Criticised for listening to music whilst riding

Harry Hill

By a roadie with NO HELMET ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How very dare he???!!!

shockedsoshocked

It may have been what you were listening to

Rob Sallnow

Say something like...'yes but it's not loud enough to block out your dumbarsed comments' :idea:

chronyx

Rob Sallnow wrote:

Say something like...'yes but it's not loud enough to block out your dumbarsed comments' :idea:

:twisted:

gkerr4

just tell him ti f*ck off..

the cheeky get..

ChrisLS

...I think he's right...you need alll your senses whilst riding...but hey, it's your choice...

Porgy

Some people are just funny about people wearing headphones. Once I was walking along Kilburn High St listening to a walkman and a woman walked out of shop straight into me. It was clearly her fault. When she saw my head phones she tried to pull them off my head and then assaulted me with her bag screaming about me not paying attention. I'm not sure how listening to music would have caused this incident since it was her who walked into me from the exit of a shop.

toontra

He didn't know how loud the phones were playing (if at all) so he should mind his own business. T**t!

I often do short journeys from a training session or the gym with low-level music, meaning I can easily hear all relevant street noise. Often the phones are in but no music playing, as I have just come from Richmond Park and can't be bothered to stop and unplug them, and it's better than having them dangling on my chest (as the old joke goes).

on the road

I wouldn’t wear headphones and I'm of the opinion that people on bikes shouldn't wear headphones. But it's a free country (so we're told) and you can wear what you like. That other cyclist should have minded his own business, what concern is of his.

jimmythecuckoo

I do wear my headphones every so often but I find I get more of a whistling in my ears than without so I can't hear music anyway.

geoff_ss

I don't understand why people seem to need to play pop music constantly. There are aviation videos on You Tube which drown out the natural sounds with background music when I want to hear the aeroengines and so are totally spoilt. I used to visit a gymn but eventually the incessant pop music drove me away. I even tried ear plugs but they were ineffective. I avoid shops with wallpaper music as well.

Obviously people are entitled to do what they wish with ear phones but that played over loudspeakers is very irritating. I'm getting a bit deaf now and I think it's from years of motorcycling with just a 'pudding basin' type helmet which tended to accentuate the wind roar. I can't think extensive use of loud music played through earphones is doing ears much good.

But then, what do I know. I'm a MOG (Miserable Old Git) who likes classical music

Geoff

Porgy

Geoff_SS wrote:

I don't understand why people seem to need to play pop music constantly. There are aviation videos on You Tube which drown out the natural sounds with background music when I want to hear the aeroengines and so are totally spoilt. I used to visit a gymn but eventually the incessant pop music drove me away. I even tried ear plugs but they were ineffective. I avoid shops with wallpaper music as well.

The only real chance I get to listen to music properly is while I travel to work. For this reason I use an MP3 player and a pair of headphones. I don't believe there is any danger in this. I can still hear a lot of the street noise and I can use my eyes - together with my neck and upper body to create a sort of swivel effect so I can get nearly 360 degrees vision.

don't assume that everyone is listening to pop music - at any moment I might be listening to In Our Time, comedy, the world service, blues, country, electronic avant garde, jazz, why, even classical on occasion.

And there's a world of difference between the crap they play in gyms and what I choose to listen to on my MP3 player.

Porgy

Porgy wrote:

oops

schlepcycling

gkerr4 wrote:

just tell him ti f*ck off..

the cheeky get..

Too right

mercsport

Harry Hill wrote:

By a roadie with NO HELMET ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How very dare he???!!!

A mystery here . :? If you wear a helmet to - possibly - save your noggin when you peel off your bike , why do you make the prospect even more likely to happen by plugging up your ears with earphones and piped music ? You cannot possibly be aware of most of the audible indications of danger from around you . And are a danger to other road users to boot . I've been witness to some of the most erratic bike use by pedallers with 'phones in the ears . Traffic light jumpers and pavement riders frequently are the wired up version . In the same category in fact as those witless sods with their phenomenally powerful bass systems and 'ever on' fog lights who are oblivious to everything around them . They can't even hear the sirens of the rozzers who are chasing them .
I don't wear a helmet either .

