Day 51 of 365 Days Of Low Carbon Living: my first experience of travelling by electric bike in the dark.
Recently I went on an adventure. I was attending a big dinner with an environmental theme. So naturally I decided I would ride my electric bike. It was a series of new experiences, and I learned some valuable lessons.
My trip involved suburban and urban roads, bike and shared paths away from roads, and a country road. It also happened to be a wet night.
All that meant I needed a two important things: good lights and good visibility.
Good lights are vital for riding a bike in the dark
My new e-bike came with a front light and a rear light, both powered by the bike’s battery. Power to the lights is controlled from the same point as turning on power to the bike. However, each light is turned on slightly differently.
The red light and reflector on the back of the bike is a legal requirement – for very good reason.
- They let other people behind you know that you are there, so they can avoid crashing into you.
- This is particularly important when you are riding on a roadway: it helps people driving motor vehicles behind you to see you.
- On a bike path, the red tail light also lets other bike riders and people walking know you are there – although they are just as likely to see you by the light shining in front of you.
My rear light is turned on by a switch at the top of the light. It also has a reflector integrated into the unit.
The light on the front of my bike is just above the wheel. It can be moved up or down and side to side a bit so you can adjust where the beam of light shines. Unlike the rear light, the front light comes on automatically when you turn the power on to the lights.
This front light might be fine for riding on lit streets.
However, I knew that my ride would take me on unlit bike paths.
I also like to travel at a reasonable speed and see where I am going.
For that, more serious light is needed.
I have a separate headlight that gives great light, even on low mode. (It can also be used in flashing mode – good for extra visibility when riding in traffic.)
The light comes with a separate battery that you can charge.
I made sure to fully charge the light’s battery before I used it. This was because of:
- the length of the ride (about 25km round trip)
- the lack of lighting on lengthy spans of the shared paths on which I was going to ride.
(I was very conscious of the need to do this because I learned a tough lesson a few years ago: when riding to Enlighten festival (held fairly close to where I live), my light battery ran out of power just as I arrived. Luckily, there was plenty of light and almost no traffic on the roads back home. I was also super cautious and rode mainly on the footpaths, which are shared paths in the ACT.)
I then attached the lamp to the handlebars, using the o-ring…
…and ensured the lamp was facing forwards and shining onto the road a reasonable distance in front of the bike. The whole process is usually very quick – about 1 second – but took slightly longer with the cables and smaller space on the handlebars of my electric bike.
Because I also drive a car, I know how important it is to also not to have the headlight shine into drivers’ eyes.
Over the years I have found that getting the balance right between lighting my path and avoiding dazzling motorists can be quite tricky. Luckily, my lamp can be easily rotated on the handlebar while riding along.
- For street riding, I have found that having the light shining on the roadway as far in advance of the bike without shining directly onto road signs works well. Usually there is enough indirect light from the lamp to illuminate the road signs.
- For off-road paths where I am likely to be riding on my own, I move the lamp so it shines further forward (but still onto the ground). This is where the more powerful beam comes into its own. If someone is coming from the opposite direction I can simply adjust the light beam downward, much like dipping headlights when driving a car. On more busy paths, I tend to just keep the lamp dipped: I’d hate anyone to have an accident because my light dazzled them.
It had been raining on the day of my adventure. The forecast for the evening indicated that I might have to ride in some rain, so I ensured that the battery case was attached so that the holes for the cables were pointing downwards. On a standard bike, the battery should be attached to the cross-bar. The low curves of the cross-bar on my electric bike means this is not possible, so I attached the battery to the front pillar.
Being seen is vital for riding where motor-vehicles dominate
Seeing where you are going and being seen by other road users are two different things.
People driving motor vehicles are going much faster than people on bikes.
In places where motor vehicles dominate, drivers are also used to seeing big objects – like cars, trucks and buses. They know that they need to be aware of those big objects because of the damage crashing into them can do – so they keep an eye out for them.
