Music & Cycling: Am I crazy?

[jjcac1]

I was questioning the whole music thing as a new rider. I plan on doing a lot of back roads training and love to listen to music. It really helps the time fly. I too felt it wasn't safe to wear both headphones, and don't really thing headphones are all that comfy w/ glasses.

My question.. does anyone know if there is any kind of "headphone" type device that you could wear around your neck or helmet that would just play music around your head? I know that a couple of ladies have rigged earphones onto their helmet?? Could you maybe explain this? Would this concept even work?

Thanks so much...

[Duck on Wheels]

I vaguely recall seeing ads for an expensive toy some years back that, claim was, transmitted hifi sound via your collarbone -- lay around your neck and rested on the collarbone in front. Probably kinda heavy. And if it's no longer available that's prob'ly cuz it didn't work all that well.

I've been thinking on this problem since spending all winter doing spin classes to be in some approximation of shape for a ride in March. The music in spin class really helps keep your cadence -- and humor -- up. I've also gone out and bought some of the music our spin instructor plays. I play it on the mp3 while walking (e.g. 6 miles to work). Definitely gets me going faster, but it's also a bit distracting. I'll miss it on the bike, but I don't dare use it. Not even in one ear. At bike speeds I need to have all my attention on the road, the riders around me, the traffic coming up from behind, cross streets, gravel, potholes, remembering to call out warnings, use hand signals ... At walking speeds I can have some attention to spare, but not on a bike.

Too bad tho'. The drums at the start of Paul Simon: Rhythm of the Saints have me imagining the stop-and-go start of a ride with lots of bikes around, lots of enthusiasm and intermittently space to use it. Next piece has an instrument that sounds like a bike-spoke harp: I imagine finding my rhythm, smooth, open road, not too slow but relaxed enough to do the distance. The cadence picks up, slows down song by song. A few pieces later come some wake-up horns just when the music has you in a bit of a trance, or the spin class has you worn down to one. I can envisage a whole ride to that music, or Carmina Burana, or my brother's new blues album Rude Notes Galore, or sailiing along with the most bewinged movements of my favourite violin concertos (Mendelssohn and Sibelius) ... but I don't dare actually have any of it along.

[Trek420]

on rides I prefer the sounds of the great outdoors which is traffic and noise on my commute or birds and chirping on longer rides.

I'm aware of some hearing loss so I don't dare dampen my senses any further with even one ear bud.

Warning: want music on your ride? You'll want to pass me. I sing on hills, and badly too I might add

I can't promise Mendelssohn or Sibelius, usually disco or R&B anything with a good beat that sticks in my mind and yours too if you're nearby

[Duck on Wheels]

Warning: want music on your ride? You'll want to pass me. I sing on hills, and badly too I might add

I can't promise Mendelssohn or Sibelius, usually disco or R&B anything with a good beat that sticks in my mind and yours too if you're nearby

Oh dear! Brain sludge! "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK, I sleep all night and I work all day" over and over. Only cure for brain sludge is replacement -- sing another song until it nudges sludge 1 out of brain, then hope the new song doesn't mutate into new sludge. Everybody who expects to do a hill anywhere near Trek on the Cindy, you are hereby forewarned: better prepare a mental playlist of replacement songs.

[Brandi]

I ride with music it helps motivate me to ride faster. it makes me happy. I listen to u2 and and a group called the john Butler trio If you haven't heard of them check them out. Sooo good. They are from down under. A bit of jazz meets reggae and aussie mixed in.

[allabouteva]

I'm not one to preach, but I was interested in this thread, because recently in Australia, this was a big news story which I've cut and pasted from our local newspaper (Sydney Morning Herald):

iPod blamed for Aussie death
February 14, 2006

An Australian woman was knocked off her bike and killed, possibly because she couldn't hear traffic noise because of her iPod music device, friends say.

Patricia McMillan was knocked from her bike in a London street and thrown under the wheels of a lorry near her home in Acton, west London, on February 2, reported Britain's Evening Standard newspaper.

