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SWCC Midnight Metropark Ride 

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7/21/26

Yesterday's (7/20) "Midnight" (9:30 pm) Metropark Vetting Ride was a success.

I think anyone who attends the actual "midnight" ride August 10th will have a bit of fun with it .  Particularly if one "never" ride at night.

This 1* ride is a 7.x mile (one way) out-n-back ride using the multi-purpose trail of the Rocky River Reservation.
KSU is when Civil Twilight  is over ( apx 9:30pm) 

For those that care: 

Civil Twilight: is when the Sun is 0° to 6° BELOW the horizon.

During this time, Sunlight will bounce off the sky and clouds from below the horizon as to allow humans

to clearly distinguish terrestrial objects and carry on outdoor activities with the naked eye despite the Sun having already set. 

Duration varies by globe location and time of year. For Cleveland in July, the Civil Twilight lasts about 32 min

Civil Twilight is often the legal definition referenced to actions such as turning on vehicle headlights.

Nautical Twilight:  is when the  Sun is 6° to 12° BELOW the horizon.

During this period Sailors at Sea can still visually observe the horizon with enough clarity as to take reliable navigational readings.    

Duration varies by globe location and time of year and for Cleveland in July, Nautical Twilight lasts 41 min.

Those of us not at sea tend refer to "Nautical Twilight" and everything thereafter as "night".

The "All-Darkness/"Midnight" ride has one official stop a "turn-around" metroparks parking lot with bathroom.
this parking lot is located 7.x miles away from the start and the parking lot "closes" 11pm

This is a reasonably flat ride with two small hills.

We will stop at the top of these hills particularly if there are walkers. 
I will stop when we cross rivers if it looks like the bats are out feasting on the bugs over the water.
The ride is slightly under 15 miles long and we finish sometime between 11 and 11:30 pm 
We had four riders for the vetting. Each of us had a "kickass"  bike light.
Everyone's light lasted the full 2 hours at max brightness (though none of us could have gone much longer).
Hope to see Y'all at the actual "midnight" ride August 10th.