"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Do you race with music?

Is racing with music legal? or is it a phsychological advantage? If it is legal do you use it? I notice that climbing hills is very easy when I have some good hard rock music.

It's not legal.

I regularly train with music but the adrenaline of the race is usually more than enough excitement, plus I can form attack groups and know if a road hazard is coming up.

It's not legal.

But what if you're in a race that allows for race radios? In such a race wearing earpieces would be legal and I dont see what the difference is if that earpiece is connected to your coach yelling at you to go or to your iPod yelling at you to go.

Only a complete and utter fukcing idiot would race with an iPod in his ear.

rule 1K3 - look it up.

Only a complete and utter fukcing idiot would race with an iPod in his ear.

LOL

Only a complete and utter fukcing idiot would race with an iPod in his ear.





brutal truth.

You could always tell them it's your team's race radio, but that's not legal in amateur racing, so you'd still be DQ'd or disciplined. Of course DQ-ing pack fodder is rather irrellevant and being suspended from racing might be a nice vacation.

On the Nyack Ride iPods are not only allowed, they are encouraged. Whenever somebody asks me what I'm listening to I tell them it's Johann and he wants them to chase down the breakaway.

I had "Istanbul" by They Might Be Giants stuck in my head for an entire criterium once. does that count?

But what if you're in a race that allows for race radios? In such a race wearing earpieces would be legal and I dont see what the difference is if that earpiece is connected to your coach yelling at you to go or to your iPod yelling at you to go.

1) An earpiece/race radio is a singular entity, one ear only.

2) Never seen anyone rock just one earbud from their iPod. Most music these days will have different components...i.e. drum, bass, whatever coming at you from only one of the two sides. You'd be missing part of the music.

3) Earpieces/race radios are not loud.

4) No one is constantly yelling at you over race radios.

5) If you're a Pro/1/2, and thus actually allowed to take the start with an electrical device rigged up to your ear, you've probably figured out why it would be a bad idea to race with music playing over two headphones.

>> Never seen anyone rock just one earbud from their iPod.<<

If I wear my iPod while riding with other cyclists I generally have one earbud in, one out. That way my hearing is pretty much normal. I can hear what I need to hear with both earbuds in, but conversational b.s. gets tough, and I do want to hear everything anyone utters in a pace line situation. It does work, I've done it for 18 years or so (before iPods I rode with small Walkman cassette players). The open air earbuds (like the cheap ones that come with an iPod) don't really block outside sounds, unless you have the iPod overly cranked.

Traffic noises? Always hear them with an iPod. People yelling? Ditto. Squealing brakes? Of course. The only thing that's hard to hear is normal conversation, and that's hard to hear @ 25mph with the wind in your ears regardless.

I always have a song stuck in my head during a race.

dk's 'police truck' was the best song to date.

1) An earpiece/race radio is a singular entity, one ear only.

2) Never seen anyone rock just one earbud from their iPod. Most music these days will have different components...i.e. drum, bass, whatever coming at you from only one of the two sides. You'd be missing part of the music.

3) Earpieces/race radios are not loud.

4) No one is constantly yelling at you over race radios.

5) If you're a Pro/1/2, and thus actually allowed to take the start with an electrical device rigged up to your ear, you've probably figured out why it would be a bad idea to race with music playing over two headphones.

I am aware of the differences between an iPod and a race radio, what I meant by my question is do the rules discriminate race radios from other devices? Do the rules say that you can race with only a race radio, or do they say you may race with an electronic device?

http://www.usacycling.org/forms/RdTrkCx_rulebook.pdf

Read up.

"audio playback devices are expressly forbidden"

so no ipods

1) An earpiece/race radio is a singular entity, one ear only.

2) Never seen anyone rock just one earbud from their iPod. Most music these days will have different components...i.e. drum, bass, whatever coming at you from only one of the two sides. You'd be missing part of the music.

I don't race with music, but I do ride with it. One earbud. Its not a big deal to only have the music coming from one side, but if getting both the L & R channels is important to you, someone posted an earbud that mixes the channels.

