It is funny, I’m not that concerned about being ran over by a car when I’m out riding at night. Even with the selection and advancement of bicycle lighting, I’ve just never put much thought into it.  It is just more things on my bike and I already have too many things on my bike for my liking.  I bought some cheap China headlights to ride gravel at night last year with the gang, but even those I’m not sure where they are.  I’ve never had the worry that I might need daytime lights, even though I see a ton of riders using them.

But Tucker is a different deal.  I would like Tucker to be lite up like the 4th of July.  He is a goof-ball and sort of pays attention to traffic, but I don’t trust him.  We do a lot of night runs/walks and automobiles are my biggest worry.

On Bromont and Tucker, I’ve always had collar lights.  I have been using Nite Ize lights for a long time.  They come in a lot of different color, I use red, and seem to last even when submerged in lakes.  I buy bulk CR2016 batteries from Hong Kong to replace the batteries.  I don’t understand how I can get 100 batteries from Hong Kong for less than $5 shipped.  The postage must be next to nothing.

When I considered the batteries from Hong Kong, I didn’t understand why the lights cost so much in comparison.  At Petco and Home Depot, the lights are around $8.  That seemed exorbitant compared to the battery prices.  So I went only eBay and there are knock-off lights for less than a dollar.  Closer to 75 cents.  I just ordered 10.  I assume they will be sub-standard compared to the Nite Ize lights, but Tucker has been chewing his lights recently and he is going through them pretty quickly.

Tucker wears a lot of bling on his collar.  His light, dog tag, rabies vaccine tag, tag from being chipped, etc.  It is really Bromont’s collar, he out grew his own collar. I like it that he is wearing Bromont’s collar.  Somehow it seems like there is a connection.  He makes quite a racket when running, which I like, since most of the time he is in deep grass or the woods and I can only hear him, not see him.

I think the most important thing on his collar is his light.  I don’t think he is going to get lost.  I worried a ton about Bromont running off, but Tucker likes people, especially us, so he keeps an eye out for us at all times.  The longest he has been out of sight out on a run is maybe 1 minute. So the light is key.  Funny I worry about his safety so much more than my own.  Guess that is how it works.

He has a lot of stuff on his collar.

Jack, Nic and Tucker waiting to go out in Silverthorne.

He can be goofy for sure.

This picture pooped up on Facebook today. It was from 6 years ago. Bromont had ripped himself up running around the woods in Cable and we had to put a shirt on him so he didn’t lick out his stitches. Can’t see his light, but he has one.

The other day when I was riding from Silverthorne over to Leadville on trails I was thinking a little about why I felt a little out of sorts.  I decided that I was apprehensive about doing the ride alone.  I knew I was riding on trails, that after I got pretty far up, like above 12000 feet, that I most likely wouldn’t see anyone.

It bothered me that it bothered me.  The trails were pretty technical and there was a chance that I could fall, or have a mechanical, and be in trouble. Cell phone didn’t work, so that wouldn’t have been an option.

I do a ton of stuff on my own.  Sort of dangerous stuff that I feel that I’m competent and responsible enough to complete.  But shit happens.

About half way through the ride, I heard a loud noise, like metal hitting a rock and knew instantly that something fell out of my tire bag behind my seat.  I stopped and the bag was open, missing two quick-fils, plus my multi-tool.  I found one of the CO2 cartridges, that was the noise on the rock.  But no multi-tool.

I hadn’t used that tool on a ride since I had been riding in Colorado, probably close to 30 hours. But for some weird reason, I couldn’t stop worrying that I was going to be left stranded because I didn’t have an allen key or spoke wrench to fix something.

Like I said above, I was bothered again.  It stayed in the back of my mind until I got down to a road and into cell range.

Why worry about something out of your control?  I used to not.  It must be an aging deal.  I’ve noticed that older people tend to worry about more things than younger folks.  That is pretty well documented.  I just never put myself in that category.  I might have to rethink it some.

I’m not sure you can intellectually override worry.  Worry is an emotional response.  Intellect, many or most of the time, doesn’t do much to alleviate emotional responses.

I do know I have no desire living my life worrying about bad possible outcomes.  Especially when it comes to riding my bike.  There are too many variables to try to control all of the situations that arise while out riding.  Worrying about the ones out of my control would make the experience much less enjoyable.

This little guy was on the Colorado Trail up near Kokomo Pass. I had been told to look out for him. He must be famous. I bet he just hangs out, like a gate keeper, waiting for the next person to pass, toll being food.

Trudi and Tucker waiting at the Leadville finish.

This was outside of Leadville. I was calling Tucker, who was running around here. Notice the bear head on the top of the cabin. When I saw that, I started worrying that both Tucker and I were in the wrong place.