Thursday Thoughts: Thinking about Fall Equinox Night Ride

This year’s Autumnal Equinox is on 22 September, at 4:44 P.M. This is the point in Earth’s orbit where the apparent position of the sun appears to cross the equator, moving southward.  At this time the hours of daylight and darkness are approximately equal.  The date of the Equinox marks the beginning of Autmn.

One might reasonably ask, “What does all this astronomical stuff have to do with cycling?”  and,  “Why is this stuff appearing on this blog?”

There are two answers, one general, and one specific.

Generally, cycling is an outdoor activity.  If it gets dark outdoors, we either don’t ride,or we have to make some arrangements to do so in the dark.

Specifically, a lot of us get a kick out of marking each of these “Quarter” and “Cross-quarter” points in the year, with a good night ride.  For some years now, I’ve been leading “Seasonal Celebration Night Rides” on the Mondays closest to these orbital dates.  The Monday nearest the coming Equinox is 23 September.

The ride, in broad strokes:

It’s just a tad over 40 miles.  It’s a loop.  We will keep the group together for mutual support and safety.  The pace will be a moderate one, likely near a 14 mph rolling average.  There are no planned rest stops, and really there is nothing in the way of services along the route.  While nothing in this general area can be said to be flat, this loop is fairly gentle, and contains some very nice long stretches with little elevation change.  The roads are mostly semi-rural with low traffic.  There is not a lot in the way of lighting on this loop, and we won’t have a moon for most of the ride.  It will be dark.

The Tone:

Over the years we’ve been doing this ride, folks have generally reported that they enjoyed this route.  We try to keep the pacing at a moderate level, so that this is a conversational ride.  I like to hear the chatter and laughter as we ride along.  This is not a ride for “heroics,” but rather a more of a “social and recreational” outing.

Details, Deatails:

The route starts and ends at the Fredrick Brown Amphitheater, in Peachtree City

Start time is 7:30 PM (sharp)

Sunset will be at 7:33 PM

Civil Twilight ends at 7:58 PM

A waning gibbous moon, 81% illuminated, will be rising at 10:19 PM.

Do the math.  That’s over two hours with no significant light in the sky.  We should be nearing the end of the ride by the time the moon rises.

REQUIRED:

• Helmet
• Good strong headlights, either helmet or bar mounted, forward pointing bright white light to show you the road. (do not depend on the lights of others!)
• Good strong tail light (red)
• Reflective vest or sash
• Reflective ankle bands
• Bring your own spares
• You, your bike, a smile