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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
