Light 'er up!

I was planning this weekend to take the train to Lincoln, then ride along a stretch of The Water Railway route and finish off on the road to where my mum lives for a visit. Unfortunately a train derailed this week and ruined the track, so no trains are going that way for a week.

As the plan was to ride a lot of B roads, many with hedges and sharp turns, I ordered a flag mount to make my recumbent a bit more visible to the mad boyracers and motorcyclists who seem to think that slowing down for blind corners is a courtesy too far.

The mount I got was the type that fits on the rear axle of the bike. It comes pre-drilled with three holes which I guess are to allow you to bolt the mount in place through rack/mudguard eyelets.

These weren't quite big enough, so out came the cylindrical file (I also had to lop off a bit of a corner because of the derailleur, but have no photo of that):

Because the pole is so long and one of the attachments is pretty heavy, I felt it'd be safer if it were attached at two points for stability. The seat is suspended however, so it'd need to be able to flex. I added an elastic band around the rack and threaded the pole through the strap ring of the bag to give it some extra stability:

That red thing on the pole is the result of my thinking ahead to winter or when the weather is poor; I added a strip light. This was too heavy towards the top of the flag pole, so I mounted it above head-height. It should complement the existing rear light.

Here's a video of it in action (during a test phase, when it was much higher):