In the mid-80's gaudy flourescent colors were HOT in the XC ski scene. They are highly visible in snowy backgrounds and the dark foliage of coniferous trees. About 16-minutes after coming "in," they went outre'. Using these bright garments while cycling, we learned that even the bright flourescent green would get lost in the colorful background of fall tree colors. White is better than the flours in those conditions. My step sister was killed by an overtaking car while ridig west into the setting sun. I think that it is a very bad thing to be backlit when you need to be seen. I make it a practice never to ride into a low sun (do not ride west at dusk or east at dawn). When I have to paddle up-sun (eyes hurt), I hug the shore line if I can. GM put daytime running lights on its cars because most drivers do not know how poorly their vehicle paint jobs contrast with their backgrounds. Shiny, dark colored car in rainey, low light conditions; muddy truck on a dirt road, ... We should all be aware of our visibility and realize that the contrast between us, our equipment and our operating backgrounds change continually. Bob Phillips SE MI *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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