I know about the obvious stuff like a bright vest, blinking rear light and wearing light colored clothes but is there anything else that I need for when nightfall hits?
Get retroreflectors. White pointing forward, red pointing back. You won’t always realize when a light craps out, it’s best to have passive backups. Get amber-colored retroreflectors that you can put between the spokes so you have sideways visibility. You can also buy reflective tape and wrap it around the frame.
A slightly less ugly alternative to amber reflectors between the spokes are reflective clips that wrap around each spoke:
https://www.salzmannltd.com/products/salzmann-3m-spoke-reflectors
I’m also pretty sure that lights in the EU are required to also function as a reflector or that at least most modern ones do.
I recommend clear safety glasses. Especially if you live someplace dry. You don’t want dust or insects in your eyes. I hit a palo verde beetle once and it almost knocked my glasses off my face.
Not clear, but photochromic cycling glasses have been a god send for me.
I can wear them all the time, including inside a store, at night, during bright summer days, or during those rides that start before dawn/dusk.
Before that, i had dedicated clear and dark glasses, but they were highly inconvenient.
Eye protection is super important for daily bicycle use, no matter weather or time of day. A single speck of dust falling into the eye at the wrong time can cause a serious accident.
The more you ride, the higher probability of such thing happening. Not to mention wind drying your eyes, it can be serious pretty fast.
A silver spear to protect from werewolves and other supernatural predators.
As a commuter, a big upgrade for me was getting a peircing loud bike horn. Despite having multiple bright lights and high-vis, I still have multiple close calls a week with cars not looking before turning. Having a way to get a driver’s attention without needing to rely on them even looking at all has been a huge benefit.
Additionally, this might be a controversial opinion, but I’ve found the wearing high-vis clothing often makes the issue worse. As a general rule, I try to select high-vis clothing that makes me look more like a motorcycle than a pedestrian. For example, I wear a reflective helmet and neon gloves, but not vests or shirts. When a driver waiting to emerge sees me, I want them to think “rapidly approaching vehicle” and not “slow moving pedestrian”.
I use my bike like a car, and I live in a rural area. I regularly ride 20-30mph to fit in with traffic, so my experience may differ from yours if you ride in a slower, more urban environment.
A lot of crashes are side impacts. So reflective frame tape or lights in spokes can help with side visibility. Some lights throw a little light to the side for this purpose as well.
