We have a weekly bike ride on the Quantocks on Wednesday night, but due to my bike currently being out of action (unreliable, over-complicated contraptions!) I went for a pootle around on the muni instead. It was an absolutely gorgeous night; a perfectly clear sky and a full moon meant that it wasn’t actually all that dark; all of the fireroad sections could be done just by the light of the moon. At the beginning of one section of singletrack I was getting confused by the light not turning when I turned my head, until I realised that I didn’t actually have my lights on at all…
Our normal ride goes down a super-technical half-mile long section of singletrack cut through the woods, ending in a steep rocky chute down to the bottom of the combe. This is blummin’ hard on a bike, so on the muni in the dark it was fantastic fun. It’s my favourite descent on the Quantocks, but alas I only found it after the BMW back in June.
If anyone is pondering about whether to try night riding, wait for a bright, cloudless night then go try it! The darkness adds a whole new edge to the ride and the atmosphere is unbeatable.
Phil
