Headphones (who wears them)

[Cassandra_Cain]

I like how this thread has gone from being strictly about headphones to now encompassing other things.....namely one's mind wandering....and, does such mental meandering count as a distraction???

Good discussion I think, one we should have.

My experience with this is that headphones, thoughts of bubble bath's while on a steep climb, etc - all constitute some level of distraction as compared to being absolutely, totally concentrated on one's every pedal stroke.

I would probably say the level of distraction and how much they affect your road awareness and peripheral sense - vary quite a bit.

Doing the trendy thing - slapping on an ipod to my jersey pocket and riding with headphones - for me, would represent a huge distraction. Like earplugs they block the noise of the road, but then also introduce more distraction in the form of music. That in my mind is openly and blatantly flirting with disaster.

Other things though like thinking about the lovely sunflowers alongside the road, whether some cute new beau or girl is going to return your call, and cherry pie when you are 20 miles from home - do remove you from that absolute, zeroed in, totally focused space. I'll say this though, IMO you can recover your focus a heck of a lot faster than you can with headphones.

I find the harder I ride, the more focused I am. On a recovery ride, I'm figuratively smelling the flowers, but then I'm also going at the slowest speed I ride....at the far end, when I'm doing intervals, I am absorbed by every pedal stroke, my heart beat, the line I'm riding, the road, etc.