By the time you read this most of the country will have made the switch to Daylight Saving Time. Sure, I'm tickled to have that extra hour of light, but I'll still face the occasional post-sunset commute home. And night riding just ain't the thrill it used to be when I was a young buck. Generally speaking, your ability to see at night deteriorates with age, and a twilight spin in my mid-40s demands way more preparation to keep the excitement meter from going off the dial. You've probably heard the sobering stats: A disproportionately high rate of accidents occur between dusk and dawn.
The most basic issue-get ready now -is lack of visibility. The wonks at the National Safety Council (NSC) confirm that 90 percent of a rider's reaction depends on vision. And the nighttime riding disadvantage is compounded by the vagaries of getting older. At the back of my mind I keep hearing "The eyes are the first things to go."
Add roads with no overhead lighting, the sensitivity to light (headlights) many riders and drivers experience and the compromised distance vision of aging riders, and it's easy to see why it can be a battlefield out there at night. And if you think it's a stretch for drivers to spot motorcyclists in the full light of day, our single headlight is essentially invisible to the cagers after sundown. Apart from watching out for tired, clueless drivers, there's also Bambi to consider; wild animals tend to be more active after dusk.
That's a handful, so we asked Los Angeles optometrist Dr. Diana Risko (also a longtime rider) for some, uh, clarity. "The retinas are mostly designed for light situations," she explains. "Only around 15 percent of their receptors are made for the dark. Darkness makes the eye's pupil expand [dilate], and the headlights of an oncoming car basically set off all the receptors in your eye, giving you only a white flash in your vision." She adds, "Astigmatism [a curve to the cornea] is fairly common and often doesn't require correction. But it can make blurred vision more likely and can contribute to eyestrain."
Before you get all gloomy, know there are ways to prepare for your ride once the sun goes down.
Prep
A simple way to arm yourself against the evening is to prep your ride. That means giving everything a thorough scrub before you hit the street. Headlights, taillights, signal lights, windshields and helmet visors should be cleaned at least twice a week.
If you ride with a full-face helmet, make sure the shield is scratch- and fog-free. A scored visor can create light refraction and make two headlights seem like four; you won't know what's coming from where. Keeping fog at bay is a breeze with our favorite home remedy: Remove your helmet's visor and spit over the inside of it. Wipe your drool off with a clean rag, and bam!-antifog coating. (Shaving cream has a similar effect.) There are a variety of inexpensive solutions available that do the trick, too-we like Cat Crap ($3.99) for the cool name. Bigger spenders can spring for Fog City's Pro Shield antifog inserts ($17 at modernworld.com). Any of them are more effective than sliding your fingers behind the shield to wipe it on the road.
Blinded By The Light
Remember that glare is in the eye of the beholder. Middle-aged and older riders are more sensitive than younger guns, so if you're running high-output auxiliary lights, give the other guy a break. The brighter beams can easily blind the very people you're trying to get to notice you. A teacher at the AARP Driver Safety Program course (participants age 55-plus) tells us he often hears complaints about motorcycle headlights being too bright. With the average driver's age on the rise, it's food for thought.