More on lights

Earlier today, I had to refill a propane tank. So, of course, I took the Xtracycle. After grilling a nice meal of kabobs, I decided to take the kids to the park. So, of course, I hooked up the bike train. After riding around for a while, it was time to bring the kids in and get them ready for bed. After reading Knuffle Bunny, I had to head back outside to put away the bikes. I was looking at the bikes lined up on my driveway and had the brilliant thought... Let's take a picture of all of the lights.

So here are the bikes...On the far left is the Trek with the trail-a-bike attached. The Trek has a Superflash on the seatpost and rear rack. The trail-a-bike has a Superflash on the chainstay.

In the middle is the bike trailer. I have the generic Performance Bike Flashpoints on that. Inbetween the Flashpoints is my helmet. I have Blackburn's Mars 3.0 attached to the back.

Finally is the Xtracycle. There are two Superflashes on the back of that.

Here is the picture....
(You know, I took drafting in high school. The only thing I remember from that class is that lines pointing at things should not cross. I'm glad I am not an architect right now.)

So I have the lights... Let's kick on the flash and see what we get. The piles of reflective tape really show up under the flash. Take a look...

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All hail the Superflash

There probably only a few commuters who have not heard of Planet Bike's Superflash. This is one amazing light. I have had mine since last spring and cannot imagine riding without them. I ride with one on my seatpost and another on my rear rack.

At night, this light will light up the neighborhood. I cannot tell you how many times I have been stopped at a stoplight and car will pull up to me to say I look like a police car.

At night it is easy. Bright lights are obvious. The real test came this week. Wednesday brought us the remnants of hurricane Faye. A pretty good rain was pouring down on me. It was overcast and gray. You probably know the creepy not quite light, not quite dark scenario. I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I think this is when I am least visible.

At a stoplight, a driver commented on how visible I was. She told me, "I could see you as soon as I pulled out of Panera." I figured that was somewhere between a half mile to three-quarters of a mile.

Another driver asked me about the lights because he also rode. He said he had never seen anything like it.

This morning was another test. The two days of rain left Columbus with a heavy fog. When I got to school, my neighbor emailed me. He wanted to let me know that my bike was more visible than all other cars on the road.

If the brightness on this light is not enough to convince you to get one, keep this in mind... Planet Bike donates 25% of its profits to bicycling advocacy. That's not enough? How about free shipping on all replacement parts? Still not enough? How about free shipping if you are a member of any bicycling advocacy group? Planet Bike doesn't just have a great product, they also have a great company.

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Cheap Blinky Light

One of my favorite stores in the world is Tractor Supply Company. This store is simply amazing. Where else can you find 50 pounds of dog food for 20 bucks? My 80 gallon rain barrels cost me a total of $40 at TSC. So when I went to get some bird seed, it is only normal to look around for some fun things.

I found one of my favorite non-biking biking accessories about two weeks ago. Here is the Blazer Emergency LED Light. It is an 18 LED blinky. Honestly, it is one hell of a blinky. The package said it is visible for more than one mile. In my tests, I believe it to be true. (My tests are nothing more than asking people, "Can you see me?" If the answer is yes, then I am happy.)

As with adapting any non-cycling item to cycling use, there is always the challenge of making it work. This thing came with two pretty powerful magnets screwed into the back. That's not really much help with an aluminum (oh, the horrors!) frame.

I fixed the problem by finding two old light brackets and a space grip. It's not the prettiest of mounts, but it works.

While this works, I really do not like it. It takes part of the top of my rack away. Personally, I would prefer something that hangs down on my rear rack. That is where the next step comes to mind.

Necessary Options came out with the Real Lite several years ago. They have been a big supporter of bicycle touring. I almost feel a little guilty about pointing this out, but I think the Real Lite and the emergency LED from Tractor Supply are the same thing. The difference is the cost and the mounting hardware. The Real Lite is 39.95. The Blazer light is $21.98. That is almost a $20 savings. I want a bracket that will hang down from my rear rack, so I am thinking this might be the prefect solution. Stay tuned to see if this works.

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