My other suggestion is probably pretty obvious, but reflecty things are good. My foul weather tights (Sugoi Sub-Zeros) have reflecty stuff on the backs of the ankles, I have a reflecty ribbon on the back of my bag, and my gloves have a reflective stripe on the outside seam (which makes my “turn signals” more visible at night). I like being reflective from the sides, too, and have found that clipping 1cm strips of Scotchbrite reflective tape and adhering them to the insides of my rims, between the spokes, makes a cool-looking and very visible wheel at night.

Last year was the first year I rode solidly all through winter, training a group of tri-newbies for Team in Training. I’m still working out the kinks involved with riding in the dark, but lights are the biggest problem for me. I haven’t found a local bike shop that actually gives good advice on the subject either. I either end up with super light, super sleek and super weak lights (what i have now, see below) or the clunky giant rechargable floodlights that I can’t afford.

I limped through last year with two Cateye compact LED lamps, but they’re fairly weak and if I’m going more than 18MPH I’ve outpaced my visibility. I loved your post on about the Tri-Newt, and generally take your bike advice as gold since you’re hard core and out there every day. Any other advice you might have would be welcome!