BTW , I tend to cherish birdsong nowadays as my ears were done in good and proper by a feckless youth devoted to the worship of the mighty Marshall amplifier . In fact , am officially deaf , as I qualify for a hearing aid on the nhs .

Porgy

mercsport wrote:

Traffic light jumpers and pavement riders frequently are the wired up version .

OhmyGod!! :shock: I didn't know wearing headphones could turn you into a RLJer and a pavement rider!! I'll stop immediately.

schlepcycling

mercsport wrote:

Harry Hill wrote:

By a roadie with NO HELMET ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How very dare he???!!!

A mystery here . :? If you wear a helmet to - possibly - save your noggin when you peel off your bike , why do you make the prospect even more likely to happen by plugging up your ears with earphones and piped music ? You cannot possibly be aware of most of the audible indications of danger from around you . And are a danger to other road users to boot . I've been witness to some of the most erratic bike use by pedallers with 'phones in the ears . Traffic light jumpers and pavement riders frequently are the wired up version . In the same category in fact as those witless sods with their phenomenally powerful bass systems and 'ever on' fog lights who are oblivious to everything around them . They can't even hear the sirens of the rozzers who are chasing them .
I don't wear a helmet either .

Are you suggesting that it's the music that makes people cycle badly?, therefore all people who listen to music on their bikes are therefore bad cyclists. I've seen many people do exactly the same things you describe who are NOT listening to music, isn't it most likely that there are bad cyclists and SOME of them happen to be listening to music.

I listen to music when I'm on training rides on my own and I don't ride on the pavement or RLJ, but I do wear a helmet and so far I've had 3 accidents only one invloved a car who tried to over take our chain gang on a blind bend and swerved back in when faced with a car coming the other way and took me out the other 2 were where I was cornering and I hit a patch of diesel or a slippy drain cover in both these case I was wearing my headphones but this didn't contribute to either 'off' .

mercsport

schlepcycling wrote : " Are you suggesting that it's the music that makes people cycle badly?, therefore all people who listen to music on their bikes are therefore bad cyclists"

No . If you'd read my post I said " You cannot possibly be aware of most of the audible indications of danger from around you " . But yes , now that you mention it , ' bad cyclists ' indeed .

Whether you listen to music or not accidents will still happen . And despite your self regarding feeling of righteousness by the wearing of a helmet I'm saying that you blow it all if you plug up your ears thereby increasing the chances that it'll happen to you , and may indeed , be the cause .

sloboy

I only wear headphones when riding in the dark - I get the the feeling of approach from behind by seeing the lights.

But I agree with one of the posters above, generally the wind noise is too loud to make it really great.

schlepcycling

I apologise if you took what I said as any sort of personal attack it certainly wasn't meant to be, it was just that the line I highlighted (and I obviously misread it) that you seemed to be suggesting that it was the fact that these people were of the wired variety that made them cycle badly and I was just pointing out that people who don't RLJ or ride on pavements wear headphones as well. As for the me wearing a helmet thing I wasn't trying to be self righteous just saying I wear one.

redddraggon

I've just bought myself a Ipod shuffle for £32 for just the purpose of using it on the bike. I find on the rare occasions when I've done it in the past you can hear just as much if you only have the left earphone in.

mercsport

schlepcycling wrote : " I apologise if you took what I said as any sort of personal attack it certainly wasn't meant to be "

No ! no offence taken believe me . I'm sorry if my tone was read as that of umbrage . Far from it . Nor was I being censorious about helmet wearers - how could I be ? - but , often enough , helmet wearers are censorious of me , bare headed as I am .
Remember , I'm a dinosaur from that 'Life On Mars' age .

fluff.

redddraggon wrote:

I've just bought myself a Ipod shuffle for £32 for just the purpose of using it on the bike. I find on the rare occasions when I've done it in the past you can hear just as much if you only have the left earphone in.

