General Cycling Discussion - What is the best music for bicycling?

Many of you have pondered this question but lacked the assertiveness to ask. Allow me to take the bold step and ask that which needs to be addressed:

What is the best bicycling music?

Of course, I am aware that most of you will reply that the answer is obviously 1970's disco music. Yes, yes, this is reasonable, understandable, in fact, it is the truth. (Behold the cycle power of KC and the Sunshine Band, The Commodores, Earth, Wind, and Fire - Oh, it get's my backseat in motion too).

HOWEVER, let us entertain the opinions of others.

So, let's have it, folks! What is the best music for your bicycle enjoyment and motivation?

(GROOaaan) ya, ya, ya, I know some cats will argue that you shouldn't listen to music while your ride. OK, there, I got that out of the way. Let's say the music is playing in your head or you are humming it or something.

I will speak for myself and say that disco as the 70's did passed away. With that passing brought in music that is well real. Speaking for myself music that motivates me to ride and ride with the aggressiveness that I do is Metal. No it is not black, or death. I listen to Suicidal Tendencies, Testament, Downset, Megadeth(old stuff), Machine Head etc. I also revert on ocassions to my old punk days.

Uhm, "Hello", Hunter, excuse me but "Disco is dead"?

Like, I don't THINK so.

You can like heavy metal and all that because I'm OK and you're OK, but disco is with it, man!

Get back into the groove, Hunter. Get in with the in-crowd where you belong. Get into disco. We are waiting for your here, but the boogies going fast, so you better hurry.

Great, Mike. I'm going to be listening to ABBA, now because of you! Ugh! Well disco isn't quite dead, but it's reincarnated itself into some hideous form! :D

I'm not sure what I hum in my little head. (There's a lot of echo and reverb in there, ya know. Might not have the best acoustics.) I think it was "Henry the Eighth" or something from RATM. I'll have to think about that on my ride tomorrow...hopefully, sans "The Village People". ;)

If I listen to music, I like to stay at home or in a bar and be drinking beer, If I ride I don't listen to any music, Oh Oh, I listen to the whistling sound of my wheels while I am hummering up or down a hill

Mike,

Here is a song my daughter, Angela (5 yrs. old), wants to sing for you as a favorite biking tune that you can listen to in your head as you ride (without headphones):

Once upon a time, there lived "Mike". Once he was riding his bike. He found a piece of "diamond", but it was a piece of glass. Baby, I found a piece of glass...Mike found a piece of glass...He was suprised, but it was a piece of glass...Baby...And he was suprised, he didn't know what it was...it was yesterday, Baby...

Now Angela says, "I love you, Baby, that's all! Baby, Mike, I love you, Baby, this came from my dad, he wrote the letter, he used the keyboard, Baby, and that's all!"

"Baby I love you, and that's all from my heart."

There we have it! You heard it folks, from Angela (5 yrs. old) to Mike!
:)

There is really only ONE kind of music to listen to while biking and that was composed by WAGNER of opera fame.
Happy April !, to all. lj

Mike, i love your posts! LOL

Donna Summer, Village People, Voyage, El Coco... (http://www.discomusic.com/top500_disco_v.html) haha

As for me? I have a thing for 80's remixed dance music, bands like blondie, talking heads, B-52's, the Go-Go's ect... all the songs have a great beat, nice length, amazing lyrics... i can ride forever, with my dance music, or if im riding in the city, a good song or two before the ride gets me pumped. :)

The best rock band in the history of the world came out of Newcastle, Australia and is called The Screaming Jets. I love their up-tempo stuff for when I'm climbing or fighting a headwind or whatever.

Another thing, the lyrics of some of their songs are a great way to calm oneself in traffic when a few of the other vehicles on the road have gone out of their way to annoy you. One that I like off their latest CD is called "Maggots".

