Lights For Bikes 2018

Bicycle lights serve two functions.  They help us to see where we are going when it’s dark outside, and they make us more visible when we are riding around other traffic.

In the past few years a quiet revolution has been taking place in the realm of bicycle lighting. The advent of CREE LEDs along with lithium rechargeable batteries and superior optics has been nothing less than astonishing.  It is now possible to purchase really good, strong lights that last a long time, and the price is quite reasonable.

We are not going to get into prices and brands here, but rather, let’s consider some situations, and our best recommendation for specifications to meet them.

For daylight road riding:

            Front light ~ Look for a white light, in the 800 to 1200 lumen range.

Rechargeable. At least 1.5 to 2 hour burn time on high. Handlebar mounted.

Rear light ~  To be “daylight visible, these should emit at least 150 lumens, 

and have multiple flash and solid modes.  Again, rechargeable.  Burn time 

should be at least two hours on the bright setting

            

Expect to paybetween $75 and $120 for the front light and $40 to $60 for 

the rear.

For night time road riding:

Oddly, much lessillumination is required at night on the road.  Your LED type lights have a very high point source intensity, and are visible for a great distance at night.  It takes a lot less power to give you sufficient light to see and ride safely.

Front Light ~ White light, in the 400 to 800 lumen range.  Rechargeable.  

2 hour burn time on high.  Handlebar mount is adequate, but mounting lower 

on the bike gives better contrast illumination of road surface hazards.

            Rear light ~  I would recommend the same thing as above.

            Expect to pay between $50 and $75 for the front light and $40 to $60 for the 

Rear.

For night time path riding or mountain biking:

More light is required at the front of the bike for off-road activities because there is much less ambient light in these areas.  On the other hand, a less powerful tail light is just fine.  Light mounting strategy also changes when we go off-road.  The ideal setup is to have two headlights, one mounted on the handlebar, and one helmet mounted.  Next best, if only one headlight, use it on a helmet mount.

            The emphasis on a helmet mounted light for off-road riding is practical.  Roads are built for cars, and even a “curvy” road is fairly straight for cycling concerns.  Paths and trails twist and turn sharply.  Often it is desirable to shine a light into a tight turn, and it’s notpractical to turn the handlebar mounted light.

Safety Note:  Do not use a helmet mounted light with a MIPShelmet.  The mount will interfere with the function of the MIPSinner shell.  (I’m not sure yet how to solve this one, but I’ll publish info as soon as I have it.)

            Handlebar light ~ Minimum 400 lumens.  To 800 lumen (or better) 

            Rechargeable.  Two hour burn time at 800 lumen setting.

            Helmet mounted light ~  about the same as handlebar.

            Rear light ~  anything over 50 lumen is sufficient.  Rechargeable.  At least 

four hours burn time.

Expect to paybetween $75 and $120 for bright high quality front lights and 

at lease $30 for a decent tail light.

PREPARING FOR THE AUDAX 200K

Or
How to get ready to ride 125 miles in one day, Audax Style

What follows is sound advice to get riders ready for this ride, but…  The following plan is not set in stone.  It assumes the rider is starting from  a relatively modest level of condition.  The biggest factor is actually time in the saddle.  Hopefully, what follows will prove helpful.


Let’s begin with some basics…

Everyone enjoys riding on a nice light bike, but… 
Plan to pack your bike from the very beginning.  These are self supported rides.  That means, if you want or need it, you must carry it.  Specifically, the predictability of weather in north Georgia being what it is, we strongly suggest you pack a rain jacket and sunscreen.  Given the time of  year, plan to carry at least two water bottles.  Carry your own spare tubes!  If your bike has any very individual and cranky parts, carry spares!  If you have any specific dietary or medical needs, pack for them.
                  We strongly suggest that you start your training on a bike that is loaded out for the tour, and then ride a bike with that load, or even a bit heavier, whenever you can.  The old maxim, “Train heavy and race light!” applies, even though this is not a race.