Had one of these for bike use, and did the same left plug only thing, but don't be like me and remember to unclip the thing from your jersey before washing it... sigh. Now using a cheaper Zen Stone, with no clip, and some chord over the ear type phones. Wind noise still isn't great when not using a silk cap to keep my ears warm, so it'll probably get ditched come summer.

Lagavulin

I use my Ipod Nano on the bike with the left plug only in. Anyone who says "you can't possibly be ware of your surroundings" with one plug in is talking utter sh!te.

Mind you, in the summer i'll either crank up the volume or even put the right plug in as on a Sunday morning there's f**k all else on the road between the hours of 6 and 9am so for a good three hours I won't pootle around listening to nowt but herring gulls, pigeons and the like having a rant.

When road traffic volume increases I'll stop, take a plug out or turn the volume right down as I find necessary.

Lagavulin

P.S. If one of those knob heads with nothing other than a cap or woolie hat criticised me for having an ear plug in ear I'd of drowned the music out for a good while with my verbal repost.

I'm a relative newbie out on the road with only 18 months or so experience on a road bike so I've a lot to learn but the arrogance of some the people I've encountered often makes me cringe.

whyamihere

Unless you physically react to every car which passes (you don't), you're not really losing a lot by listening to music. Cars behind you sound the same whether they're going to cut close or give you enough room. It won't help at all with silent/near silent vehicles anyway, so looking around properly before manoeuvres is significantly more important in my opinion.

shockedsoshocked

whyamihere wrote:

Unless you physically react to every car which passes (you don't), you're not really losing a lot by listening to music. Cars behind you sound the same whether they're going to cut close or give you enough room. It won't help at all with silent/near silent vehicles anyway, so looking around properly before manoeuvres is significantly more important in my opinion.

Thats how I see it. If a cars gonna do something stupid the fact I can hear them doing it isn't gonna make the slightest bit of difference.

Lagavulin

Precisely. I don't recall the approaching old bat in the Volvo 440 that touched my handlebars on her way past sounding any different from that Accord that gave me so much room he/she scraped their tyre walls down the opposing kerb.

On neither occasion did I have my Ipod with me let alone plugged in or playing.

Ian Sims

whyamihere wrote:

Unless you physically react to every car which passes (you don't), you're not really losing a lot by listening to music. Cars behind you sound the same whether they're going to cut close or give you enough room. It won't help at all with silent/near silent vehicles anyway, so looking around properly before manoeuvres is significantly more important in my opinion.

I disagree with you to some extent. While it may not alter whether someone passes too close or not, I can tell a lot from the engine noise of car coming up behind me. For example, are they slowing down, to allow me past a parked car or speeding up to get past me ASAP (often not caring if they are too close). Certainly, you still need to look as well.

I am in the not listening to music while cycling category, for both safety and enjoyment reasons, but then I'm not cycling in a busy city, where the main noise is traffic.

whyamihere

I tend to just look more often. Get in a very early look to assess the general traffic situation behind you. A second look about 5 seconds before you make the manoeuvre will allow you to fairly accurately judge the speed, as well as making it pretty clear to drivers that you're about to do something. This is also when I start indicating. Then, the lifesaver look just before I make any movement, to make sure I've got it right.

Never had any problems with this approach.

Mike Willcox

When I ride my bike Iit is an opportunity to unwind coupled with the double whammy of taking physical exercise. If I had music blaring in my ear I wouldn't be able to do my thinking properly and focus on my training and be alert to situations. IMO a rider listening to an ipod out training is a danger to himself and therefore to others.

On the other hand I wouldn't tell him not to do it but would just mutter "Tosser" as I rode past.