Tunes while riding

[pll]

Peace! No number of arguments will convince one side or the other.

[Eden]

lph - I think that differing attitudes about driving between countries are also in play. I'm thinking that where you are the drivers are much more careful and courteous of you all on bikes.

It might be perfectly safe to be a bit tuned out on your bike in, say, Amsterdam - where biking is as common as walking about, most people do it pretty slowly, bikes are often separated from traffic, the auto traffic is also moving relatively slowly and the drivers are quite aware of all of the foot and bike traffic.

Here in the US, its the opposite. If you walk around or ride around the least bit distracted you are taking your life in your hands. Traffic generally moves fast and is aggressive and you really do have to assume that drivers have little to no regard for your life... There are even places in the US that are thinking about making crossing the street wearing headphones illegal...

Is it necessarily fair that we should allow drivers to run our lives the way they do - no, but it is the reality of things the way they are.

I do find it annoying when walkers, runners, bladers, cyclists are budded(or on the phone...), clueless and weaving/wandering around - but that's not why I discourage people from wearing ear buds....If I'm on a trail where I'm likely to encounter those type of folks, it's my responsibility to not run them down.... I discourage earbud wearing because I really don't think it is safe to do here. If you are going to interact with traffic in the US, you need all of your wits about you and earbuds, even low, really do tend to tune a person's brain out - whether or not they even realize it.

In the end it is not my decision - if it is legal in your jurisdiction you can do it, and in most places it still is. You still won't ever find me doing it, nor do I have to agree with anyone that it is a good decision. I think is also likely that slowly, like seatbelt wearing (went from encouraged, to mandatory over many years), places in the US will start to outlaw earphones on bikes and maybe even for peds.

[azfiddle]

There are so many distractions when cycling, walking or driving. So maybe this is hijacking the thread but it made me wonder how many of you ...

Eat and drink while in the car?
Listen to the music, radio, books, podcasts while driving? And at what volume?
Are involved in animated conversations while driving, cycling or walking?
Have active children in your car while driving?
Other common distractions?

Personally, I sometimes do not want to even talk while cycling because of the added distraction away from the road. One of my friends had a cycling accident and broke her pelvis because she was involved in a conversation and did not see a large chunk of asphalt in the road. (OTOH, when I am riding alone, I can see the road ahead, use a rear view mirror and am more likely to be checking ahead and behind, even while listening to music).

And.. which cycling situations are most likely to require utmost attention?
Urban commuting?
Rural roads with low traffic but potential for dogs or harassment by drivers?
Group rides?
???


And which distractions concern you most?

[lph]

lph - I think that differing attitudes about driving between countries are also in play. I'm thinking that where you are the drivers are much more careful and courteous of you all on bikes.

Careful may be the case - oh, and Eden, I do appreciate you disagreeing with me in such a civil manner . I'm sure there are many places that have more aggressive traffic than here, and that are more unsuitable for riding with earbuds. For that reason also I would never ever recommend riding with earbuds to anyone else, not only because it does take practice and certain skills. But courteous no, Oslo is definitely not Amsterdam or Copenhagen. We do not have that many bike paths, and there is a definite view among many drivers that cyclists are a huge PITA. You especially have to keep your eyes open for drivers passing you closely, even though very fast reckless driving is uncommon.

I'm certainly not trying to defend earbuds as riskfree, or encourage anybody to wear them. There are occasions in which I prefer to ride without them, when I'm tired, haven't ridden for a long while or am in unknown areas and liable to spend too much time staring in the wrong direction, wondering where the hell I am . Earbuds do muffle sound, and I'm not denying it. All I'm saying is that I'm not necessarily a total blithering idiot for riding with them.

Personally I feel that sight completely trumps hearing when it comes to safety, and the single most important skill a cyclist riding in traffic should have around here is the ability to check their surroundings visually often, without swerving. You wouldn't believe how oblivious some people are, completely earbud-free.

[szsz]

People are posting that they only use one earbud. Why only one?

Following the law!

[buffybike]

Guilty of riding with my Ipod (when I'm solo), as long as I'm riding in an area where I know the route really well, and not many cars. Fortunately where I live I have lots of "safe" places to ride, and the music really helps my cadence, especially up hills !
I keep the volume low, and I would never use them with company...

+1, although I haven't used the iPod in over a year. Last year when I was training for a century, there were a few 60-70+ mile rides I had to do alone and, I'll admit, I used earbuds for part of the time just because I got so bored. I can never hear cars anyway due to the wind and my poor hearing in general. I'd never wear them if I was riding with someone else though.

[gnat23]

+1, although I haven't used the iPod in over a year. Last year when I was training for a century, there were a few 60-70+ mile rides I had to do alone and, I'll admit, I used earbuds for part of the time just because I got so bored. I can never hear cars anyway due to the wind and my poor hearing in general. I'd never wear them if I was riding with someone else though.

+1. I used a single earbud during some long solo stretches of a double century. You don't want to know what thoughts were in my head before then.

Getting a thought or song stuck in your head is one thing, but getting ONE LINE of a song stuck for 14 hours? Yeah, I almost swerved myself into the ditch just to take myself out of the misery.

-- gnat! (I wanna rock and roll ALL NIGHT! and party EVERY DAY!... I wanna rock and roll ALL NIGHT! and party EVERY DAY!... I wanna rock and roll ALL NIGHT! and party EVERY DAY! ---)

[lph]

gnat, you're hilarious Thanks for lightening things up.