MVclyde

Lights.....check!

Reflective gear....check!

Wife's comfort factor......NO GO!!! Anyone else have this problem? Help me convince her that I'm not going to get run over just because it's getting dark. Other than maxing out my life insurance.

Titmawz

I do not know what to tell you brother... But I know that she does not ride, does she ???

Mr. Embrey

Balls.....???

Pants.....???

MVclyde

Nope.....I bought her a bike back in 07. She rode it twice and fell down twice (stupid clipless pedals). She hasn't ridden since. Bad husband. Lesson learned....platform pedals next time.

gunner65

I would never ask my wife permission for such a trivial thing.......Then again I married a woman that was not so trivial......and she is a therapist in a brain injury rehab hospital. If it were me Id hop on the bike and say "Im going for a ride see you later"

gerv 

You could suggest that it's too dangerous for her to ride on the freeway and you aren't standing for it. How would she react to that?

Then, like gunner65, turn your blinkies on and ride.

prathmann

The statistics for night riding aren't that good, but I think that's because they're skewed by all the riders without lights and reflectors. With some of the lights now available you can easily make yourself more visible than the cars and trucks so you really stand out from other traffic. That should make it safer than daylight riding as long as you avoid the times and places with a high concentration of DUIs.

One area where we used to live had a serious problem because there were many neighboring communities that each set their own rules for bar hours. So there'd be a series of migrations of impaired drivers from towns with early closings to ones with later ones. Friday and Saturday nights were not good times to be in their way.

downtube42

Your skill and experience on the bike. Your wisdom at avoiding dangerous situations. You'll be an unhappy grouch and miserable to live with if you can't ride your bike?

colleen c

How convincing are your lights and reflective gear? Some woman like redundancy and a lots of it for reassurance and sometimes over doing your gears might be what it takes for them to let their SO go out in the dark riding. Even if it means looking like a Christmas tree on wheels. So take all your lights and put it on that one bike to show you have redundant backup light for safety. Did I mention redundancy?

Titmawz

haha I was about to say that the best bet would be to take her with you but thats not an option lol

BengeBoy 

My wife used to worry about me until one night she (by coincidence) came up behind me during the last 5 or 6 blocks of my commute. She saw then how well lit I was, and how easy it was to spot me.

Also, when I get new headlights on my bike, I made a big deal about shining them in the front window of our house to "show off" how bright they are. She was annoyed, but got the point.

I have not heard about it since.

no1mad 

+1. Have your wife follow you around the block and listen to what she says. Who knows, like ColleenC said, maybe she'll insist that you get even more lights.

MVclyde

Well......the wifey is very supportive of my riding, but the night time thing is not so trivial in her mind. In the end, I'll probably ride to work after the time changes and she'll get used to it. I'd still like to raise her comfort level, though. It'll make the situation more pleasant all the way around!!

MVclyde

This is a great idea. She would do this. Plus I might get to buy more gear.

Hasty

I love riding at night. Fewer cars, bright lights, colder. Just avoid late hours like midnight on weekends because of the drunks. Unknown roads can be a problem at night with limited visibility.

daredevil

Shine a Dinotte tail light in her face.

mtalinm

same here. she saw me pull in with my MagicShine light and hasn't said a thing since. at first she thought I was a car with one headlight out.

and now I have the MS taillight, oh myyyyyy

gunner65

I have the magicshine front (900 lumin) and rear light I also put one of the cheapo 5 LED blinkers on my helmet. The front magicshine is brighter than the H4 halogen on my motorcycle and the magicshine rear is damn near blinding too.

mtalinm

I have a blinkie on my helmet, a planetbike blinker on my trunk bag, and the magicshine taillight strapped to my rear fender.

AlmostTrick

It has nothing to do with having balls, or asking permission. It's all about taking the concerns of the most significant person in your life seriously whether or not you believe they are justified. Present her with the fact that most night car/bike crashes are due to cyclists not being lit up or riding properly. Demonstrate how effective your lighting and reflective systems really are, and explain all the other techniques you practice to keep yourself safe.

I always try to respect my wife's concerns, as she does mine. But then we've only been happily married for 27 years so what do I know?

Seattle Forrest

This is the best advice of the thread.

When I ride at night, I'm more worried about being taken out by a pothole than by a drunk driver. So I don't ride faster than my lights (and the city's) allow. You can probably find routes that don't take you past bars at closing time, or through ghettos and freeways. You can do a lot to reduce her risk of getting the phone call she's worried about.

Speaking of risk, what you pay in being near cars without a metal shield, you get back in not having to worry about your ticker. At least on average...

Seattle Forrest

I'm glad someone said this.

531phile 

I use to know someone who I consider really smart, he insisted never to ride at night. I didn't ask him why, but he's one of those people who think a computer and quotes statistics. I always questioned whether I should follow his lead, but having no car, sometimes it is not an option for me so I continue to ride at night. I have at least two rear lights and two front. Once the daylight savings time change takes into effect, I'll start to right with my Niterider light and I just ordered an airzound and lightweights power reflectors to decrease my chance to become a statistic.

Lanceoldstrong

I ride a lot at night to train in January and February. (California has it's perks)
Like others have said, once you get your lights and reflective gear sorted out I think night riding is very safe.

My experience has been that training rides starting about 7:30 or 8PM are great because there are so few cars on the road.
Most people are home on the couch watching the tube during "prime time".
Prime for TV and prime for night riding too.

The very few cars on the road argument went a long way towards helping my wife feel better about my safety.

tjspiel

Since I enjoy having my wife take my balls out of my pants fairly often, I've learned that ignoring her concerns is not in my long term best interest.