Star Light, Light Bright

Well, today is the shortest day of the year (Happy Winter Solstice by the way.). A lot of people might be pretty depressed about that. I myself seem to suffer from a touch of SAD this time of year. I've said it many times... I can take the cold. I can take the rain. I can take the wind. Just give me some sunlight! I don't think I would do very well in Alaska. At least this time of year.

Anyway, a lot of people feel down about the shortest day of the year. But not me.

We finally made the half way point! That means from now on (At least until June.) there will be a little bit more day light each day. Wahoo!!!

A fair question would be: What does this have to do with cycling? Excellent question. Thank you.

In a word. Lights.



The good ol' 600.



If you choose to ride your bicycle from anywhere between 3:30 in the afternoon to about 8 o'clock in the morning you pretty much need a light.  A "be seen" light at the minimum and a "seeing" light if you go beyond the street lights where the wild things are.

Well I'm one of the later. So I have to have a good light. The Dinotte light system that I have is very well built light.

Except I think mine is dying.

This would be its... 1,2,3,4th year with pretty heavy use. And I bought it used. So I guess I can't complain very much.

I had noticed for the past month or so that the light would flicker and then go back to steady beam. This use to just be a warning that you've hit the half way point on a battery charge. But last night the light started doing it anytime I hit a bump. Then about two thirds of the way through the ride it blinked out completely. Shit. Nothing quite like blindly dodging the debris and nasty bits on the road...

I stopped and wiggled the wires and unplugged it and generally poked at it for a bit and managed to get it to come back on. But lord only knows how long that will last.

So I guess I have three options.

1. Just get a new light system.

This appeals to the capitalist in me. I do love shiny pretty things (Just ask my wife.).

2. Send the light back to Dinotte.

They have excellent customer service and I'm sure they could fix it.  But what I'm not sure of is how much life my battery packs have left in them. So I don't know if it would it be worth the time and expense in the long run.

3. Open it up and see what I can do.

I'm pretty handy. I have tools and beer.  And I'm willing to bet it's just some sort of loose connection somewhere.

As of this moment I'm feeling a two stage effort of option 3 and seeing if its fixable. And if it's not go with option 1. *sigh*

I'll keep you posted (I'm sure you all will remain riveted to your computer screens to find out.).

Thanks for reading.

Rubber side down,

Big E