Chris

I don't listen to music while I'm cycling, but if I did I think I would start out with The Barenaked Ladies. They are a great way to start out on a ride while my energy level is at the highest. I think the style of music ultimately depends on the terrain of the ride. I enjoy all kinds of music.

I sometimes listen to music and think about cycling (while I'm behind my computer at work). At times like that I listen to techno music and think about the change in temperature (from cool to warm and back again) as I fly past a field of cattle or Thoroughbread horses.

Sometimes while I cycle I think about music. Every now and then I hear an Italian aria, but I try to remember to NOT sing out loud so I reduce the chances of choking on a bug...

O del mio dolce ardor, brama ...da da da ah-doo...gulp.

Originally posted by Pete Clark
Mike,

Here is a song my daughter, Angela (5 yrs. old), wants to sing for you as a favorite biking tune that you can listen to in your head as you ride (without headphones):

Once upon a time, there lived "Mike". Once he was riding his bike. He found a piece of "diamond", but it was a piece of glass. Baby, I found a piece of glass...Mike found a piece of glass...He was suprised, but it was a piece of glass...Baby...And he was suprised, he didn't know what it was...it was yesterday, Baby...

Now Angela says, "I love you, Baby, that's all! Baby, Mike, I love you, Baby, this came from my dad, he wrote the letter, he used the keyboard, Baby, and that's all!"

"Baby I love you, and that's all from my heart."

There we have it! You heard it folks, from Angela (5 yrs. old) to Mike!
:)

Wow, Angela (via Pete), thanks for honoring me with a song. That makes my whole day wonderful.

My day started off a bit sour; I think my raw cookie dough diet backfired. Yup, it started out as a ceramic saddle day, but then I got the song and everything changed for the better.

I am going to call the song "Mike on the Bike with Diamonds". It makes me think of when Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" for Julian Lennon.

Alert!

With the end of winter's steel grey skies and the coming of sunshine, I think I may have discovered some excellent bicycling music:

THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY! Pick your favorite album and try riding around in the sunshine with it. You will look at your biking partner and say "Hey, I think I love you"

Who's with me on this one?

Nice discovery on my part if I must say so.

Mike, anything from the Partridge Family has got to be good. :) May I add the Brady Bunch's "Sunshine Day", that's being sung on those milk commercials, lately? :D

Technogirl, I like the way you think.

Too bad all of us cats are spread so far out. It would be fun to get together for a ride to a coffee shop that serves chocolates (and oolong tea).

We would have a blast.

Oscar and ljbike,
You are both right! The whirring of the wheels on the road, driven by the silent but insistent metronome of pedal cadence often become, in my head, depending on mood, "Blue Danube", the "Moldau", "Ride of the Valkyries", or any of several others chart toppers. Can't help it. I was listening to this stuff even before there was Elvis. Though now that the suggestion has been made (sorry, Technogirl) I think "Dancing Queen" may show up in the program in the right circumstances. :-)
Regards,
Raymond

While I do agree that the Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch sang many classic tunes, my lack of motivation requires me to listen to something a little more Hardcore. Fugazi is my band of choice when I need a good session on the trainer.

Alert 2!

DO NOT LISTEN TO OR EVEN THINK ABOUT CAPTAIN AND TENNILLE MUSIC WHILE BICYCLING.

I tried it as an experinment and it took an average of three miles per hour off of my speed.

Finally, I fell asleep and crashed. Now, I am wishing that I had been wearing Raymond's kevlar sleeves.

I prefer Japanese Gagaku music.

(Or Ted Nugent when I am about to hit rush hour traffic!)

The 80's is the best, but for those long rides I like the song by trio. The da da da song is the greatest for any long distance rides.:)

Hey, that's okay, Rainman..."Dancin' Queen" gets stuck in my head as well. That's Acceptable ABBA, I suppose...it's just the last time that I had to listen to ABBA, I was stuck in the carpool lane with my dandruff-ridden-carpool buddy and we listened to it for 30 minutes! Of course, that was the same time that he mentioned that he had cheated on his wife...not sure what he was trying to achieve there! I'm all for savin' the planet and all, but I decided then and there, no more carpool buddy! :) But I digress...:D

I don't have any control of the music in my head. Often I get stuck with old TV music like Gilligan's Isle or Green Acres. But if I can find a really big hill to go down then all I hear is WEE !!

