Do you listen to music when you cycle?

Zain

I would never listen to music whilst riding a bike, any where!

Having said that, I don't wear a helmet, any where!

Does that make me a hypocrite?..

emaichael

i listen to music when cycling,
i mean... clocking up nearly 400miles a week, i dont think i could cope without an MP3 player, music passes time so much quicker. and its nice to get your legs in time with the beats at times. lol
but i have it in 1 ear, so i can hear traffic, i do have some common sense!:)

nickcuk

I'd love to clock up 400 miles a week - do you have a non-cycling life ?

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

TheNomad wrote:

According to a traffic officer friend of mine, it is actually theoretically illegal to be in control of ANY vehicle on the road - powered or unpowered - with headphones in BOTH ears.

I don't believe this to be true. As far as I know it is legal to use headphones/earplugs whilst cycling (or driving).
Stupid mind, in my opinion. I have never used headphones on my bike, and whilst I do listen to the radio in my car when on motorways, in busy and/or built up areas I turn it down and open the window a fraction to help me detect traffic before I can see it.

Why anyone would want to deliberately one of their senses when using the road I don't know. :idea:


Remember kids: loud exhausts save lives.

Restless_legs

Why would anyone want to 'hear' cars?

I am fully aware of the fact that there are cars on the road but what advantage is there to 'hearing' them? :?:

I would have thought that if you are making regular visual checks of your surroundings, and always performing life-savers before any manoeuvre then the audible side of it is irrelevant.

Maybe it's just important for those people with poor spatial awareness...

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

Restless_legs wrote:

Why would anyone want to 'hear' cars?

As I already stated, it can allow you to gain awareness of a car before you can see it.

Of course, if you have precognitive spatial awareness then this doesn't apply. :P

emaichael

nickcuk wrote:

I'd love to clock up 400 miles a week - do you have a non-cycling life ?

erm, i do 60-90miles per day at least 5 days of the week...and i might do extra on weekends
(all this on a steel bike lol)
i fit it around a fulltime college course... so 6hours per day 5days of the week already taken by college.. so i cycle to college, and start straight away after... i get in home at about 8pm.
most of my ''non-cycling life'' is at night or weekend. but i'm normally to tired in the evening to be bothered keeping my eyes open to even watch tele! never mind seeing people...

emaichael

Restless_legs wrote:

Why would anyone want to 'hear' cars?

I am fully aware of the fact that there are cars on the road but what advantage is there to 'hearing' them? :?:

I would have thought that if you are making regular visual checks of your surroundings, and always performing life-savers before any manoeuvre then the audible side of it is irrelevant.

Maybe it's just important for those people with poor spatial awareness...

i totally agree.. as long as u keep in near the side of the road as much as possible when cycling, it doesn't matter whether you can hear traffic or not, because sods law if an idiot is not looking when driving and goes right in near the side of the road and hits you off, hearing or not your a bit... screwed. i'd rather die listening to music and fantasizing winning tdf, than being a lonely bored cyclist without my music! lol

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

emaichael wrote:

i'd rather die listening to music and fantasizing winning tdf, than being a lonely bored cyclist without my music! lol

Such is the beauty of personal choice.

That and evolution.

Restless_legs

I'm lucky - cars can't fail to see me

8)

blackhands

nickcuk wrote:

jonesy124 wrote:

Do people think it is dangerous to restrict one of your senses when in a vulnerable environment?

How can YOU possibly say that phrase with your totally debauched lifestyle

I would never listen to music when riding, in order to hear whats coming up from behind, but I quite happily sing to myself and use it to get my peddling speed right.

My personal favourite is Kaiser Chiefs phrase "Oh my God I can't believe it, I've never been this far away from home" from Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby which I reckon gets me peddling at 90 bpm with 3 peddles every second ( where the beat is underlined in the line )

'Ere - leave Jonesy alone - she a student FFS and is having a bit of fun before she sets about generating wealth for the country to make sure that Gordon Brown can afford to look after me in my old age. I have sympathy with her was just as bad if not worse when I was a student in the 60's and there was no financial pressures on me - also we share the same birthday!

afctumike

Here's a reason why not to :shock:

http://www.expressandstar.com/2007/09/08/delays-as-tram-hits-rider/

.... and the answer's no. It wasn't me.

Restless_legs

afctumike wrote:

Here's a reason why not to :shock:

http://www.expressandstar.com/2007/09/08/delays-as-tram-hits-rider/

.... and the answer's no. It wasn't me.

That has nothing to do with listening to music - it's all to do with cleverly trying to remove duff genes from the West Midlands pool.

Maybe that was a bigger example of:
a) not riding on tram tracks, and
b) not looking out for trams

Hope he has more luck next time :twisted:

duckiciao

I dont use an MP3 player.

Far too much weight!

purplemad

I listen to music on some of my rides, but I will only ever have the one earphone in(left ear)

nolf

I just listen to music quietly, then ramp up the volume on bands like Prodigy for 2 minute intervals and sprint training.

