Your Portable Music

[Dogmama]

I can just envision riding down a lovely country back road listening to the birds and crickets, deep in thought and personal enjoyment....and then hearing rock music coming up behind me from a distance, slowly approaching.....

Agree 100%

I use my bike time for training my body & relaxing my mind. Are our own thoughts so distressing that we must ALWAYS be entertained?

OTOH, I use my MP3 in the gym to drown out the awful rock music, conversations, grunts & groans. Also, it tells people that I'm not there to socialize. I want to work out & get out.

Wow, I'm really a grump this morning! Time to ride!

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm never riding slow enough to hear the crickets. I hear "whhhhooooooooossshhhh"!

Just kidding.

I know what you mean. I don't always use mine - even on solo rides - but I do enjoy taking my music with me at times. I don't think of it as being entertained as much as I think of it as 'enhancing' my mental state so I can enjoy the ride more. It sometimes help to set my cadence or help me forget the pain in my hip (it tries anyway).

I never miss the joy of being out in nature..with or without my iPod..I always enjoy the 360 views and the feel of the wind on my skin. Maybe its just that I live in a medium-sized city and REAL nature is usually further away than I can usually ride out to.

[wackyjacky1]

I think that's what it's called It's about an inch by an inch....I clip it to my jersey and only use my right ear plug b/c traffic is to my left and behind me. I do care about my safety and that of my fellow riders but sometimes I too need that little extra push that a good tune gives me

That sounds like the iPod Shuffle, which is what I have. Mine is 1 gb, but I believe you can get a 2 gb version now. I use it when I'm out walking (my large, lazy bee-hind does not do the running thing ). 1 gb will hold about 215 songs. I love it the darn thing.

I've thought about using it when I'm on the bike, but I'm super paranoid about not being able to hear everything going on around me.

[lph]

I can just envision riding down a lovely country back road listening to the birds and crickets, deep in thought and personal enjoyment....and then hearing rock music coming up behind me from a distance, slowly approaching.....

Maybe the idea is more palatable if you imagine dulcimer music, instead

Joking aside, the places I would use speakers are hardly oases of zen-like tranquility in the first place, because of traffic. People on leisurely rides tend to ride completely different places - as do I when I want to enjoy peace and quiet.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Maybe the idea is more palatable if you imagine dulcimer music, instead

Joking aside, the places I would use speakers are hardly oases of zen-like tranquility in the first place, because of traffic. People on leisurely rides tend to ride completely different places - as do I when I want to enjoy peace and quiet.

You sound like a considerate and thoughtful person.
I appreciate your comment about dulcimer music, but personally I only want to hear nature sounds when I'm out in beautiful natural surroundings.

I can sort of understand the music thing more if you are already riding in loud situations full of ugly manmade noise anyway. However, I tend to feel there is way too much noise in today's modern world , and that adding more doesn't really make things better. Those are just my own feelings though.

I love music (and I play music in public settings) and I actually do understand why some people like to work out with music. I just don't like to have to hear other people's music when I don't want to, or when it distracts me from my own peace and thoughts.
The conflict comes because of the inherent danger of wearing earbuds in traffic vs. the annoyance factor to others of having speakers that pump the music into the surrounding space instead. It's a dilemma for sure.

[lph]

ooh, ooh, ooh, just got my i-ride bike stereo and can't wait to get it up and running The battery cap was missing though but the nice people at active-tunes are going to fix. It feels kinda plastic fantastic but the sound was amazingly loud. And I like that you can switch off the speakers fast with a single button if you need to, and angle the speakers towards or away from you depending on "how many people you want to play for". I think this could be a real boost on long training rides with a friend or two. I don't think it'll hold up to the gravel roads I ride in the woods though.

Had to revive this thread just to tell y'all that, after a long wait during which the (very) nice people at active tunes tried multiple times to send me stuff but were confundled by the weird Norwegian characters in my name, it finally arrived TODAY. And not only did they send me a battery cap, it came with an entire new stereo attached to it, holder kit and all

And, get this, they included 2 more separate stereos, because they "felt bad I had to wait"... how amazing is that?

I have kewl christmas gifts this year...

[SadieKate]

On the MS150 last month, our string of 6 was spinning along the rural roads when I suddenly heard really weird noises and asked "what's the awful noise?" Turns out it was one of the riders we were passing and she immediately switched off her speakers. Oops . . . .


only kinda.

[Misandal]

I just got a Sansa Clip that I use when I'm bored to death training indoors. It's extremely small but still has a display. Rechargable battery with good life so far. I'm really liking it.

[GraysonKelly]

I have a Creative Zen. It is literally the size of credit card, has 4 gigs of memory and I got it at walmart for $87. I've had no trouble with it at all and I LOVE it on my rides. I also use it at the gym, walking to work, walking the dogs, just about anything. It's awesome!!!
I use sony earphones, I forget what they're called exactly but they hook behind your ear. It's awesome! My sis liked mine and jsut got one for herself. Mine's black, but the 4 gig comes in red as well. The 2 gig comes in black and pink. I bought an armband for it at Circuit City which is pretty much the only place I've found that carries accessories for it otherwise there's tons of stuff online to order.
Oh, it also has memory card slot that I've loaded with pics and videos that I watch on my breaks at work.
It's awesome!
Gray

[kfergos]

I have an iPod nano, but I've never used it on my bike to date. Mostly I just sing to myself in my head. The nano has never skipped in my years of using it, even when I took it running.

I like the idea of putting your earbuds in your bra straps or near your head somehow, so you have the music near your ears but you're not totally blocking out ambient noises. Also earbuds usually aren't so loud, even at their loudest, that you'd be forcing your music on other people.

[Aint Doody]

I've been trying to find a decent set of tiny speakers, 'cause I don't want the headphone issues. I've tried an iride
http://www.active-tunes.com/
was happy with it at first, but it loses stamina after a few rides and starts cuttin in/out.
I still like the idea of soft speakers rather than headphones, though.

lph, let us know later about the iride. It really intrigues me. Torka posted this last summer. Maybe things have improved.

[Aint Doody]

lph, did you get this one?

http://www.active-tunes.com/iridepro.html