Rush.

Can be 70s, 80s, or 90s.

"The road unwinds toward me, what was there is gone
The road unwinds before me, and I go riding on..."

Driven, from Test For Echo.

Accelerators! --> RATM, Pennywise, Filter,Junkie XL,Underworld,NIN, Primal Scream, Ch- brothers and the Sex Pistols.

Cadence creators! -->Dave Clark, Laurent Garnier, Carl Cox and Daft Punk.

Cheerful, Delight and positive energies! --> James Brown, John Lee Hooker, R. L. Burnside, Masters @ Work remixes!,BB king,and Bob Marley

Success guaranteed!

Mark b.

All right, Toolfreak! I was about to write you off (musically speaking, of course) until you got to John Lee Hooker, R.L. Burnside, and B.B. King!
After 40 years of longing, I am finally going to get to see B.B. in person in just a couple of weeks. R.L. Burnside lives not far away from New Orleans and plays at the House of Blues a few times a year. I guess it is a sad comment that I work 1/2 block from HOB, lunch there regularly, but have only been to one concert there, Tracy Chapman about 3 months ago. I must go see R.L. in person. I have a bad ankle, and standing (SRO at HOB) for 2-3 hours is really painful, though it is actually getting better since I have been cycling regularly.
Anyone coming to Jazz Fest? Apr 28-30 and May 3-6.
Regards,
Raymond

Most definitely Santana from the earlier years. Maybe a little Bon Jovi and Bob Seeger thrown in for good measure.Disco reminds me too much of Jon and Ponch. There that will take you back in time.

I usually do my music listening before and after a ride. And the music has to sike me up for whatever kinda riding I plan on doing. Say I'm planning on flying down some trails and sailing off a couple drop-offs,I need some nutty music, something that will put my fears behind me, like the song Cprona, by Minutemen, also the theme song to the MTV show J****ss,or One Fine Day by The Offspring.For speed biking I like stuff with a fast beat, Like Blink 182. And overall, I dislike melencholy music, and heavy metal,way to serious for me. My music has to be lighthearted.

Correction to my previous post: Corona, not Cprona.

Originally posted by RainmanP

After 40 years of longing, I am finally going to get to see B.B. in person in just a couple of weeks. R.L. Burnside lives not far away from New Orleans and plays at the House of Blues a few times a year. I guess it is a sad comment that I work 1/2 block from HOB, lunch there regularly, but have only been to one concert there, Tracy Chapman about 3 months ago. I must go see R.L. in person.
Raymond

Wow, Raymond, you have access to so many cool concerts. You are living our dream.

I hope you are actually living the dream.

So many people live in cool places, but never take advantage of it.

i only listen while on the trainer in the basement.it helps pass time.and the 1 cd i usually listen to is RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS,BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK. yes,with a K

