Night riding

[faultymonk]

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/wicked_lights-74-0.htm - 4100 lumens in a single light.  You're gonna need a pretty large battery and a radiator...

[ScottS]

Alright.
So it is evedently ILLEGAL to have a BLUE light ANYWHERE on the bike, not just the front like I was wrong>!?!

Yep, blue lights whether steady or flashing is illegal except for cops. See my original post.

-ss

[ScottS]

Hi,

Two things:

1) There are mountain lions throughout the Santa Monica Mountains.  Period.  I have a picture somewhere of one out by JPL.

2) If Scott wants to bike-pool work/home on PCH I'm up for that, except not in rain.  Please contact me.  Riding home last week from work really sucked.  I work out by Paradise Cove and have had a few Britney sitings, although not recently.

Thanks.

Tammy

Tammy's right. One morning when I was commuting up the coast to Pt. Dume, I saw a young cougar/mountain lion/puma that looked like it was hit by a car and was lying dead on the side of the road.

I know some federal agency keeps tract of mountain lions in the area and even tag some to track their movements. I tried calling a few agencies to report it but after calling around all morning but no one seemed to know who to call. Finally, the best response I got was from the Sheriffs office but I think they were more concerned about removing the body.

-ss

[ScottS]

I'm never wrong; there aren't any cougars in the SM Mountains.. maybe at that bar in Topanga

Like I said, there are MLs but they are tiny and only a threat to little kids, midgets, and monkeys. Don't make me have my PA pull up the transcripts.

I've seen several bobcats up near the missile silos that are small but cougars outweigh most adults. Don't you remember a few years ago a cougar killed a mtn. bike rider down in OC and severely mauled another when the cougar thought she was trying to poach his kill? The guy that was killed was an experienced rider and very athletic.

My understanding is that cougars are rarely seen because ambush from behind is their preferred form of attack. What sets their hunting instincts off are submissive gestures like crouching (the rider who was killed was kneeling next to his bike fixing his chain), running, or riding away.

-ss

[JB]

To bring this thread back from the dead, does anybody have any thoughts on helmet mounted lights vs. handlebar mounted lights?

I got an LED headband light from Target that fits over my helmet and was significantly cheaper than any of the handlebar mounted lights at the bike shop, so I just wanted to know if anybody had any pros/cons.  I think it might be better than the handlebar mounted lights as I can light up where I'm looking rather than where my handlebars are pointed, but if there's something I'm missing, please let me know.

[oregondan]

When I was a wee lad I made something like that- the only thing I found was that I had to remove the light from the battery pack and run a line from the light to the pack in my pocket. Wearing batteries on yr head sucks after a while.

[Gern]

Additional weight on the head IS a potential pain in the neck! Literally!
I have had niterider lamps in various forms since 1994.  They have been mounted to my helmet since 1995.  1995-2007 it had been a double lamp headlight.  Now, it is a single lamp.  From the start, I have LOVED that I can point the beam where I want to look, overcoming the inability to see into the turns, and off trail to the sides.
When on the road I can shine into the eyes of the oncoming, turning unsafely in front of me, driver.  Very handy indeed. 
In 1995 I had a bright light on my handlebars, and a bright light on my helmet.  The double shadows were a problem off road in the beginning, giving uneven trails a nasty advantage to knocking me off the bike!?!  Soo...
I use a bright light on my helmet, and a not so bright light on my handlebars(mainly as a beacon to oncoming traffic).
Whilst on group/mob rides, I bike having a bright light to light the fellow revelers, as I capture part of their soles, forever crammed into this really, really, REALLY small spot inside the boxy thingy(The Sir Paul explained it to me once upon a pier, Venice, most likely, and I was drunk)......but I derailled
They( the CRANKMOBAZZ, MIDNIGHT RIDAZZ, etc.,) probably, and should hate the bright light.