Do you work out at night? Here’s how to stay visible on dark L.A. streets
It’s time to add a little flash to your outdoor workout. We’re not talking about bedazzling your bike shorts, but being sure you can see and be seen in the dark.
With the end of daylight saving time, it’s important to raise your visibility during low-light hours as the sun sets or rises.
Adding some hard-to-miss elements to your clothes or gear can be as simple as slipping on a neon vest, sticking reflective tape to your bicycle forks and rims or wearing vivid yellow or yellow-green, colors proven to be noticeable in many environments.
Sew-on reflective tape offers another DIY solution. A bit of reflective trim on your cuffs or shoes identifies you as a runner. Lighted or reflective wheels or pedals allow drivers to know you’re a cyclist.
Just skip wearing red: It’s nearly invisible at dusk and in darkness.
The ever-innovative minds at activewear and sporting goods manufacturers are incorporating LED lights into accessories and finding attractive uses for glow-in-the-dark and reflective inks and fibers. Here are some items that can add style and safety to your outdoors workout.
Able to leap tall buildings
Title Nine may not have a Los Angeles store (yet), but it does offer fashion-forward women’s activewear built for low-light outdoor workouts. If you insist on wearing black because, you know, black — slimming, chic, mysterious — you can go incognito with jackets patterned with fibers that shine only when they’re hit by light. Their Superhero Reflective Jacket ($175) looks like an ordinary black jacket until lights make its abstract patterns glow. titlenine.com
Let there be lighted layers
With a neon hoodie like the Stowe from Athleta ($89) in your gear arsenal, you can slip it on and slip outside knowing you’ll be visible in any lighting. Layer on Powerlift tights ($108) with reflective ankle stripes and a zip jacket with a reflective dot pattern like the Accelerate ($118), and you’ll light up the trail. athleta.com
Go with the glow
If Day-Glo colors aren’t your look, the new Adidas men’s running shoe, the Ultraboost Uncaged LTD, has a shimmery silver Primeknit reflective knit upper that reflects light as you run. Though they’re pricey at $200 a pair, ($180 for women’s), they’re just futuristic enough to make them timeless. adidas.com/us
A safe way to get lit
Maker of light-up safety gear 4id offers a range of portable LED accessories you can strap to your body or gear. The Power Wrapz, PowerArmz, PowerSpurz and SlapWrapz are multiuse LED wrap lights that can affix to your arms, ankles, heels, bicycle or dog’s collar. The battery-powered accessories come in several vivid colors (green typically has the highest visibility) and can flash or shine continuously ($15 to $25). The washable PowerLacez Light-up Shoelaces ($15) can be set to flash, slow flash, shine constantly or turn off. 4id.com
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