Headphones (who wears them)

[Cassandra_Cain]

Well guess what? I strongly support wearing headphones while riding....on my indoor trainer that is!

As for the what if..."should people that are deaf not ride, etc?". My view of it is, well for those of us who are fortunate enough to have our hearing, we should not be making ourselves 'deaf' (so to speak) by wearing headphones while riding outdoors in traffic or even on a bikepath. I've learned that saying/shouting 'bike on your left' is useless at least 50% of the time on bikepaths as bicycle riders are oftentimes wearing headphones.

If someone truly does have a hearing issue, then I am not going to blame them for it. Nor would I say they should not ride.

For everyone else though, not much sympathy from me if I see them out w/headphones

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

In my opinion, the higher the number of people out there in traffic (streets AND paths) who wear earphones while jogging, biking, roller blading, or walking, the more accidents we are going to be seeing.
Yes, listening to music IS enjoyable while biking or jogging....but even aside from the hearing impairment, it DOES pull some of your concentration away from what's happening around you on the road at that instant, just like having your mind wandering. The combination of bikers listening to headphones and drivers talking on cell phones is incredibly dangerous.
In my humble opinion, music is fine when you're exercising in the gym- it's a safe environment where collisions with other exercisers are seldom fatal.