Riding at Night

Tips from the Dark Side of the Road

The road around the next bend was beyond the beam of my headlight. West Virginia mountain roads are very dark at night, so I was riding into the unknown. I slowed down, leaned the bike, entered the corner with due caution, and gently accelerated as I came out of the turn. No traffic. Cool air. Freedom. YAHOO!

As I stood my bike up, I saw the deer in front of me. Oh $h¡†. There wasn’t one, there were three. No time to think! I countersteered around the first one. Back the other way to miss the second. Then back again, just as the deer, thankfully, bound its way to safety. WHEW! I managed to slalom through them with the adeptness of an expert downhill skier. But, make no mistake, this wasn’t skill. It was luck. Sometimes you have to give credit where it’s due. I gave an appreciative nod to Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck and good fortune.

Riding at night is both beautiful, and fraught with danger. Meeting a deer, or three, is just one of the nighttime hazards motorcyclists face. There are others. Here is a quick, albeit not all-inclusive, list.

The Usual Night Riding Tips
(You Already Know This, But Let’s Get It Over With)

You won’t see debris on the road until it appears in your headlight: You have to be ready for it. You can’t assume that there will never be anything there. Give more space behind the vehicle in front, so if it does kick something up, you have time to react.

Temporary blindness from oncoming headlights: Just when your night vision is starting to adjust—boom—some SUV rounds the bend with high beams ablazing, blinding you like you’re being interrogated by the secret police. Now you’re squinting, seeing spots, and hoping that curve you just entered doesn’t tighten up unexpectedly. Instead, look down and follow the fog line until the offending lights have passed.

Don’t outride your headlight: If you can’t stop within the distance you can see, you’re not riding—you’re gambling—and the ante may be something you’re not prepared to lose.

Use high beams when you can: enough said.

Wear reflective gear: I know, who wants to have that road worker meets Harley look, and I know many, maybe even most, won’t bother, but it can make a difference.

Clean your visor: One bug smear and a little glare, and suddenly you’re riding blind. If you are expecting rain, use Rain-X Plastic Water Repellent Spray on your visor. Raindrops bead up and roll off your visor even as it rains, enhancing your visibility.

Stay alert for impaired drivers: Booze, drugs, phones, texting, you know, the usual suspects. After dark, you’re sharing the road with all kinds. Be extra alert.

Be aware of fatigue: Yours and theirs. This is another cause of impairment. You’re not as sharp at night, even if you feel fine. And neither are drivers.

Expect temperature drops: The heat of the day is gone. Roads cool. Tires cool. You cool. Have the right gear. With a lower temperature AND rain, you could be in for some uncomfortable riding if you’re not prepared.

Fog happens: And when it does, your headlight, especially your high beams, creates a disorienting wall of white. First thing, turn off your high beams and slow down. And, consider if getting off the road is your best choice. Part of being a great rider is knowing when not to ride.

Mind the road surface: Oil, wet leaves, tar snakes, they’re all much harder to see and wheeeee! Way more “fun” after dark.

Make sure your phone is charged and has emergency contacts handy: Breaking down at night isn’t just inconvenient. It could leave you in a sketchy situation.

Ride slower than you think you need to: Everything takes longer to see, and what you see can often be ambiguous, resulting in a longer reaction time, especially if you’re tired.

Be cautious in rural or remote areas: If you go down, it may be morning before anyone even notices. And what if you go off the road into a boggy ditch? That could be very unpleasant. Consider riding with an emergency beacon.

Avoid creepy spots: Scary creatures come out at night, and we’re not just talking about the four-legged kind. Stay safe.

Night Riding: A Few Tips Only Been-There-Done-That Can Teach You

I also want to share some lesser-known hazards. And, you’ve probably guessed it, I learned these the hard way. I never crashed, but there have been some harrowingly close calls. Hopefully, if you learn about them, you can ride just a little bit safer at night. Learn from my mistakes, as it were. You’re welcome.

Fool Me Once…

It’s overcast. No moon. No light from anywhere. Just my headlight piercing the blackness. Up ahead, I see tail lights directly in front of me. So, what do I assume? The road continues straight. Only it didn’t.

The highway I was on made a quick turn to the left, but, unbeknownst to me, a smaller road veered off to the right, then curved back to run in the same direction as the highway. When I saw taillights on that smaller road, it looked like my highway kept going straight.

The same thing can happen if a road loops around and lines back up with itself. You see headlights or taillights in the distance and assume the road goes straight.

It is not me being an inattentive or unskilled rider. It’s a common phenomena called cognitive distortion. Your brain takes the visual cues that it has and fills in the blanks. If you’re here, and the tail lights ahead are directly in front of you, your brain concludes: Ah ha—straight road. For motorcyclists, that can mean a detour into the ditch, and then possibly the ER. Stay alert out there, because sometimes, what looks like the road ahead… isn’t.