The 32-year-old law student had been on her way to a part-time job as a waitress in Kensington when the crash happened, the newspaper reported.

Ms McMillan's best friend, Jacques Poullard, said she may still have been alive if she hadn't been listening to the Apple iPod.

"She was obsessed by that thing. It wasn't that she was careless. I bought her the bike three years ago and it was how she travelled everywhere.

"I never said anything to her about wearing the iPod but now I think if she hadn't had it on she might have heard the lorry.

"I hope people will think twice about cycling while wearing headphones."

[Dogmama]

You're singing my song (pun intended.) Even on a bike path, listening to music is not good. Statistically speaking, we run into each other more often than we have automobile related accidents. OK, if you're wearing a helmet (and OF COURSE all of us TE'ers do that, right.....???) chances are you won't die if struck by another cyclist. But you could certainly get pretty banged up, including broken bones, road rash, etc. and it would keep you off your bike for awhile.

And why would anybody want to listen to music when they could listen to the birds? Or, better yet, tap into their own essence and enjoy being alive without head banging music. That is what cycling brings to me. I save the music for rush hour traffic in my car (when tapping into my essence isn't good for the guy I'm following )

[Duck on Wheels]

I'm not one to preach, but I was interested in this thread, because recently in Australia, this was a big news story which I've cut and pasted from our local newspaper (Sydney Morning Herald):

iPod blamed for Aussie death
February 14, 2006

An Australian woman was knocked off her bike and killed, possibly because she couldn't hear traffic noise because of her iPod music device, friends say. ..."

Yes, maybe she could have avoided the accident if she'd heard the lorry. But if that lorry was coming up from behind her (as it sounds from the story) it's still the lorry driver's fault. Oh, I'm sure the lorry company and their insurance company will try blaming the victim here. And I don't advise wearing headphones in traffic! Little comfort in having been right after the accident has happened. But that said, if somebody hits you from behind, it's their fault!

[carback]

I don't listen to anything other than the sounds around me when I ride (and when I used to run).

As a woman riding / running alone, I feel a very strong need to be aware of what's going on around me at all times. Much like body posture dictating whether I look confident or vulnerable (an easy target), sporting headphones/ear buds (one or two), gives off an air of vulnerability, regardless of how much you can or cannot hear.

[Lifesgreat]

I listen to music while training inside, but never outside.

First, for safety. I want to listen for autos, other riders, dogs, and heaven forbid, perverts.

Second, for habit. Music is forbidden in USAT triathlons and I want to train as I will race.

Third, to hear the sounds around me. I want to hear the wind in the trees and the river roaring as I ride up the trail.

My 2 cents

[Tater]

I don't listen to anything other than the sounds around me when I ride (and when I used to run).

As a woman riding / running alone, I feel a very strong need to be aware of what's going on around me at all times. Much like body posture dictating whether I look confident or vulnerable (an easy target), sporting headphones/ear buds (one or two), gives off an air of vulnerability, regardless of how much you can or cannot hear.

I agree! As a lone female, biker/runner, I too need to be aware of what goes on around me. Whether it is that redneck hanging out the passenger side window to gawk and make rude comments, or that small, four legged ankle biter yapping at my heels, I need to know where they are and what their intentions are. Some can ride with music, more power to you sister, it just isn't for me.

[ladyjai]

last I checked - 3 weeks ago - bicycles are NOT considered vehicles in arizona. I was shocked to discover that. Doesn't mean we get off scott-free or have no rights. We have rights and penalties. Just, no motor, no vehicle.

I do not recall reading any laws pertaining to music, but I have no interest in being hit a third time.