TBH the wind noise is far louder than my Mp3 player most of the time and means I can rarely hear cars until they are very close.

Keeps me concentrated and on 4/5 hour rides adds a bit of interest on the dull flat bits or busy A roads.

emaichael

duckiciao wrote:

I dont use an MP3 player.

Far too much weight!

lol! now i know why women... dont have a u know what! i always wondered that! less weight! for cycling better...

gavintc

nickcuk wrote:

jonesy124 wrote:

Do people think it is dangerous to restrict one of your senses when in a vulnerable environment?

How can YOU possibly say that phrase with your totally debauched lifestyle

You sound like a sad old man who missed out on his youth. Get a life and leave the lass alone.

Lagavulin

Gatecrasher: Immortal due through the letterbox tomorow... 'ave it!!!

Mark Alexander

duckiciao wrote:

I dont use an MP3 player.

Far too much weight!

those ipod shuffles are packing the gramms in aren't they

Lagavulin

Mark Alexander wrote:

duckiciao wrote:

I dont use an MP3 player.

Far too much weight!

those ipod shuffles are packing the gramms in aren't they

Perhaps the new family of Ipods are more to your liking? :?:

I've got a 4Gb Nano at the mo but I'm seriously thinking of pre-ordering an 8 or 16Gb Ipod Touch.

Big Red S

hilaryw wrote:

I am amazed that people think it's safe to ride listening to their ipod. I find it hard enough to hear the cars coming up behind me as it is

Which, surely, is less bad than if you could hear the cars fine without them.

Personally, I find I make more mistakes for one reason or another when I'm relying on my hearing than without it. I'm quite happy to look round a lot, since I can rely on my eyes far more than my ears. I also don't find myself changing direction much, so have little need to be looking round. I miss the rush hours mostly, too, so I can easily ride quite obviously.
Going round London, iPod at a relatively low volume. I can still hear things, but don't kid myself that I can place them. Long A-Roads etc.: shouty music played rather loud.

DavidBelcher

Restless_legs wrote:

That has nothing to do with listening to music - it's all to do with cleverly trying to remove duff genes from the West Midlands pool.

But if that happened completely, where on earth would Albion attract their supporters from?

David

wastelander

Not a chance. Having worn in-ear monitors for 3 years in a rock band environment I know just how much surrounding noise ear-canal type speakers can block out and the isolated feeling you get. As much as I'd love the company (?) of music, for me it's a personal decision to concentrate to my surroundings. I guess I've just got used to the sound of the bike and my HRM alarm telling me I'm out of my target zone for company.

DavidBelcher

nickcuk wrote:

My personal favourite is Kaiser Chiefs phrase "Oh my God I can't believe it, I've never been this far away from home" from Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby which I reckon gets me peddling at 90 bpm with 3 peddles every second ( where the beat is underlined in the line )

Some mistake, surely? Think you've got your "Employment" and "Yours Truly, Angry Mob" tracks mixed up there....

David

Bugly

In Australia it is ILLEGAL to be in charge of a vehicle with earphones employed while on a gazetted road. No question.

Further I would agree that it is stupid and dangerous to have your hearing impaired while you are cycling in a dangerous enviroment (ie any city road).

I listen to music to get into the music - if I am doing that from my perspective I am zoning out parts of the enviroment. Not what I would want to do when sharing a road with traffic.

When riding off road or with mates we usaully talk and joke about so wearing an earpiece then would be antisocial to my mind.

YMMV

Bugly

nickcuk

blackhands wrote:

nickcuk wrote:

jonesy124 wrote:

Do people think it is dangerous to restrict one of your senses when in a vulnerable environment?

How can YOU possibly say that phrase with your totally debauched lifestyle

'Ere - leave Jonesy alone - she a student FFS and is having a bit of fun before she sets about ....

Of course, I'm only jealous

Clever Pun

Here's a question for the anti music while cycling people

Should deaf people be allowed to cycle? :P

duckiciao

Mark Alexander wrote:

duckiciao wrote:

I dont use an MP3 player.

Far too much weight!

those ipod shuffles are packing the gramms in aren't they

Damn right they do, lol.

though Im not quite at the state where im peeling stickers off my bike and rubbing paint off...

emaichael

Lagavulin wrote:

Mark Alexander wrote:

duckiciao wrote:

I dont use an MP3 player.

Far too much weight!

those ipod shuffles are packing the gramms in aren't they

Perhaps the new family of Ipods are more to your liking? :?:

I've got a 4Gb Nano at the mo but I'm seriously thinking of pre-ordering an 8 or 16Gb Ipod Touch.

trouble with ipods is they have a hard disk, and if there dropped they can easily... get a bit screwed an brake.
but with an mp3 player you can put wtever music on whenever you want, without all the license copy right nonsense.
and if u drop it, the chances of it braking are very minimal as its a memory stick(sold) unlike a hard disk ipod thing, which you could snap in half...
but then again... if your careful, unlike me i'm sure its fine