Natchez Trace Night Ride

Last night was our weekly night ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway near Nashville, TN. We met at the parking lot behind Loveless Cafe and suited up against the quickly falling temperature.

I was decked out in wool socks, bib shorts, wool jersey, skulllcap, full-fingered gloves, windproof jacket, windproof tights, and shoe covers. A lot of gear, but it made a mid 40s ride into a very comfortable one.

I was leading since Jeff Bauer and Jay Spiegel had conflicts, so I gathered up the 14 riders and explained the route to those who hadn’t ridden this ride before (out and back, simple, moderate pace). We left the parking lot a bit later than our 6:30 intended start, but this was of no concern since the sun had long since set. Sunset deadline? Not in the fall. This is why we ride at night.

14 riders pulled onto the Trace, each illuminated in their pools of artificial moonlight from headlamps, handlebar lights, and taillights. I had my bike outfitted with my Ay-Up lights, which I have been very impressed with since I got them.

I had been looking for lights for night riding for a while, but only recently stumbled across a review of the Ay-Up series of lights. www.ayup-lights.com

Manufactured in Australia, they are lightweight, simple, and extremely durable. They also have incredibly high output, something like 400 lumens of cool white light per unit. The kit I have has two units, each with two independently positionably LED emitters. Fairly expensive, but seeing and being seen is priceless.

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Some of the group pulled ahead at the first hill, and presumably stayed together out to the turnaround. I hung hear the back so I could keeep count of who was in front of and behind me.

Around 10 miles in, I caught up to James and decided to work a faster pace the rest of the way to the Garrison Creek turnaround. James decided to hang onto my wheel as long as he could, and did really well. I put in a few form sprints on the flatter sections, pushing my power output into the 1000 watt territory for a few seconds, but mostly staying in zone 2. James would catch up a few seconds after the sprints and announce his presence with a comment like “I saw you get into the drops on that one and knew you were about to launch”. James and I climbed the last few hills together, our headlights pooling their output.

We reached the Garrison Creek turnaround soon after, and waited for the rest of the group. Michael from the Harpeth Bicycles Racing Team and a few others were getting chilled from waiting, so they set off for the last 15 miles. We left a few minutes behind.

I had a good count of who was in front of and behind me, so I rode ahead at a faster pace and had bridged up to the last 4 riders by the time I reached the mile marker 439 parking lot, so I turned around to ride back to the end of the group and sweep the route. By this time there were 13 people on the ride, as we had one rider flat on the way out and return to his car. Four people ahead of me, then me, then 8 more behind me. Three people passed me quickly after I turned around, then another three (James, Donna, and Kathy) a mile or so later. I rode on another 3 miles to mile marker 435 before deciding that there was no way the last two riders were this far back. I stopped for a moment at the top of a hill and prepared to turn around.

Silence. Darkness. I turned off my headlights and breathed in the cold night air. Sounds of animals in the woods on each side.

Feeling the cold creep in, I turned my lights back on and turned my bike around. In the middle of the roadway a coyote stopped for a moment and looked at me as he crossed the road, surprised at the bright light that had suddenly appeared. This is why we ride at night.

The ride through the curvy, rolling hills of the Natchez Trace was great. No cars. No other riders. Just me and a circle of light showing the next 100 feet of asphalt. The last descent back down to Hwy 100 was exciting. As I passed the mile marker 440 parking lot I stood and pedaled hard to get up speed before getting tight in the drops and railing the last few downhill curves at 45 mph, trying to outrun my headlights.

James was waiting in his car when I got back. “I could see your headlights coming down the hill a few minutes ago, man those things are bright!”. Donna pulled up in her car and confirmed that the last two riders had gotten a ride back to the parking lot. Last two accounted for.

I got into my car and turned the heat on. The temp gauge read 38 degrees. I didn’t feel cold, the effort and euphoria of the last 38 miles still with me. I left the parking lot already looking forward to next week.

This is why we ride at night.