Even though it breaks my summer-loving heart just to mention it, it’s getting darker earlier.  This sneaks up on a lot of cyclists every year, but I suspect it will hit a lot of the new riders this year. So, please, a gentle reminder – if there’s even the slightest chance you’re going to be out on the road after 7p (as of today, anyway), please light up. It doesn’t have to be an expensive HID kit. Knogs will do. But you need something.
Update: Thanks to GamJams.net for the nod. Of course, I now wish I’d been a little more useful with the lighting links (like this or this), but all you folks coming here now probably already know what you need. I hope you’ll look around a bit (I just put up a load of shots from Sunday’s ING Direct Capital Criterium, including the 35+ and 1/2/3 races) And I’ll just take one more sentence to thank Mike for his tireless efforts at building community in the MABRA region.
Beth
This wasn’t lighting related, but I was right behind a car yesterday that took out a cyclist in a bike lane. Right hook into an alley. It was really awful to see — I’ve never seen anyone get hit by a car like that before, and I hope to never see it again.
He was okay, I think. I stopped to give him my name and number (I saw the driver hit him, I saw the driver not use a turn signal) and to see if he needed a ride, since I had a bike rack. Looked like his Pista survived without damage, too, which is pretty amazing considering the hit they both took and the way he went flying.
So, yeah, lights. And sirens. And screaming neon clothing. Drivers are fucking blind.