I had "Istanbul" by They Might Be Giants stuck in my head for an entire criterium once. does that count?

Not Constantinople?

No.
Why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way.

I had a teammate wear one once in a race, and I was trying to convey some tactical element of the race (quietly) but the guy wouldn't acknowledge me. Finally I screamed, literally screamed, his name and he turned towards me. It wasn't until after the race when I heard the music that I figured out what happened. He was wearing those bluetooth sunglass jobs, so you couldn't even tell.

Is racing with music legal? or is it a phsychological advantage? If it is legal do you use it? I notice that climbing hills is very easy when I have some good hard rock music.

You know what it is? Stupid.

Only a complete and utter fukcing idiot would race with an iPod in his ear.

:twitchy: :innocent: :roflmao2:

I don't race with music, but I do ride with it. One earbud. Its not a big deal to only have the music coming from one side, but if getting both the L & R channels is important to you, someone posted an earbud that mixes the channels.

Just convert your files to mono. Quicker and easier. Heck, save them a at a lower bitrate and you can store more, too.

I had "Istanbul" by They Might Be Giants stuck in my head for an entire criterium once. does that count?

Don't listen to Sisters of Mercy just before, either. http://emoticons4u.com/fingers/fing04.gif

Cycling is too easy, so I use these to make things more challenging

http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk/pim/web/16-front.gif

I've never raced with an iPod, but I did have Kensuf and his choir having a Bicycle Race sing along one day.

Don't listen to Sisters of Mercy just before, either. http://emoticons4u.com/fingers/fing04.gif

man, i haven't known anyone in a loooong time who even knew who they were....

"this corrosion" is way better than "bootylicious" which i had stuck in my head at a crit once...i crashed.

man, i haven't known anyone in a loooong time who even knew who they were....

"this corrosion" is way better than "bootylicious" which i had stuck in my head at a crit once...i crashed.

Hey now, hey now now:thumb:

On the Nyack Ride iPods are not only allowed, they are encouraged. Whenever somebody asks me what I'm listening to I tell them it's Johann and he wants them to chase down the breakaway.

You should just be honest and tell them you are listening to big band. Everyone likes to listen to the music they grew up on.

I grew up on the Beatles, followed by Led Zep, followed by Elvis Costello. Except I never grew up. F that action. Maturity is way over rated. I revel in my juvenility.

No.
Why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way.

why did contstantinople get the works? that's nobody's business but the tuuurrrkkkks.

You know what it is? Stupid.

Correct. It will be my NY Bike Racing Badge of Shame for Life that they have photographic evidence of me violating this rule.

Oh well. Nobody crashed. And it was fun while it lasted.

I saw a guy last year in a closed course crit with a single earpiece in on the outside ear. He got lapped and pulled- he couldn't hear the officials yell at him with a bull horn that he was pulled for a couple of laps yelling his number and his name as loud as the bull horn would go. His attention was elsewhere. I can't imagine trying to talk to the guy in a pack. Too many people are barely situationally aware without the music- add the music and they're really scary to ride with. Unfortunately the worst examples think they're perfectly able to ride safely with headphones in and give the whole practice a bad reputation.

Not too many years ago music was allowed in TTs and now it's not. You could still get away with it if you had the ipod and the headphones completely concealed in a TT helmet with ear flaps- not the best idea and you'd definitely be DQ'd if you get caught but it's a possibility.

I he couldn't hear the officials yell at him with a bull horn that he was pulled for a couple of laps yelling his number and his name as loud as the bull horn would go. His attention was elsewhere.

The issue in this case was the individual's oblivion, not the one earpiece.

The earpiece was a contributing factor.

if nothing else it corroborates that the guy is a d*ouche

The earpiece was a contributing factor.

Not a friggin chance. Dude, I ride with an Ipod in my head every day. If somebody was bull-horning at me I'd hear it before you would. Separate issue from racing with anything obstructing your hearing. But after nearly 20 years of daily cycling with these types of earpieces, I think I know what I'm talking about on this topic.

