Well, I went for my first night ride with my new L&M Arc lights last night with the team and several others up at Swayback. Showed up and the parking lot was full! I knew right then this was going to be an experience to remember. The only thing was that everyone that showed up was either top level Sport or Expert level racers!!!! Let me just say, I got my "you-know-what" handed to me in a big way!!!
With temps dropping quickly (47 degrees at 6 pm), everyone geared up, checked their lights, and hit the trail. We started out doing the loop backwards which really threw me off since I had not ridden it that direction in a few years. From the start, these guys were MOVING!!! About a couple of miles in, my heart rate was out the roof, lungs were burning and I was all over the trail essentially in survival mode trying not to hit every tree on the trail. The guys were courteoius and waited for me a couple f tie, each time getting longer and longer. Luckily there was another guy there that is a lot faster than me, but not as fast as these guys. He ended up riding with me and showing me the trail. It was really cool though to watch these guys on the trail in the switchbacks. Certain sections would have them coming by you in the distance in the other direction. They looked like a locomotive moving at Mach 1 speed through the darkness.
Even though I felt like crap, road like crap, it was insane and I had a blast! I will definitely be doing it again in a couple of weeks. It doesn't matter how many times you have ridden a trail, doing it at night adds a whole new dimension.
Lights and Motion Arc HID Light System Review
Now, a quick review on the L&M HID Arc light system... one word... INCREDIBLE! I rode with guys using LEDS and NiteRider HIDs and you could definitely tell the difference between the three type of lights. Seemed like the L&M was a lot whiter of a light than the Niterider (more yellowish tint but still very bright). I had my lights mounted on the handlebars and was surprised how much light it threw off to the sides. I had no problem seeing the details in the trail. My only suggestion would be using a helmet mount. Mine was missing the helmet mount when I received it (gotta call L&M today) so I had to go with the handlebar. This made it difficult in the tight switchbacks knowing which way the trail was going. But I had several people mention how bright my light was, so I guess that is a good thing. All in all, I am very pleased with the lights and would highly reccomend them to anybody looking for a new light system.
L&M HID Arc gets 2 thumbs UP!