I do admit to listening to music in my college days. - or rather, trying to. I live in a very busy city. Many cars moving quickly. If the speed limit says 35, you can expect that most are going 45-50.
I figured, if I kept one ear unplugged, I should be able to hear cars and such and know my danger level. I thought a little soft music would be a nice addition. However, the soft music was not to be obtained, I had to turn the volume level up to very unsafe volumes to be able to make out a thing with my right ear as the noise of the city is very loud. It didn't even last the full 3 miles I was riding before I unplugged it to allow my raging headache to subside. the two loud noises made a disaster in the making. i think i tried it once again, with a "quieter" road, and had similar results. I abandoned them as dead weight.

I find I don't need it. If I want music, I'll provide my own, and let those who can hear, deal. Otherwise, if I'm bored enough to need music - i'm not riding hard enough,

I'm sure there are those who can get away with music and still be safe. But I imagine that number is much smaller than those who listen here think. I would say that if you rely on your "safe routes" and "mild streets" to be validate your choice, please seriously reconsider.

Right now, and probably for the next three months, I am excruciatingly aware of my vulnerability. I've decided that If a human uses wheels to move from one place to another, it is not a matter of if, but when she/he will have an accident. Unlike cars, we do not have crunchable metal cases around our bodies, we must take the brunt of the onslaught with our flesh. I love bicycling. I'm back riding in traffic, and I do not mean to scare anyone off. Just realize that our love has danger attached, ride defensively, it can save your neck. All you need is one car. or a motorcycle, or another bicycle, or heck, anything that can move! to come along and ruin your day, week, year, life.
I'm not pointing fingers, nor do I want you to take offense. Instead, I am asking those who listen, to please carefully reevaluate their choice and make sure they are genuinely ones who can get away with it.

If you would not ride with music on roads with heavy traffic, you should not do it on roads that have the potential for even the lightest of traffic.

It only takes one.

[Pedal Wench]

JJ,
I'm not sure if I posted this earlier - sorry if I did.

When I'm on the road, I don't use anything, but I do on the bike path. I have a pair of headphones with a solid band, not the earbud type. I use one side only, but I don't put it in my ear - I just position it 'near' my ear and turn up the level. No, I can't hear every nuance and detail of the music. It's almost just a reminder of what the song is that's playing. I just started to use it to help with training and doing intervals. One song fast, one song recover.

I was questioning the whole music thing as a new rider. I plan on doing a lot of back roads training and love to listen to music. It really helps the time fly. I too felt it wasn't safe to wear both headphones, and don't really thing headphones are all that comfy w/ glasses.

My question.. does anyone know if there is any kind of "headphone" type device that you could wear around your neck or helmet that would just play music around your head? I know that a couple of ladies have rigged earphones onto their helmet?? Could you maybe explain this? Would this concept even work?

Thanks so much...

[LauraPaura]

I listen to music when I ride on bikeroads (don't know what they're called, the special paths made just for riding and walking) but not in the city. I think it's easier to keep up a good pace with some music (I listen to dance/trance music..). I listen to music all the time anyway and I always have my nice small MP3 player with me. I also ALWAYS carry an extra battery with me just in case

Even if I didin't listen to music I would keep those things in my ears because they block the wind very effectively.

I don't think it's illegal here in Finland to listen to these while driving anything.. Not sure though.

[Duck on Wheels]

JJ,
I'm not sure if I posted this earlier - sorry if I did.

When I'm on the road, I don't use anything, but I do on the bike path. I have a pair of headphones with a solid band, not the earbud type. I use one side only, but I don't put it in my ear - I just position it 'near' my ear and turn up the level. No, I can't hear every nuance and detail of the music. It's almost just a reminder of what the song is that's playing. I just started to use it to help with training and doing intervals. One song fast, one song recover.

Now that I can see might work. It would take some tweeking to find a headphone that will sit off-kilter neither disturbing nor disturbed by helmet. Also, when on a quiet path I might rather hear the birds (bike path near my Mom's place goes through a meadow with lots of redwing blackbirds all competing for territory -- maybe not what the other blackbirds like to hear, but music to MY ears ). But for some settings and as musical motivation during a workout ... yeah. I can see the off-ear headphone system working. I'll keep it in mind.