After missing both Tuesday & Thursday’s ride while in Las Vegas for the industry’s trade show (Interbike), I knew I had to do something more than just commute to the shop on Friday. The original & obvious idea was to do a ride Friday morning, but Kevin wasn’t into that (even though he’d skipped out on Thursday’s ride in my absence) so instead I proposed something we hadn’t done in a while… a night ride.

Normally night rides are done when it’s really hot in the daytime and you just want to head into the hills, in the dark, to cool off. As if you’re going to get that cool going up Old LaHonda! On such days you see a few other cyclists out there, but tonight, not a single one. Just the two of us. Very few cars, just a couple deer, and a lot of crickets.

Is it safe? If you’re lit up like we were, it could be argued you’re safer than in the daytime, since you stand out from the surrounding quite well when you’ve got a 700 lumen light up front and two flashing lights in the rear. Bontrager Ion 700, Thunderbolt & Cygolite Hotshot SL. All USB rechargeable lights, $170 total. Pretty amazing how far $170 goes these days compared to just a year or two ago!

No great time up Old LaHonda, partly because I was wheezing pretty badly (worse than expected), and partly for the mid-way stop when Kevin had a seizure. But it was fun, and everywhere but the climb itself, pretty easy. Just over 20 miles, about 90 minutes door-to-door. Not a bad way to end the day!