Cycling through Dark Space: Apprehending Landscape Otherwise. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017) - Cook, Matthew
Abstract: By investigating the experience of night-cycling, this paper redresses the overwhelming focus in mobility studies on the apprehension of landscape by daylight. Drawing on Matt's cycling diary of his regular night rides through rural Bedfordshire, we explore the distinctive ways in which dark landscape is experienced. We discuss various effects: the shaping of perception by the beam of the head torch; an ongoing attunement to differing levels of light and dark; the affordances of the cycle and other equipment; enhanced awareness of the vital rhythms of landscape; and imaginaries stimulated by passage through darkness. We, thereby, aim to contribute to revaluing darkness.