People walking or riding bikes, however, are less visible because they are much smaller than motor vehicles. In car-dominant places, drivers are not used to seeing people walking or riding and so do not necessarily see them. This is a case of frequency + familiarity = visibility.
At a minimum, bikes need to have a red reflector on the back and a white one on the front. Reflectors show up brightly in headlights – much more brightly than the lights on the bike.
Yet, even though it’s the law, these reflectors are not enough to make you visible to other road users.
Luckily, my bike came with some extra reflectors:
- on the wheels
- on the front and back of the pedals
Both these add extra visibility – not just for the extra reflection but because they also move when you are riding, and movement sends the message ‘watch out’ to drivers.
Yet this was still not enough for me.
I want to be as visible as possible in the dark. So here’s how I increased my visibility:
- Extra reflectors on the wheels – unfortunately on these particular wheels I couldn’t make the reflectors very offset to each other, which would have increased the reflection from one ‘circle’ of light as the wheels move to two ‘circles’.
(Interestingly, when I took this picture afterward I could see that the tyres also have reflectors built in!)
- High visibility jacket, with a high-vis + reflective stripes ‘X’ bib. The bib is something I have had since I was a teenager and is great: it goes over anything and ties at the sides. The back waistband also has reflective stripes on it.
- High-visibility reflective bands for wrists (for signalling)…
…and ankles (two extra points of reflection and movement).
Finally – what to wear riding an electric bike to a dinner on a cold, wet night?
Working out what to wear when you are going out to dinner is hard enough.
Add in the cold…
And riding a bike…a long way…up a very steep hill at the end to the main building at the National Arboretum…
And potentially wet weather.
/For a lot of us, this would usually be a mutually exclusive set of conditions.
However, riding an electric bike takes out most the sweat factor – it turns the ride into transport rather than exercise!
Yet I was still riding a bike…outside…on a cold and possibly wet night…to a dinner.
So…I decided to go with a modern ‘inner city’ look: flat shoes, woollen tights, and a woollen dress with a skivvy underneath and woollen layers on top. That way, I could ride my bike in comfort and not have to change at the other end. The woollen layers on my legs would provide warmth and repel any light rain.
And for outer layers:
- my high-vis jacket, done up to my chin to keep my body warm and dry
- ski gloves to keep my hands warm and dry – and stop the cold air going up my sleeves
And, of course, a helmet – for safety of my head and because it’s the law.
So…what lessons did I learn, riding my electric bike in the dark?
The biggest lesson: it wasn’t anywhere near as hard as I thought it might be.
Effort
I was physically prepared. I was also a bit worried about riding a long way at night in ‘the countryside’ of ‘The Bush Capital’ when I was tired.
Yes, I was really out of my comfort zone – yet isn’t every challenge?
What the ride did confirm was that I now have a new, low-impact way of travelling short to medium distances around Canberra.
Time
I forgot to check the time at both ends of both trips, but I think it took about 30-45 mins each way.
Route
Because this was a new route for me, and I was travelling to a deadline and at night, I planned ahead.
I studied an online map in detail, using satellite view for greater reconnaissance – and then added local knowledge from previous trips. I was rather concerned about some of the routes that Google Maps was recommending. Luckily, I remembered major bike paths that it doesn’t seem to recognise. That saved me a lot of time as well as angst!
Nevertheless, my travel time included a few deviations on the outward trip.
Not only had I never ridden the whole route before, before this trip I hadn’t ridden any of it at night and in the direction I was going. And, of course, things look a bit different at night – and different on a bike to what you see from a car.
Calling again on prior knowledge, as well as observing my surrounds, helped me out. (I also had my smart phone for extra help in case I needed it!)
I was glad that I did manage to use a car trip to do a quick site reconnaissance of a potentially tricky, short, unfamiliar stretch of my route: how to get from the main bike path across a carpark, across traffic lights from freeway on/off ramps, under the freeway, across another intersection with freeway on/off ramps, and onto the road up to the Arboretum. It was easier than it looked on the map. And, at the time I rode, it was even easier as there were almost no cars on those roads!