Mike,
Yeah, in some ways I have it pretty good, and I don't take advantage of the opportunities as much as I should. HOWEVER, last year, all 3 daughters being away at school, my wife and I started "dating" again and doing more of the stuff that is available. For instance, next Wednesday, April 11, 2001, starts an annual series of weekly free after work concerts in an oak-shaded square downtown. We discovered this series last year toward the end of the series and have been looking forward to it ever since. Next week, Rockin Dopsie (for some reason pronounced Doopsie), Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. We love zydeco. What a great kick off. Mostly great local artists (as you can imagine, we have plenty) as well as an occasional biggie in town to play House of Blues. We take our chairs and drinks and just chill. Last year we saw G.E. Smith. You remember, G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band. I was a little disappointed because he basically was playing for a female singer and did not really get to show his own stuff. Only problem this year - how do I get my bike home? Guess I can leave it at work and take the bus in the morning, but the thought of not riding saddens me.
This Friday, tomorrow, 4/6, a local casino starts it's weekly series of Friday and Saturday free concerts. First up Jerry Lee Lewis, whom a lot of people paid pretty good bucks to see at HOB just a few months ago. Next week, Chubby Checker. They get a lot of retooled 70s and 80s bands. Last year, for instance, Peter Noone and the New Herman's Hermits, Gary Puckett of Union Gap fame,the New Rascals, featuring two original members of the original Young Rascals, Little Richard, and a bunch of others whose names you would recognize if my aging brain could remember them.
Not to mention French Quarter Fest in a couple of weeks, followed immediately by the grandaddy, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, better known as Jazz Fest. Two long weekends of unbelievable music of ever description. We only went one day last year. I expect to go three this year. Decisions, decisions.
Not the least thing I feel lucky about is where I live in relation to my office. An 8.7 mile commute in the early morning on empty main streets and a, now, 13.3 mile commute home on a combination of back streets as well as a nice stretch along Lakeshore Drive by Lake Pontchartrain. A wonderful fast stretch when the wind is low, murder with a headwind, but enjoyable either way. The wind is my friend. It makes me stronger.
Yes, I do feel lucky. But you know, we all are in some way. I envy those of you who live in more interesting cycling places with good trails and rural roads, places where you can ride for extended periods with no stop lights. With mountains to climb and breathtaking descents. As long as we have two wheels, or three, you trike riders, we are all blessed.
Regards,
Raymond

I did a ride years ago, um, during the boom box years, and one guy dropped a box in his day pack, and we listened to the Doobie Brothers. It kept out minds on the music, or rather it kept our minds off our hurtin' legs, and we finished the ride in record time. Of course, all I can remember about the ride is the Doobie Brothers, not the scenery or the conversations... so I prefer silence when riding. Now, once I am home and need to relax, I break out the Partidge Family and Brady Bunch records! Did you know there is a seven-minute version of the theme to Sanford and Son? Truth!

Seven minutes of the Sanford and Son Theme?

That would have me hoping to get stopped at a stop light so I could change the radio station.

I said it earlier on this post and, as it turns out, I was right,

"The Partridge Family music is righteous for bicycling!"

It is no wonder, they were bicyclists themselves. They sang for us, baby!

Check out this photo of David Cassidy (lead singer of the Partridge Family) cruising on this muscle bike in 1972.

I look around apprehensively, and if there's nobody to hear, I start singing a few songs by Poulenc. Or a couple of tunes from Buena Vista Social Club that I memorized. I know it's strange, but I don't seem to know any songs in English. Sometimes I have amused myself by reciting Shakespeare sonnets, though.

Shakespeare sonnets, hm? See, cyclists have "culture!"

I think I have one of those stingrays hanging in my garage.

What David Cassidy really needs is a five-speed stick-shift. Hey, remember the chopper? ;)

Originally posted by mike
Check out this photo of David Cassidy (lead singer of the Partridge Family) cruising on this muscle bike in 1972. [/B]

He's a serious rider, too. Check the aero grip on the handlebars!

Having never been much of a fan of Madonna or the Backstreet Boys, I instead use my cycle commute time to listen to language cassettes. In France, this is mostly how I learned english... I had twelve hours a week of dedicated listening time. (I wondered, though, if I would be able to speak english if I WAS NOT on my bike.)

I picked up enough spanish to get me by in the same fashion, and presently am working on italian.

I discovered a company called Penton Overseas (http://www.pentonoverseas.com) who sell courses called "Learn in Your Car..." They require very little course manual reference, and the small guide that comes with the cassette tapes will easily fit in a fanny pack or seat bag.

