By Evan Ackerman

I took this picture (it’s a 5 second exposure) last weekend while I was checking out Yuri’s Night, which is an international annual celebration of the launch of the first human (Yuri Gagarin) into space. My local event was held at NASA’s Ames Research Center, and all kinds of amazing people showed up, including Will Wright, Steve Wozniak, and even Buzz Aldrin (!!!). Anyway, the place was packed with all kinds of cool stuff, including this bike lighting system by Monkeylectric:

Lights on the spokes of your bike somehow sync with the speed of the wheel to create these really cool patterns that slowly morph between different shapes and colors, although to get the sort of spectacular effects in the pictures I took, you’ll have to be a real pro, like the rider who was demoing the system, Pete Brandt. The system is easily customizable, it’s waterproof and durable enough for everyday use, and only costs $65. It’ll be available this May from Monkeylectric.

Check out a few more long exposure pics of the lighting system, PLUS a gallery of other pics from Yuri’s Night (including GIANT FLAMING MONSTERS, after the jump. Also, be sure to check out some Yuri’s Night coverage of a swarm of robotic orbs over on BotJunkie.