In future, I would prefer to ride the whole route in daylight beforehand or, if that is not possible, allow extra time (which had been the plan this time).
Light
The front light being attached to the bike means that on most of the bike paths I can only see in the direction that the bike was facing. This in turn means that I have to slow down a lot on curves, particularly tight ones under trees.
It would be easier to see which way the path is going if:
- the path had a white, preferably reflective, centre line or white side lines – like on roads
- I had a helmet-mounted light
I have known about these issues for a very long time…yet I haven’t ridden on an unlit bike path for a very long time. (In fact, the last time I rode the section nearest to where I live, there was a white centre line. It made a big difference but is no longer there.)
Still, the powerful headlight is much better than the dynamo or early battery lamps I used many years ago.
I used my headlight on high power most of the way on the outward journey and found it excellent. Knowing where I was going on the return journey, I was looking forward to having it guide me home.
However, it stopped working just after I came down the hill from the Arboretum. ‘Great!, I thought, now I have almost no light for the darkest, scariest part of the journey’. (As it was a cloudy night, the main ambient light came from street lights and their reflection on the clouds and lake.)
Luckily, I had the lower-power light that came with the bike.
I was initially disappointed that it only shone about 1.5m in front of the bike. ‘It’s going to be a very slow ride home’ was my next thought.
Then I had a brainwave: could I adjust where the light shone? So I stopped – and was pleased to find that I could adjust the light so it shone further ahead.
That enabled me to travel much faster – although still not as fast as with my bright light working. This was simply because I could not see as well or as far ahead.
One thing I did notice more as a result was the presence or absence of street lighting on the off-road cycle path. On the way out, this had been a pleasant surprise.
Yet I was puzzled as to why it was only on the section closest to road it ran alongside and the CBD.
On the way home, I noticed three of the lights not working. I made a mental note of where they were and reported them as soon as I was home. With hindsight and more patience, I could have stopped and reported them on the spot.
Checking and adjusting my on-bike headlight was also something I could have considered and taken action on before my trip.
Speed
With electric motor aiding me, and good light, I was able to maintain a pretty good speed (about 20km/h) most of the way.
I was happy with that: I thought it was a good compromise between going as fast as I could and my safety, taking account of how far ahead I could see and the possibility of suddenly encountering kangaroos or other animals.
Battery
On my way home I noticed (from the back-lit readout) that battery power was dwindling, especially over the last 2km – which happens to be mainly uphill.
To conserve the battery – for light as well as power – I eased off on the use of the battery. If I had used more leg power instead of electric power during the whole trip, I would have had more in reserve for the ride home. I could especially have used leg power more on downhill and flatter stretches – yet I would have become somewhat warmer and sweatier too!
As it happened, the battery ran out about 100m from home. This was during the steepest part of the ride (apart from the last leg up to dinner venue at the Arboretum)! Luckily, I had some momentum going, pretty fresh legs (thanks to using all that battery power) and small wheels on my bike. These allowed me to pedal all the way. (Remember that I was pretty tired before I even went out for the night.)
Having the bike’s own lights on all the way would also have drained the battery.
In future, to conserve the bike’s battery, I would keep the bike’s lights off until my better, supplementary lights run out. (With an extra battery, I would hope that my lights would not run out – around town at least.)
As I get fitter, I hope also be able to draw more on leg power and less on battery power.
Clothing
My clothing choice worked well. I was able to take off the layers and replace them as needed. Because it was cloudy, the temperature didn’t drop below freezing and I was quite warm enough.
It also didn’t rain, so I didn’t get to test how my clothes performed in the wet. I think that I would probably not ride to such an event if it was raining heavily or forecast to do so. Ride-sharing with other attendees living near to me would be my choice in that case.
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