 Words about pacing. I’m often asked about the pace of these rides. The intent of this question is always, “Will I be able to do this thing?” It’s an honest question, but a simple and straight forward answer is often misleading. We need to maintain about 14.5 mph average between stops.  That means something like 10 mph overall average.  So first we must discuss averages. (Sorry, but this really is necessary.)

Averages Defined. Most cycle computers have an average speed function. This usually does not record unless the bike is moving! That means that this is a rolling or moving average speed. Unfortunately this is misleading in two ways. First off, rolling average does not get you to the end of the ride. It is your over-all average that gets you to the finish. Very few bicycle computers have an overall average function.  Second, being able to maintain a high average for a shorter distance, does not necessarily translate to a sustained lesser over-all average.

Here’s the straight story on the Audax Ride. The over-all average will be close to 11 mph. To do this a rolling average of about 14.5 mph is necessary. This is a bit harder than it may seem. Simple arithmetic tells the tale. To deliver a 14.5 mph average for over eight and a half hours, requires that one must be going faster than that for most of that time. Bear in mind, there are plenty of hills and one mountain on the Audax Ride Route.

Can you do it? The best way to answer that question is to start training, and then do the Tune Ups. By the end of the five Tune Up Rides, you and I will both know what your chances of a successful completion are. Be ready to chat with me about that during and after the Tune Ups. I’m pretty good at judging a rider’s ability, and I will not pull any punches.

A Bit More on Average Speeds
It’s a good idea to use actual overall averages throughout your training for the Audax 200K.  Here’s an example that shows both how and why this should be done.
Let us say that a rider named Dave goes out for a training ride.

• Dave leaves his home on the bike at precisely 2:00 PM
• Dave rides well and feels good and returns to his home at precisely 4:00 PM
• Dave has been gone exactly two hours.
• Dave looks at his cycle computer and notes that it says he traveled  exactly 22.5 miles at an average of 15 mph.  Dave is happy.  He will tell everyone he averaged 15 mph on his ride.  From an Audax standpoint, Dave is wrong. 
• In point of fact, Dave’s overall average was 11.25 mph!
• Why?  What happened to the other 3.75 mph?
• Simple.  Take Dave’s total distance of 22.5 miles and divide it by his total time of 2 hours.
• What happened?  Well, Dave’s computer only records when he is moving, but time progresses even when he is stopped.  Every time Dave stopped at a traffic light, or stopped to fill water bottles, or ducked into a store for a “nature break,” he was not moving, but time was passing. 
• In this simplified example, Dave was actually moving for an hour and a half, but all the two hours counts.

When we are training for an Audax Ride we need to use overall average speeds.  If our cycle computer, or GPS, has an overall average function, we should use that.  If not, we need only note the time of the beginning of the ride, and of the end of the ride, then divide the total distance by the total elapsed time.  ‘Nuff  said.


Why on Earth should I want to do this? Like mountain climbers say, “Because it’s there!” The sense of accomplishment after meeting a challenge is enormous. The camaraderie on these things is great. They are, in a word, fun! And the Monday morning bragging rights are pretty good too.

Here’s a recipe:
 Start with two each “workout sessions” per week.  These should be higher effort activities, hill repeats or intervals.  These could be done inside on a trainer.
To the “workout rides” add one low effort “integration ride” of  about two to three hours. 
That amounts to a total of about five hours per week.

Around the end of April, add another, low effort, outside ride of one to two hours.  Bringing your weekly total to between six and seven hours.

To this add another relatively short ride of an hour or so. See, you’re already doing about eight hours.
Gradually increase the times on both of your outside rides, until, by the end of May, you are doing a two hour ride and a four to five hour ride every week. That’s four training sessions a week, totaling eight to nine hours.
In June, add another short ride, of about an hour. This one should include a 15 minute warm up section, about a half hour of hill repeats at moderate intensity, and a 15 minute cool down. Then, near the end of the month, add another hour, either as a separate ride at low intensity, or by extending one of the other four or five rides.
Along about that time, I’ll start doing Audax Tune Up Rides.