Now You See It, Now You Don’t

The truck comes over the hill, and I am momentarily blinded as its headlights shine directly at me. I want to make sure I stay well clear of it, so I look down for the fog line. No line, just black tarmac with no clear delineation as to where the road ends, the shoulder begins, or which direction the road is about to turn. This happens when the road has been recently repaved. Sometimes it has just gotten so faded you can’t see it anymore. But for whatever the reason, it leaves you riding by luck and faith alone. You gotta love it!

Another stretch that nearly caught me was a highway that took a hard 90-degree left. At the outside elbow of the turn, a side road met the highway, almost like a T-junction, but with a stop sign for the side road. Here’s the kicker: instead of the fog line guiding me safely around the corner, it just… ended, as the highway widened to the right until it met the side road.

So what did I do? I followed the edge of the highway until it ended too. No pavement, no clear turn, just a fence and a dark field right in front of me. This was a “Where the hell did the road go?” and “I’m-glad-I-practice-my-emergency-braking” moment, if ever there was one.

In daylight, you’d never think twice. But at night, it’s the kind of road design flaw that could put you in a ditch.

There isn’t a magic answer. When riding at night, you have to take in all the clues available: the cut of the tree line; the centre line, unless it’s gone too, which it may very well be in a construction zone; power lines, a line of mailboxes, etc. Use whatever you can to position yourself safely. Especially because any of them could disappear or be misleading: there’s a clearing so no more trees; the power lines cross to the other side of the road. And, now that you know about cognitive distortion, that your brain, on its very own, will often arrive at the wrong conclusion, so you’ll need to pay even closer attention. But remember, riding while tired and paying close attention is somewhat antithetical. Like bone-tired attentiveness, knackered alertness, or foggy focus. Oxymorons all.

Construction Zones at Night—Now We’re Talking About Some Fun Riding

There are two big problems with construction zones: the added hazards it presents, and the fact that cars have no idea that motorcycles aren’t like cars. A car will drive on an uneven, rutted surface without even slowing down. But to cross a large rut, a motorcyclist may have to approach it at a 45-degree angle to get over it safely. Steel plates, especially if wet from dew or rain, can be especially hazardous to riders. Loose gravel, deep sand, or mud, I once rode through ten inches of oozing tire-sucking sludge in a Quebec construction zone, all make for a hard way forward for a motorcycle. But the car driver behind, clueless. The biggest danger from construction zones may not be the zone itself, but the drivers. They often pressure us from behind, tailgating or honking, thinking we’re holding them up.

IGNORE THEM! Here, too, is a place you have to ride your own ride. They don’t know that motorcycles face a different set of hazards; they’re not stupid, just ignorant. Don’t get mad at them, but don’t let them bully you either.

Change Isn’t Necessarily Bad

Road surfaces can change for all kinds of reasons. You might cross into a new county where the priorities are different—paved road on one side, gravel on the other. And, of course, in construction zones, the pavement often just stops, too.

Whatever the reason, hitting gravel at speed can be startling. Just remember: the last thing you want to do is grab a handful of front brake.

At night, you’ve got to expect the unexpected. So if the surface suddenly changes beneath you, stay cool. Don’t react. Ease off the throttle, keep your grip light, and let the bike do its thing.

If the car in front of you slams on the brakes, you may need to brake too, but be smart about it. Especially if there’s a little drop from the pavement to the gravel, ease off the brake just as your front wheel crosses the edge. Locking it up, even for a split second while it’s airborne, is a fast track to a story you really don’t want to be telling your grandkids.

“You Go Where You Look,” And Sometimes That’s Straight Into Trouble

One of the first things riding instructors teach: you go where you look. At night, staring into oncoming headlights isn’t just blinding, it’s dangerous. If you look at the oncoming headlights, your bike might just follow. If you look at the tail lights of the stopped car at the side of the road, your bike might just follow, too.

The fix: look down and to the right, toward the fog line or shoulder. It helps orient you and keeps your vision and your bike out of harm’s way.

Ditto

And remember, a lot of this applies to drivers, too. They get tired. They can’t see as well. They make bad assumptions. You get the idea. You can’t ride under the assumption that all is right with the world. At night, you have to have your Spidey senses on full alert.

Ride safe and be seen. I hope to see you out on the road sometime soon. Remember, becoming a skilled and confident rider is a marathon, not a sprint. Take it slow, enjoy the ride, and never stop learning. As I’ve discovered, motorcycling is a lifestyle and a lifelong adventure.

– John Lewis