I like to ride in town in the evening/night.
For some reason, I feel more comfortable riding at night. I feel that I have better control of my unicycle, and I ride faster and with more confidence.
Anyone else who feels the same?
Night riding is the best!
Gotta keep your mouth closed during summer though or you end up eating bugs and moths.
Same with the eyes - same with the eyes…
A good helmet lamp helps channeling all of these insects right into your face 
I never go riding without glasses. May it be for insects or branches, eye protection is always good.
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I wear glasses anyway, which I guess is why I never noticed the moths-in-eyes situation 
I actually get that, I feel it too. I couldn’t explain it… ae you riding in areas where there is barely anyone passing? That could have something to do with it, though I’m not sure what 
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when I was younger I had the habit of jogging at night in the woods … and yes that was an exhilarating experience (sometimes slightly scary because I was running out of the big trails). Unicycling at night in a forrest is also a great thing (I fondly remember one night ride in England : rain and mud!)… Alas I don’t practice it anymore: I am not sure the woods at night around Paris are a place to be …
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Funnily I rode my new 36’’ to a meeting yesterday when it was still bright and had a really hard time to get on and ride relaxedly. On the way home it was dark and raining but riding and getting suddenly went as easy as winking.
I wonder if that applies to beginners like me too? I will have to give that a try!
Also interesting looking at it your additions for lighting etc. I was looking at my unicycle the other day and noticed there are absolutely no reflectors anywhere on it not even on the pedals or the spokes…
It’s just assumed people won’t ride a unicycle at night???
That’s strange, my unicycles all have reflectors. Which model do you have?
Anyways, I definitely suggest giving it a try, my most productive sessions are at twilight when I’m learning something new 
Possibly because you get tired less easily (as it’s a lot cooler), so practicing jumping is less taxing for long periods of time…
Or maybe night time does have a magic influence of skill.
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I’ve got a neon green Club 24 in from UDC USA:
A nice basic starter model. No complaints, it seems like its serving me well as a 1st uni, and price is reasonable too.
I anticipate adding some goodies once I have more skill/distance ability, especially if I end up night riding. Winter days are fairly short here in the Seattle area, so some lights/reflectors will be more important in the coming months for sure if there is to be much riding going on.
@Blueblade My unicycles all came without any reflectors, I added some stickers and reflectors on the spokes. However, IMHO a good light (preferably with side-facing orange LEDs) and reflective clothing is more important…
(Offtopic @Canapin - can the night riding topic somehow be split off? It seems an interesting discussion to have in its own thread…)
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I made a little planning error, and ended up in the dark in the forrest on a muni ride recently. I had a headlamp with me, but there were multiple groups of wild boars in the area, which really had me super paranoid. They really get uncomfortably close around here, where I grew up you would have needed to try hard to get within 60 meters of one, I’ve seen them getting within a meter from people here around Berlin.
So Muni rides in the dark around here are going to be something I’ll avoid. I feel less in control of my unicycle in the dark also (probably because I can’t see bumps as well), so while Muni night rides can be fun, I’m definetely not more comfortable.
I enjoy late night flat sessions at conventions though, I’ve learned quite a lot of tricks where the gym is almost empty. I think it’s the energy of only the very motivated people being up, and not having as much noise and distraction around.
This might be the one huge difference: we don’t have anything in the woods that might try to kill you - day or night. However, during broad daylight we have all these homo sapiens, especially the ones moving around in large wheeled metal cages, getting in your way and quite possibly trying to kill you. So night riding feels a lot safer when most of them are asleep.
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I’ve ridden at night off-road a few times and it was not fun. I had a headlamp, but the light flattens the ground relief which makes the ride hazardous.
I’me comfortable riding at night in town, where I perfectly know the streets and every holes and bumps.
Yeah, if you have handlebars that’s a better place for a headlight. Having the beam offset from your plane of vision creates shadows and makes it much easier to see uneven ground.
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+1 on this! You want the light source coming from an angle lower than your head(eyes)
I Noticed a headlamp makes all its shadows (even those from a dropoff- a curb for example) cast directly away from you where your eyes can’t see them-- which shadows are pretty much the only thing giving you some depth perception at night.
Much of my riding has been at night. I have a light mounted on on the seat post pointing just in front so I can see the immediate terrain and one on my helmet to see where I am looking.
Two lights separated this far apart avoids problems with shadow.
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I don’t really feel safe because of mobile phones. I meet one going towards me in a turn, on my side of the road. He should have been in the other side.
I was waving at him, but could clearly see both the driver and his phone.
We don’t have a lot of those drivers around here as it’s illegal and you get fined if you use your phone while driving. That said, people still do it. But people also drive drunk. I don’t any one of them, how could you endanger the life of other so lightheartedly? I mean, driving sober without a phone is dangerous enough.