The Tune Ups. Look for these rides in June, July, and August. We do three of them. Two are about 45 miles long, and the last one is about 65 miles. We do these for several reasons. The first and most important, is to give us all a chance to practice riding in this group-stays-together-controled-pace style of riding. The second is to act as an assurance that each individual will be able to accomplish the goal. The routes for the Tune Ups are deliberately more hilly and challenging than the overall route of the Audax Ride.  If you can do all of the “Tune Ups,” especially the 65 milers, then you are capable of doing the 200K.

One last item:  This blog started as a means of communication and information about the Audax Ride.  If you care to see more, feel free to go back and "mine" the years of posts.  Not everything pertains to these rides, but a lot does, and there's a lot of other stuff in here too.

What in the world is an “Audax Ride”?

On Sunday, September 9, 2018 we will ride the annual Audax 200K.  This post is intended to provide the basic information about this ride.

Who is this “we”?  Well, it’s me, and anyone who wants to come along and is in condition to do so.  If you think you might be interested, please read on.

Let’s start with a definition.

Audax (oh docks) – A style of group bicycle touring found mostly in France, but also in Holland and Belgium to lesser degrees.  A steady pace is set by a road captain, who is in charge of a group of fellow club members.  In modern times the pace is usually about 22 km/h (13.5 mph) between stops; the itinerary and resting places are planned in advance. 
(from the Randonnuers USA website)


Audax is a riding style not often found in the United States. But what is an Audax Tour?  It’s a group ride, where the group stays together. There is a group leader who is responsible for setting the pace. There is a predetermined route. There are reservations at the major stops for meals and lodging. It is a self-supported tour. The group carries what is needed to accomplish the tour. If a member of the group has a difficulty, the entire group stops and works as a team to fix the problem, be it mechanical, a flat, or other issue.

You find these types of ride in Europe a lot. There are clubs, and organizations of these things all over the continent. Some Audax events are long, multi-day affairs.
The ride we do is a 200K. That’s about 125 miles. We do it in one day. There are several rest stops along the way, and one really good lunch stop, with a full, sit-down meal. There is a large “snack” at the end of the ride. The usual tone of the ride is one of laughing chatter all day long. In short, it’s a lot of fun.

The whole point of this kind of ride is to enjoy the day with others.  To ride with company.

Getting ready for the ride.  Doing 125 miles in one day can sound intimidating. Oddly, a fair number of riders who have done this one, have never gone farther than 65 miles at one time before ride day. It’s entirely “doable.” Preparation begins with simply getting on the bike. Gradually build time and capacity. The goal is to be doing 10 to 12 hours per week, by mid-August.  We have help and advice on that, and you won’t have to do it all alone.

We will provide two items that will assist prospective riders to prepare for the 200K.  Just as important, these activities will help a rider to determine if he or she actually wants to do it.

Item One:  We will do a series of “Tune Up” rides.  These get progressively longer, and cover terrain that will prepare a rider for the long event.  We ride the tune ups in “Audax Style.”  The group stays together in mutual support.  They, like the 200K are self-supported.  No SAG truck.  No "staffed "break points."  It's, "Do it ourselves or it doesn't get done.  Bring it ourselves or it doesn't get brung."  But the spirit of the thing is ,"One for all, and all for one!"

The tune ups start with a ride of approximately 35 miles.  Then,  at approximately two week intervals, we do four more “Tune Ups.”  Two of these rides are 45 miles long and then there are two each 65 mile rides.  These rides are designed to prepare riders for the 200K.  More importantly, they allow prospective riders to decide if this style of touring ride is for them or not.
                  The “Tune Ups” will be ridden Audax Style.  The group will stay together.  While not strictly “no drop rides,” we will not ride off and drop anyone.  Sometimes it happens that a rider has to “abandon.”  If this occurs, the group will work to get that rider to a safe location, where there is food, shelter, and help, so that they may arrange “pickup” and do so in safety.

Item Two:  We will post a plan that any rider can use to prepare for these rides.  Look for that in a post on this blog tomorrow.