# American River Parkway: "Cover your lights, moron!!!"



## mwnovak (Feb 10, 2006)

Hi all. I've got a question for nighttime riders in the Sacramento area: what's the protocol or etiquette for night rides along the American River Parkway with bright lights?

I went for my _first-ever_ night ride this evening, a shakedown run for my new commuting setup: a Dinotte 600L mounted on my handlebar coupled with a helmet-mounted Dinotte 200L. Some 15 miles into the ride, I was feeling pretty good about having -finally- invested in nice lights, since they offered plenty of light for brisk, safe riding along the parkway. Woohoo for year-round commuting!!! 

And then another rider *screamed* at me as he rode past, "Cover your lights, moron!!!"   

I really did not appreciate this. Aside from feeling a little threatened--a loud, angry voice coming at me in the darkness? I'm sorry, but that's not cool--I also felt kinda frustrated: if I was doing something wrong or stupid, this wasn't a very constructive response.

Anyway, for the rest of my ride, I did my best to cover the bar-mounted light with my hand when approaching other riders, while also looking somewhat down-right with the helmet light. Is this the expected behavior? If so, I find it odd that I didn't pass a single rider who reciprocated the courtesy . . . and there were some folks out there with brighter setups than mine.

Can anyone in our community advise me here? 

In general, I take some pride in being a conscientious rider: I use my bell and call out my passes on the trail, I obey traffic laws and religiously use hand signals on the road, I take friends for rides and teach them basic bike maintenance, I support my local shops, etc. So I'm not really keen on the idea that I may have been pissing off other riders for the first 15 miles of my ride . . . and I'd certainly like to avoid doing so in the future.

I'll probably cross-post this to the commuter forum for general tips, but I'd really like feedback from other Parkway riders. Thanks for any help.

--MW


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

I don't cover my lights, and I'm not going to cover my lights. That defeats the purpose of having lights! No one has ever asked me to, or said anything about it. Part of night riding on two-way trails is dealing with other people's lights. But I also make sure my lights aren't pointing too high, so they aren't catching the direct beam, and the chance of blinding someone is pretty slim. Check where your lights are pointing. They should mostly be pointed at the ground, but far enough ahead of you so you can see what's coming up at the speed you are going. They shouldn't be aimed directly in front of you (horizontally).


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## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

I got yelled at tonight for my uber-bright helmet light. By a drunk stumbling across a dark road, in dark clothes, that I almost ran over. Thank dog for bright headlights.


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## JoelS (Aug 25, 2008)

On a bike path, you don't need the helmet light. It's akin to high beams on a car in traffic. You're shining a light in other people's eyes. 

When on a bike path, make sure your lights are illuminating just the path and not shining up too high. When on road and sharing with cars, that's a different matter. On the road the lights are as much about being visible to others as about showing what's in front of you. On the path, it's not about being visible.

Incidentally, I'm in that area too. Be nice to have a ride with others.


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## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

My helmet-mounted light is angled in such a way that the hotspot is right in front of my face at about 10 feet. It is pointing slightly downwards. It is more of a spot than my normal headlight. On a MUT, I use it to announce my presence to pedestrians walking/jogging straight down the middle of the path in the same direction to me, impervious to the fact that I'm coming up behind them. I just scan the light left, right, etc, putting the spot about 10 feet in front of them then they figure out that something is coming up behind them that is faster than they are.

I've only had one person react to my lights out on the MUT and all she did was she put her hand up to block the light from her eyes.


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## mwnovak (Feb 10, 2006)

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I really appreciate the comments and insights.

The gist of what I'm hearing is that I shouldn't worry too much about it, provided the following:


my lights are aimed somewhat downward (focused on the path in front of me), not straight ahead or parallel to the ground (illuminating -everything- in front of me)
if I'm going to run a light on my helmet, use the same common sense that applies to headlamps in the backcountry (i.e. don't "look" at people when talking to them, and remember that you're probably blinding someone if you can see their face) 

This is pretty reasonable, I think. 