Cycling is not a terribly cerebral activity, and I find that I can easily concentrate on vocabulary and grammar drills and still pay attention to road and traffic conditions.

You folks would be amazed at how fast you can pick up a language this way...

When I'm not conjugating andare, volere, finire.... I like to listen to Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Strauss, Wagner, and Gershwin, along with reggae, raï, latin beat, Cuban Son, and african pop music.

Fatal Mambo is my preferred hill climbing music...

As a change of pace you all should try Romanza by Andrea Bocelli. If you close your eyes this music will transport you to the villages and back roads of northern Italy.

The Who!!!!!
Won't get fooled again, Who are You, Baba O'Riley. If that don't get you pumpin' nothing will! :)

Originally posted by bjlaw
If you close your eyes this music will transport you to the villages and back roads of northern Italy.
Warning!!!!
BJ is a professional rider on a closed track, Please do not attempt this yourself. ;)

Originally posted by pupmm36
i only listen while on the trainer in the basement.it helps pass time.and the 1 cd i usually listen to is RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS,BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK. yes,with a K

That's the stuff. Awesome CD.

Getting into some ska as well, the skatellites and buck-o-nine are a lot of fun.

Gary Numan or Kraftwerk

www.afenet.com
or
www.garynuman.co.uk
or
www.kraftwerk.com

Guys, it seems you have forgotten the Eagles!!! Tonight on the way home, Hotel California started playing right before I got home.....so I had to ride all the way through town untill the song was over!! I love listening to music..although I keep the earphones kinda down on my ears so I can still hear the other cars and sounds of my surroundings. I ordered an MP3 player today......150 songs on 1 CD!! Guess I better keep working out so I can ride long enough to reach the end of the CD!!

Well, for any of you mp3 sharing fools who are frustrated about what is happening to napster. Try Kazaa.com . It works really well for me, and you can also get music video's. There are not as many Kazaa users, so there is not quite the selection of music Napster has, but it fills the bill.

If you mean the best music for cycling WITH then I would say none!

It is dangerous enough out there with all your senses actively scanning let alone with your ears otherwise engaged

Originally posted by mrpc
If you mean the best music for cycling WITH then I would say none!

It is dangerous enough out there with all your senses actively scanning let alone with your ears otherwise engaged
I gotta say I agree totally.

I have found that if I have music going, either in headphones or on speakers, and become concentrated on some task, I completely stop hearing the music as long as my concentration lasts. To me, this means that if I am aware of the music, I'm not totally concentrated.

When I'm on my bike, especially on city streets full of drunken, cell-phone gabbing drivers and drugged, stupefied pedestrians, I want nothing less than all the concentration I can muster, at every second.

How about some Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Napalm Death (Rich you would know them), Mortician, Dismember those bands should get the blood pumping.

Myself, I like Deep house. Knuckles, Terrence Parker, Roy Davis Jr. , Raze anything like that. I don't normally ride to music though. I like my music in nightclubs

I don't listen to music while cycling. I want to hear that car coming up behind me.

On the other hand, while I'm at the gym, in the winter, on the stationary bike, the only music fit to be listened to is John Mellencamp. Preferrably the early to mid '80s stuff like "Cherry Bomb" or "Little Pink Houses" Okay, I admit it. I'm betraying my Indiana hick roots here. :)

Originally posted by Trekn
How about some Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Napalm Death (Rich you would know them), Mortician, Dismember those bands should get the blood pumping.

No I cannot take that stuff. Way to morbid, and satanic. Hence I guess in that area of Metal I guess that is why there is Morbid Angel. That style of Metal is called Black Metal, or Death Metal. Really hard to listen too, and very taxing on the brain.
Have you seen that commercial yet where this guy is getting a meal ready and the doorbell rings? There is this girl at the door in a fish net garb, she comes in sits down, and he punches the remote. You get this real hardcore tune, "let me call you sweetheart........." Funny commercial but MAN! Could you imagine listening to that all the time? What about that guys throat?