Cycling over Sally Gap at night....

The Noble Nudge

Considering this but think its a death wish......
Have the lights and bought a 2nd set, have flashy LEDS for arms and legs....
Leaving about 7pm through Tallaght over the hell fire.....
Anyone currently doing it?
Thanks

AstraMonti

If you are not afraid of the dark you 'll be fine :pac:

Zyzz

Make sure the lights you have up front are very bright to ensure good visibility in the dark.

Done it before with a fairly poor set of lights and it was not fun at all!

The Noble Nudge

AstraMonti wrote: »

If you are not afraid of the dark you 'll be fine :pac:

Not afraid of the dark just motorists.......:D
and Tallaght in the dark.........;):cool:

The Noble Nudge

Zyzz wrote: »

Make sure the lights you have up front are very bright to ensure good visibility in the dark.

Done it before with a fairly poor set of lights and it was not fun at all!

Any recommendations on lights? I remember Lumen had a thread on here but cant find it......

Presume me Aldi €7.99 jobs aren't up to scratch....

coastwatch

Looks like ckear skies tonight, so not as dark as you might think. Expect sleepwalking sheep though.

The Noble Nudge

coastwatch wrote: »

Looks like ckear skies tonight, so not as dark as you might think. Expect sleepwalking sheep though.

Nearly forgot about them bad boys........

The Noble Nudge

May test out the light first.....see where im at....so to speak.....

Zyzz

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

Any recommendations on lights? I remember Lumen had a thread on here but cant find it......

Presume me Aldi €7.99 jobs aren't up to scratch....

Id use my big ebay lights, they are 20 something quid but are incredibly bright. They are too bright for regular use but when the roads go dark and quiet I switch em on and happy days :pac:

Tenzor07

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

Have the lights and bought a 2nd set, have flashy LEDS for arms and legs....

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

Any recommendations on lights?
Presume me Aldi €7.99 jobs aren't up to scratch....

Well for starters flashy Led's are only good for commuting.. And if you have cheapo lights well, they'd not be much good either..

No way would I do this spin alone at night, bring a couple of mates..

Personally speaking I would want something like the Niterider Lumia 700 on the bars, and another one as backup on a helmet strap/mount..

mrbike

There's some great advise on riding at night on the Audax Ireland website : http://www.audaxireland.org/the-saddlebag/night-riding/

On a nice clear night, nothing beats it.

mrbike

Make sure you check the weather before you head out as well...

http://www.met.ie/latest/reports.asp

Check the Dublin Airport weather, and subtract a few degrees at take the altitude into account. You don't want to be up there at night below 0 on slick tyres...

You probably should check for rain as well : http://www.met.ie/latest/rainfall_radar.asp

Valentine1

I wouldn't fancy heading over the Gap at night on my own. Aside from the stoned boy racers who are often up there you wouldn't know what sort of strange characters you might meet up there.

Also in Winter icy roads could be a problem.

Planet X

Why didn't you do it during our long hot summer?
Asking for trouble at this time of the year.

Tomred13

Fairplay NobleNudge

Go for it.. some great advice here already, first test out your lights up howth, always bring spare batterys and be prepared to change them in the dark by feel, as mentioned check the forecast and be prepared for the cold. i use two lights for nightime spins and mtbing, one 400lumen on the bars and 800lumen on my head for dark roads and back up, plus a load of flashing lights on the bike. Remember to take it handy when your out as you will only see potholes and road debris at the last minute, and always tell people what route your taking.. most of all enjoy!!!!! nightime biking is great,, less cars n less people.

Dermot

DaithiMC

Valentine1 wrote: »

I wouldn't fancy heading over the Gap at night on my own. Aside from the stoned boy racers who are often up there you wouldn't know what sort of strange characters you might meet up there.

Also in Winter icy roads could be a problem.

Yeah, wrap up - a puncture or a mechanical and the heat is stripped out of you in minutes...... in August!

07Lapierre

Bring spare lights/batteries, two spare tubes, mobile phone etc. (is there a phone signal up at sally gap?)

