Do you ever get afraid? (night riding)

[Geonz]

I don't commute, but I had a scary episode during my last double that's made me think twice about night riding. I was on Hwy 128 between Napa Valley and Cardiac - very isolated, rural road and all the traffic on it was big trucks pulling boats coming back from a day on the lake, driving very fast. It was probably 8 pm and quite dark - seemingly moonless as it would through a big valley with very little sky visible, no streetlights, etc.. There were no cyclists around me for a period of about 5 miles, and even though I had ridden this same stretch of road in the dark before, the last time I had done it I had been with someone (Veronica), which makes a huge difference.

I didn't have a single "close call" with those trucks, but I just got all in my head about what if's, and kicking myself for taking such risks, etc. Finally in about 5 miles I found another cyclist (female) to ride with the whole rest of the way - which was a HUGE relief. (Especially when my front primary light burned out while climbing Cardiac! )

Would your return trip also be in the dark? I find I much prefer riding in morning darkness to evening darkness.

So it was scary ... not because of anything outside, but because of the stuff inside your head (which is still totally valid - it just matters where it's coming from).

Analytically speaking, is the risk in fact greater? What other things should we not do because of that level of risk? Do you ride fast downhills sometimes? (That's where *my* head interferes with my riding).

Just some thoughts... I ride in the dark fairly frequently, but generally it doesn't bother me. I know horrible things can and do happen - and I think of all the people I know who *have* to be in much riskier situations, and I think of sailors of old and new and coal miners and hope we all get through the night. (This area is reasonably safe, too.)
Around here, lots more people have been clocked in broad daylight

[maillotpois]

Sue - it probably was objectively scary as well (speeding, probably inebriated, boat truck drivers whizzing past on completely dark roads). But was it scarier than other night riding I have done - including riding through the night on a rural road with some twisty descents, etc.? I don't know. It was just the first time I'd let myself get freaked out about it.

On downhills, sometimes my head interferes and sometimes I can completely turn it off. Which is weird. I totally get that that's where your head gets to you.

Amazing the power of your mind, huh?

[Starfish]

I don't commute on the bike, and hardly ever ride in the dark...so grain of salt, here.

But, the thing that popped into my mind, regarding "sketchy" neighborhoods, is that I keep hearing from law enforcement types that it is good to vary the routine or route...not to be predictable in any one place at any one time every day.