Let there be light!

The local bike shop received a stack of lights for our upcoming winter and I liked the look of the Cygolite MiliOn 200. Unlike other helmet mounted lights I have seen, on this one the light and li-ion battery are together in one neat little unit. The velcro strap on the helmet mount could have been a bit longer though as I was unable to mount it in my preferred position at the front of my helmet due to the large spacing between the air vents. It fitted very securely on the top though -

The light output is fantastic and simply does not compare to the lights I had mounted previously. The run to Scouts with my eldest is now done one hour after sunset and I can see quite clearly on the unlit bike paths with this light. It was a good thing too as tonight I saw that someone had dumped a bunch of old mattresses on the path. Further up someone had dumped all their tree cuttings over their back fence straight on to the path as well! Honestly sometimes I think I am just better off sticking to the road!

Sheldon Brown Memorial ride

Each year the LBS holds a ride around the local lake in memoriam to Sheldon Brown - bicycle guru who gave so much of his time to helping others. He replied to one of my email questions (of which he received hundreds per day apparently!) shortly before he died - it was regarding the torque on a Shiman Nexus 7 speed hub if you change to a smaller front chain wheel.

It was a great evening for riding and I enjoyed 'letting loose' on the trike around the bike paths without having the kids on board. Though I quickly discovered that a number of the paths are on a rather severe angle which meant I needed to do a bit of leaning on the trike so as not to tip! It is not so bad with a bit of weight in the front (ie if the kids were in the box) but the camber of roads and paths needs to be watched when empty! Some of the other riders who I had not met before were also a bit amazed at my ability to keep up on the hills until they heard the motor noise! It was a bit dark on the way home and though I was lit up like a Christmas tree I had trouble seeing the odd obstacle so may look at investing in a helmet mounted light that will enable me to brighten up the path ahead properly. I can't really use handlebar mounted lights as I have no room and the light would be blocked by the kids sitting in the box.

Some shots of the trike as the sun set over the lake -