark clothes walking along a pitch black road. It was a nice day, so I don't blame him for wanting to get out. But, a bit dangerous to be walking next to a road wearing dark colors.
Overall, it was nice to get out for a drive. I think in the future I'll practice night time driving so I can do as needed. It is beneficially too if I ever find myself in a spot where I need to drive in the dark or where there's a storm or something that is making it dark. Thus, it is another skill, I'll try to build up. However, I don't think it is something I'll prefer to do by default. No matter how good I get, the time you have to react goes way down. Unless you're able to put on the high beams, you can't make out the road all that far away.
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