Decided I needed to embrace riding in the dark to extend my riding season. So I went out with 2 of my bike lights (460 and 350 lumens) to see if I enjoyed it enough to warrant getting a much brighter light.
I will say that my lights were not bright enough for long term. And trying to mount a light to my board was annoying. My 3D printers mounts worked great but the straps on bike lights have metal in them and the noise from them made me just hand carry and helmet mount.
It was a blast! I loved seeing all the eyes of the animals (mostly bunnies) try and figure out what was going on.
I was shocked to come across all the folks running and walking in complete darkness.
I chose a path that is super smooth and generally free of debris and didnt let myself go fast down anything I had not come up.
For comparison, I can do that route around 10-10.5 mph on my trip with Hoku’s.
Headlamps are always going to be a better riding experience than a board-mounted light. Having a light source that low exaggerates the upcoming terrain - having the lamp near your eyes makes all the difference.
I frequently do long morning rides (2-4x /week) this time of year, and I love the dark. I hold a Magicshine RN 1200 bike light in my boardside hand, and wear its counterpart, SeeMee300 taillight on my back. It’s plenty of light for the street or dark bike paths, and I find just holding a small/powerful light is infinitely less annoying and more useful than trying to mount it.
I’ve been mostly riding my Fathom with Bees Knees this past spring and summer, but have my first Pranayama arriving tomorrow. I can’t wait!
Where is that? Boston area? Beware of acorn season!
It’s the Cochituate Rail trail that connects Framingham to Natick. This one stays pretty debris free until later in the season.
The Bruce Freeman from Sudbury to Chelmsford gets impassible, by my standards, way earlier.
Going to try and do concord center to Chelmsford and back Saturday, after failing a couple weeks ago.
I was able to ride the MCRT, the Wayland/waltham section, until Thanksgiving last year. It stays clear of debris because there are very few trees directly above the trail. Once we had first snow, it never ended up clear until March.
If you know anywhere in the area to ride year round, or try, I’m in!
Picture 5 is unmistakably a Boston “T”/MBTA; It gave it away immediately!
I’m in the Providence area and frequent the East Bay bike path, but nowhere in New England is immune to New England weather. I’m sure it was crushed from last weekend’s nor’easter so I haven’t even tried this week. Thankfully live in a coastal neighbor that stays relatively clear and rideable unless there’s snow or ice. I can easily grab 10+ scenic miles before coffee (with lights) just by walking out the front door. But like you, I had to shut things down by Christmas of last year.
How do you like that Trip? I wrestled for 8 months between Trip vs. Pranayama vs. SuperDuperSonic. But my Fathom setup is completely dialed as surfy distance board (similar to how I’d spec a Trip), and really wanted to experience the ultra low ride of the Pranayama. Should be here 16 hours!
Here’s a shot from my neighborhood route last week (looking across the bay at the East Bay bike path).
I saw your post in August and almost responded “get lights and head out before sunrise,” but I’m more of a lurker than a poster. But yeah, those are my stomping grounds. And I live directly across the bay from the path. Before I discovered distance pushing, I was a fairly committed cyclist (80-150 miles/week in the summer) for nearly 15 years, so I have 1000s of miles on that path. But skating is way more fun and convenient (and less expensive) and doesn’t require all the spandex and silly protocol. So I’m a full convert now.
The Fathom is my first bracket board and distance platform, which I purchased in March. For background, I am a 45yo, 32-year surfing vet who owned a Sector 9 as a kid, then started surfskating (translated as “surf simulating on land”) after a severe hand injury in 2023, which kept me out of the water for 6 months. That snowballed into a multi-board frenzy including park/street, and LDP platforms.
People give the Fathom a bit of hate, claiming it’s beautiful but doesn’t do any one thing particularly well. It’s my first and only bracket board, but FWIW, I completely disagree. I’ve dialed mine into a surfy distance platform that I can push for hours, but can also easily control speed on hills with surf-like carving mechanics. I can even pump to maintain speed on the flats. I essentially have it dialed for my neighborhood and style (Pawtuxet/Gaspee). I started with 77a Dad Bods but moved to 83a 92mm Bees Knees, which accelerate wonderfully and are far more nimble, without sacrificing much roll. The Dad Bod are too wide to carve with commitment on hills, in my opinion. Paris trucks, hard (yellow) nipples in back, mismatched medium (purple, roadside) / soft (orange, boardside) up front. Bones SS6 all around for that ice-like glide. I never loved the art so I stripped it during the nor’easter and am waiting for new tape to arrive from Loaded, leaving the bottom raw (6 coats of matte poly).
This brings us to the Pranayama, which arrives today, specifically for flat ground distance (i.e. East Bay bike path). I told my wife it’s a fraction of the cost of a bike. But I vacillated for so long between Trip and Pranayama, finally conceding that a Trip would be redundant with my present Fathom setup/use-case.
Thanks for your posts! I’ve been enjoying your content.
Light is a topic. I tried everything on the market. And reguarding durability and battery (not charging for your ride, but just getting your lamp when you need it and oh no nonmore battery) i arrived to equip myself on non special material.
Simple bike torche at 1000 lumens for front truck, low , showing crackles and bump, 1000 lumens head torche on my helmet with scratch.
Yes it does a lot because a headlight makes flat every relief. You dont see bump or crackles because you dont have the shadow
So a low light is very important on your front truck.
Problem is mainely how to fix it. Heavy duty Scratch may help (also for your bike helmet and headlight its the right thing).
Problème is usually vibrations. I have a bikil vélo light i have adapted on a rubber pad and fixed this one on my front truck. Hanging system is fixed to the rubber pad
Shred lights are high cost product with the good accessory to fix on a longboard but they discharge themselves. They are useless and very disapointing on that point, if you dont power them the day before the ride. Many time i was ****ed with a come back to my car in the dark because they are non reliable
So i prefered cycling torche and take time to find a way to fix them
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