Lusk_Doyle

Be on the look out for hapless Brazilian lads too with keys that need help partying in the woods!

Wishbone Ash

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

..... have flashy LEDS for arms and legs....

Concentrate more on being able to see where you're going. You won't have to worry about being seen. Unlike urban cycling, on an unlit road, any light will alert motorists to your presence.

07Lapierre wrote: »

(is there a phone signal up at sally gap?)

There is during the day anyway. I often send Mrs WA a text when I reach the crossroads (which is about 70kms from my home) just to let her know I'm ok.

I'd love to do it at midnight but it wouldn't be fair (family wise).

Plastik

D1, Tallaght, Boharnabreena, Featherbeds, Enniskerry, Greystones. Just in the door. Beautiful evening to be heading up the mountains. There is a beautiful tranquility to cycling the deserted roads.

CatFromHue

Here's a good guide for buying lights for use on dark country roads.

http://eddys.com/articles/how-bright-is-that-light-ig493/

I have a 2Watt light and thought it was the bees knees but then I used it once on an unlight road and was pretty disappointed.

I now use a 300lumen light as well as the 2 Watt light and would consider this the minimum you should use.

allez

Just saying, beware the sallygap sasquatch. YOU SHOULD FEAR THE DARK

They can 45km/h, i'd like to see anyone do those speeds up the gap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmr-cDD0Hdk

inc21

allez wrote: »

Just saying, beware the sallygap sasquatch. YOU SHOULD FEAR THE DARK

They can 45km/h, i'd like to see anyone do those speeds up the gap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmr-cDD0Hdk

Looks like you have thing about bigfoot

allez

inc21 wrote: »

Looks like you have thing about bigfoot

He's Real haters gonna hate haha Nah think the worst thing ive ever seen up there was people sunbathing at the summit of glenmacnass who should have been wearing more clothes and of course the obligatory curious sheep.

Zyzz

allez wrote: »

He's Real haters gonna hate haha Nah think the worst thing ive ever seen up there was people sunbathing at the summit of glenmacnass who should have been wearing more clothes and of course the obligatory curious sheep.

lol.

inc21

I was out this morning before light.
It is nice and quiet no cars no noise.
It was very scary though coming down the hill on unfamiliar road on a wooded area and only light you have is your 6.99 aldi torch.
Aldi light is pretty bright but still not enough for downhill speeds. No help from the sky, you could just about tell that there was road looking up to the tree tops.
Now it was no Sally Gap but very enjoyable all the same.

mirrormatrix

Can I ask the obvious question? Why?

Plenty of roads out there that are well lit and much safer to cycle on at night. Plus you could always do the gap at the weekend. It's not like you're going to see much up there at night, so you could really just go for a night cycle anywhere. Do hill reps somewhere lit up if you want the climbing miles.

Personally I think going up there at night, even with a really good set of lights, is just asking for trouble.

Plastik

What sort of trouble exactly? If the weather is ok then what inherent danger is there of going over the Sally Gap. Is there some sort of nighttime wildebeest up there that we don't know about?

07Lapierre

Plastik wrote: »

What sort of trouble exactly? If the weather is ok then what inherent danger is there of going over the Sally Gap. Is there some sort of nighttime wildebeest up there that we don't know about?

Lack of visibility/light maybe?

Plastik

What lack of visibility? There's exactly the same sort of visibility as there is on every other unlit country road - none - it's dark. Are we scared of the dark? You don't go up there without suitable lights, there's nobody arguing otherwise.

Apart from that it's almost safer in terms of traffic because in general you can see it coming from a long, long way off as opposed to a set of headlights suddenly lighting up the ditch one corner ahead of you.

mirrormatrix

Darkness. That's plenty trouble enough. You can't see as well as during the day (no matter how good your lights are) and hence run the risk of hitting potholes/ice etc. It's obviously your own choice whether to head up there or not, but I don't think that there is any arguing that going up there at night is inherently less safe than cycling in a well lit area.

Unless of course you don't have any well lit roads to cycle on. In which case I can see some sense in this.