Visibility while riding at night has been so important that I have continued to add lights to both my bike and my helmet. It seems more important to be seen from the rear so that vehicles you can't see immediately know you are there. As a result I have two rear lights: a giant 18 LED flashing red Realite mounted on my rear rack and a Planet Bike Superflash which has high output LEDs on the rear and sides. The Superflash is mounted on the left rear wheel stay. Between the two the bike should be visible from the rear for half a mile. Click here to see video of the bike in action
To get some side action I have a thin rope-like light called Bikeglow.
It's blue and it either flashes or can be on steady and it wraps around the entire frame. The effect is a continuous rope of light along the triangle of the frame. It's an attention getter although not as bright as the rear lights.
On the handlebars in front is a flashing Planetbike one watt Blaze which can also be set to flash or be on steady. It's less important to light up the road in the front than to be seen and flashing is more noticeable than steady light. My aim is just to be visible not to light up the road and the flashing one watt seems to do it. To be really visible from the front I have a small high output LED flashlight attached to my helmet. The light blinks and can be set to blink at different speeds. It is so bright that it lights up road signs several blocks away. All of these lights use AA batteries and I try to use rechargeables in them all.
My current favorite source of light does not use any batteries at all. I have replaced my pedals with Pedalites which have three LEDs: white in front, yellow in the center and red pointing toward the rear. Each pedal has a tiny generator powering the flashing lights as you pedal and when you stop a capacitor has stored power so the lights continue to flash.
Repeated calls to my doctor, anxiously inquiring when the flu vaccine would be available, only got me a “call us back in a few weeks.” When the response was “we are not sure if we are even going to have the vaccine,” I started to panic. I have been getting a flu shot for years, for free from my employer. Now that I am self employed, I have to be more creative.
It was suggested that I call CVS or Walgreens. Turns out they are no longer giving the flu shots and Rite Aid was finished as well, at least in our area. One of these helpful folks suggested calling 311 which promptly informed me that the New York City Health Department gives flu shots for free. Wow, free flu shots, that sounds great.
The phone recording indicated that you’d better get there early before they run out of slots, which may happen by noon. I got to the Fort Green District Health Center on Flatbush Avenue Extension at about 9:45; they’d opened at 8:30. There was a line around the corner to the back entrance. I was given number 220 and took my place on the line with an assortment of New Yorkers.
I met an older Greek American couple who had come to Brooklyn after the Queens office near their home had run out of numbers at 8am. Since the Queens office is not open every day, they came directly to the Brooklyn office which is open five days a week, and got number 221. There were some patient women from the islands and lots of Spanish speakers, in a whole range of ages including children. When I got my number I was told I could come back later but not after 12 and the indication was that I might lose my place in line if left. The information person said people were being taken 25 at a time, some from outside and some from inside. Apparently, there was a group already in the basement.
We waited as the temperature dropped. I was not dressed for the cold but I did have a book. The line moved about twice an hour so most of the time we stood on Willoughby Street across from a noisy car wash. By about 2:00 I was shivering but was very close to the head of the line so how could I leave. At one point a worker came to the door, which was kept locked and asked if we were cold. He told us it was warm inside and we would be there soon. After a shouting match with an aggressive guard who wanted a more orderly line and another half hour in the cold, we were admitted to the basement where most of us got plastic chairs and were given the opportunity to be escorted to the bathroom as a group.
After the bathroom break a head appeared from stairwell to tell us we all needed to come up to the fifth floor. They vanished into the stairway and most followed up the stairs with lots of groans and complaints about the walk. When we arrived on the fifth floor we were asked why we hadn’t taken the elevator.
The fifth floor was clean and white in contrast to the basement which had a distinctly institutional feel with linoleum floors, painted cement block walls and low fluorescent lighting. We were now in the waiting area of what appeared to be a medium sized medical clinic. One by one we were motioned to the desk and asked what we wanted, given a clipboard with forms to fill out and shown to a seating area. It almost seemed like a doctor visit. After retuning the clipboards we were told that our numbers would be called and they were really calling numbers. They were up to 179 when we arrived.
Finally my number was called by a cheerful woman who brought me into an office and asked if I had gotten a flu shot before and if I was allergic to the shot. Questions I had answered on the form she had in front of her. I was then given a new seat in a hallway between the intake area and the area where the shots were being administered. The small plastic seats were jammed close together and most of the people seated in them were too large for a single seat. The wait here was not long and my name was called by a young woman who quickly filled out a vaccine record card for me to keep and gave me the injection. She told me they do 250 per day which she said was a lot.
At about 3:30, not quite 6 hours after I arrived, I have warmed up, gotten my flu shot and am on my way. Thanks to the New York City Health Department.
I am in awe of fungi that can do this. It's means of reproduction is this fantastic process by which it produces spore that is launched into the world when the mature puff ball is disturbed. Click the link above to see some video of some puffballs we found in the Catskills.
The brightest single AA battery flashlight I have found that is really inexpensive is called Ultrafire C3 and can be found on Dealextreme.com. It uses a high output Cree LED and has a circuit that brings the voltage of the single battery up to operating voltage. The flashlight is small and packs a wallop. It's really bright.
The battery life is not very long but the thing is small enough to carry for quick use whenever you need it. It runs about $10.
For about twice the money you can get the Ultrafire Q3 6 mode which has the ability to change the brightness and thereby increase the battery life. There are three intensities and three flashing modes: quick strobe, slower double strobe and an SOS mode which just seems silly.
I have one strapped to my bike helmet in the slower flash mode and it lights up street signs for about 3 blocks.
Visibility while riding at night has been so important that I have continued to add lights to both my bike and my helmet. It seems more important to be seen from the rear so that vehicles you can't see immediately know you are there. As a result I have two rear lights: a giant 18 LED flashing red Realite mounted on my rear rack and a Planet Bike Superflash which has high output LEDs on the rear and sides. The Superflash is mounted on the left rear wheel stay. Between the two the bike should be visible from the rear for half a mile.
Click here to see video of the bike in action
