Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Holiday Bicycling Tip

Well... I finally did it.

Yesterday I went out, despite the 20-degree temperature, and installed my Christmas lights.

On my bicycle.

(NOTES: Substitute "holiday lights" if "Christmas lights" is offensive. Ha! And it's silly to mention the 20-degree temperature as an obstacle, since I managed to ride 22+ miles yesterday. The high was 27 degrees.)

Yep. Last year I got a string of LED Christmas lights. 20 or 25 lights, in red, yellow, and green. They run off a 4-AA battery pack, and either blink or stay on solid. I got 'em at the Walgreens; I think they cost $4 or so. I don't think they're waterproof, but I stowed the battery pack under the saddle... and since the risk is $4, I can risk it.

This morning on the ride to work, I put 'em on blinky mode.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. Several people tapped their horns, gave me the thumbs-up, smiled happily, etc. A school bus driver even slowed down, opened his door, and said, "I like your Christmas lights!"

They aid in visibility... they add to holiday cheer (for myself and others)... what's not good about this idea? I'll probably leave 'em on 'til December 26th - no point in overdoing it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh I love it! I can't wait to see you! We need this on everyone's bikes for next year's "Year-Round Cycling" float/entry into the Boise Thanksgiving Day parade.

Apertome said...

Fantastic. I'm already there, although mine don't blink:

A post and some pictures of my lights

Anonymous said...

PICS. We need pics!!!

Bikeboy said...

Check out apertome's awesome setup! (My lights are currently just running along each side of the top tube. I'm seriously thinking about reconfiguring them so they go all around the main triangle. I'll snap a photo and post within 24 hours... of course, I'll have to put 'em in "steady" mode rather than "blinking," for the photo.)