Regarding the yelling incident, it may have been that my bar-mounted light wasn't aimed downward enough? Since this was my first ride with the lights, I'd stopped a few times to adjust / experiment with the positioning . . . and I may have had the 600L set pretty near horizontal (it would've been slightly down, at worst, but only slightly) when the dude yelled at me.

I wonder if there is a quasi-concrete method for aiming bar-mount headlights? Something akin to the method for setting automobile headlights? I may experiment with an adaptation of that approach and see if something relevant can be devised for bikes . . . and then go see if I can get screamed at again.  

Seriously though, thanks again for all the feedback. :thumbsup: 

--MW


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

mwnovak said:


> I wonder if there is a quasi-concrete method for aiming bar-mount headlights? Something akin to the method for setting automobile headlights? I may experiment with an adaptation of that approach and see if something relevant can be devised for bikes . . . and then go see if I can get screamed at again.


I've done a lot of night riding, including some 24 hour races on my mountain bike. Parts of the race course were technical, and in some places, technical and fast. About half of the course was fire roads: a fast downhill and a three-mile climb. Covering all different types of terrain in one ride, one thing you quickly discover is that there is no one good position for your lights. You are constantly adjusting the angle, mostly to match your speed.

Going fast, you want the beam pointed far enough ahead so you can see what's coming up. On the technical stuff you want the beam pointed much closer to you, so you can see all the nooks and crannies of the trail. You are going relatively slow on a lot of the technical stuff, but there are fast technical runs, and that requires a compromise on where to point the light. Bottom line, don't fix your light in place. You should be able to mount it tight enough so it won't drift, but loose enough that you can make small adjustments in the angle during your ride. And don't be afraid to adjust it. When you drive, you use your high beams to see further, and you may have fog lights, too. The same concepts apply to your bike.


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## bikenerd (Jan 22, 2004)

I've commuted along various parts of the A.R. Parkway for over 10 years. My to-work commute is in the dark year round, homeward about 50% in the dark. I've done 95% of it with a 15 year old, 6W halogen light. Although as I get older (44) and my night vision slips a little I'm seeing the need for a LITTLE more light, I just don't think it takes a million lumens to ride 20 mph on a MUT. Sure, night mountain biking takes a lot more light, but riding commuting pace on a smooth, clean, paved path that you know doesn't. If you had passed me with that setup, I would have tried to look away, maybe complained under my breath a little. As much as your lighting is the safest thing for YOU, leaving me with blown out night vision and seeing spots for a couple minutes isn't the safest thing for ME. My highest performance light is a Fenix L2D LED flashlight, 150-200 lumens, and I cover it when I meet someone. If it's easy and safe to be polite, why not?


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## Sknyskiman (Jul 13, 2007)

*"Cover your lights..."???*

This is common sense over "protocol". If I see bright lights ahead, I just focus slightly away so I don't blind myself by staring directly into oncoming lights. After all, the rider coming towards me needs to see the bike path too! Sometimes the helmet light can accidentally get knocked askew and the rider might not know it. Under the circumstances, I think the guy who yelled "moron" had some other issues too. Maybe he stared at the sun too often in his life and drove himself crazy.


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## RedRex (Oct 24, 2004)

I've been a commuter on the Parkway for about eight years, six months a year my PM ride is in the dark.

I suppose it's best to cover your light with your hand, especially if the other rider has a bright light. I think it's almost an educational opportunity to cover your light with your hand, and maybe a light bulb (pardon the pun) goes off in the other riders's head that says, "hey, people cover their lights out here." 

That being said, I certainly don't think it's ok to yell at someone or to get pissed if they don't cover their light. Maybe their eyesight is much poorer than your own.

Anyway, one random note....I was going through some photos the other day and found one that made me think of this thread. This photo was taken from the Watt bridge looking down on the trail, a single rider's light illuminating the yellow line.


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Jul 15, 2005)

I generally avoid the trails since they’re full of aimless twats who cannot even hold a straight line, and usually have their helmets on incorrectly (or no helmets at all). I keep my illegally-bright lights on the streets, where cars are instantly alerted to my presence from 1/4 mile away or more.


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