Hurrah for Exposure! If anyone asked me for a Desert Island Discs (kind of) of bike equipment, my Exposure lights would be right up there. Simple but brutally effective, they do exactly what you want them to do. This results in a ‘I’ve forgotten they’re there’ approach to riding through the night. (That’s really something when you think about it!) Quite a change from the technology of just a few years ago and some other modern lighting systems I’ve used.
…and they’ve got my name on them! Ace! Following the move of Rory Hitchens to Upgrade Bikes, John Cookson, all round good chap and fledgling 24 soloist, supplied me with these beauties, emblazoned with my name, as well as the Enigma and M Steels logos. Nice!
The Six Pack whacks out an incredible 1800 lumens and I intend to run it on mid setting right through the night at the UK24 in May. No changes. No hassles. The Diablo Mk II will run with a 3 cell piggyback; even the medium setting is badger tanning and provides a lovely wide even pool of white light. Brilliant. I’ve ridden with the Diablo alone recently and it’s been ample for slower speed twsity turny stuff. Mated with the Six Pack it is the perfect high power / light weight / long run time combo.
In other news…. had a great ride at the Whinlatter Challenge a few weeks back. Finished a respectable 5th with 3rd and 4th just out of reach (that’s XC!). Rob Jebb was a little further out of reach though… The full write up for the race is on the M Steels blog here.
More recently and very sadly, another visit to my mother in Spain was required. She has fought through an horrific cancer operation and continues to defy doctors by ‘just keeping on going’. With the prognosis amounting to a very bleak outlook, I took an emergency flight to spend five days with her in hospital. That was nearly two weeks ago and she is still hanging in there now. Incredible. I have seen characteristics in her that I simply never new existed. I am very proud of her and, despite this difficult time, I take great positivity from her.
Considering the circumstances, her incredible spirit lights up the darkness.
