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OK, I admit I'm spoiled. I commute at night on my bike at home, and I'm used to carrying a monster lighting system (NiteRider-Pro 12/20W on the bars, plus a 10 or 15W helmet mounted light). I love it when oncoming cars flash their lights at me, imploring to turn my lights DOWN! None of this is possible on PBP--- you obviously can't recharge NiCAD or lithium batteries, and you need to be able to ride for long stretches (5-6 hours) of near total darkness. Many of the more remote roads on PBP are out in the DARK countryside, and they don't necessarily have any markings to define either the center or the sides of the road. Even a full moon didn't always help, since you are frequently underneath a forest canopy. For unfathomable reasons, most European riders seem completely satisfied with carrying these teensy, lightweight, DIM 1 or 2 watt headlights that have the aggregate light output of a half dozen anemic, starving fireflies. To add insult to injury, they apparently have absolutely no problems at hurtling down a twisty mountain descent at 35 mph in total darkness while employing such lights! We used a NiteRider 10W lamp (runs off of 5 alkaline D cells) as our main light, and I carried an additional helmet mount 10W lamp that ran off of a rechargeable lithium cell. I used the helmet light for descents or particularly treacherous spots only, so it actually lasted 3 nights. The main headlight would start to "yellow" after 2 hours or so, and the batteries had to be changed after about 5 hours. We carried spare alkaline D-cells from the US since we had heard that French batteries were not as long-lasting. I found this level of lighting to be barely tolerable, and I desperately missed my commuter mega-lights for the entire ride! Other riders, particularly those pesky Europeans, were amazed at our photon output and would cluster behind us in a festive atmosphere as we trundled along. So my advice is to practice riding with anemic firefly lights, and to eat lots of carrots while on PBP. |
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