Shorter days mean night riding...whether you like it or not.

Yep, I bet you noticed the time change.  And that your commute home is flirting with twilight or even outright darkness.  So it's time to talk night riding and bike ninjas.

Yehuda Moon from Kickstand Comics (by Rick Smith and Bryan Griggs)

 Yep, those guys (and gals) who bike at night and wear dark colors and don't have any lights.  Like I said "Bike Ninjas"! 

So here's a little teaser on how not to be one....BPAC is giving away free lights through the "Bright Reno Lights" program.  We'll be announcing locations for these giveaways in the near future.  But I'll be carrying several sets so if you need a set let me know and I'll happily deliver.  The only criteria is that you must show me the bike they are going on.  We're not trying to help anyone's sales on ebay after all!

Please note...the lights in the giveaway are to make sure you can be seen. You still should have a higher quality light up front to see where you're going if you ride at night on a regular basis.  That will be a topic for another post however!

Long awaited....finally here....FREE BIKE LIGHTS!

If you look far enough back on this blog you'll find a lot of jabbering about the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory board (of which I'm now a member).  At some point a little group got started within BPAC that wanted to get a free light program together.  I got a few grants ($1500) from local Neighborhood Advisory Boards and NDOT kicked in about $3000!  Well after much bureaucracy with NDOT we finally got the purchase to go through with Planet Bike.

So, on this, the shortest day of the year we officially have the lights in hand (and free helmets) to begin the program.  Not bad for something that started last summer!  Anyway, they are similar to what you see below.  I'm going to try to grab a few sets today from the office and dole them out over the holidays.  There will also be upcoming distribution days and locations listed here and hopefully advertised in the local media.  So keep an eye out if you need a set of lights!