I only raced with them like 3x. Frankly the sturm und drang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturm_und_Drang)over this isn't worth it.

well, we can't prove it either way so I suppose the point is moot.

well, we can't prove it either way so I suppose the point is moot.

I would hope the 100K+ road bicycle miles I have accumulated using earphones without incident caused by impaired hearing under those conditions constitutes overwhelming circumstantial evidence to support my contention.

obviously the guy was an idiot (his subsequent conversation with the officials proved that), however, the ear piece made it worse as he was in his own world and not paying attention to much. The pack yelled at him as he was lapped and he didn't hear them. This specific example isn't a generalization of every rider with an earbud, but rather an example of idiots.

I'm not at all against people wearing an earbud while riding- I do myself often enough when I'm alone risking only my life. There are all sorts of argument for and against which are basically personal case based rationales. USAC rules must govern the group and must deal with and mitigate the worst cases for the rest of our safety. Unfortunately, there are too many idiots out there that can't wear one without being a danger to the group so the only prudent thing to do is ban them from racing (USAC's purview). In this case, keeping everyone from wearing one is worth not having the idiots wear them in races.

Pcad, I'm glad you're so on top of your game but do you trust the slobbering idiot next to you to ride safely while distracted by his ipod? That's really the issue here.

(edited for clarity and spelling)

obviously the guy was an idiot (his subsequent conversation with the officials proved that), however, the ear piece made it worse as he was in his own world and not paying attention to much. The pack yelled at him as he was lapped and he didn't hear them. This specific example isn't a generalization of every rider with an earbud, but rather an example of idiots.

I'm not at all against people wearing an earbud while riding- I do myself often enough when I'm alone risking only my life. There are all sorts of argument for and against which are basically personal case based rationales. USAC rules must govern the group and must deal with and mitigate the worst cases for the rest of our safety. Unfortunately, there are too many idiots out there that can't wear one without being a danger to the group so the only prudent thing to do is ban them from racing (USAC's purview). In this case, keeping everyone from wearing one is worth not having the idiots wear them in races.

Pcad, I'm glad you're so on top of your game but do you trust the slobbering idiot next to you to ride safely while distracted by his ipod? That's really the issue here.

(edited for clarity and spelling

It's not the iPod that would scare me. It's the idiot part. That is not related to iPods.

Fortunately in the Master's 35+ and 45+ fields that is not a major issue.

I would hope the 100K+ road bicycle miles I have accumulated using earphones without incident caused by impaired hearing under those conditions constitutes overwhelming circumstantial evidence to support my contention.

The same evidence proves that you are extremely lucky or that your creator has another plan for you than dying on the road. You circumstantial evidence isn't proof of your conclusion.

I will concede that you are skilled at riding with music but will you concede that not everyone is? Do you want to race with some non-bike-handling Fred with the additional distraction of fiddling with his iPod controls in a pace line at speed? I'm not that trusting. Idiots can be made worse by such distractions so why not eliminate them? Is not racing (as opposed to riding) with iPods so bad?

The example I showed was in the CAT IV race. Any CAT IV old enough can race in the categories you mentioned. You are arguing that he should be allowed. All you have to do to race in those categories is start (not finish) 10 mass start races.

I saw a mate do a crit only a few years ago with his Ipod. I think he stuck the ear buds in after a few laps.

Mind you he did ride off on the first lap and was just making contact with the bunch on the final lap. If there was about another 500m of racing, he would have lapped the field.

The same evidence proves that you are extremely lucky or that your creator has another plan for you than dying on the road. You circumstantial evidence isn't proof of your conclusion.

I will concede that you are skilled at riding with music but will you concede that not everyone is? Do you want to race with some non-bike-handling Fred with the additional distraction of fiddling with his iPod controls in a pace line at speed? I'm not that trusting. Idiots can be made worse by such distractions so why not eliminate them? Is not racing (as opposed to riding) with iPods so bad?

The example I showed was in the CAT IV race. Any CAT IV old enough can race in the categories you mentioned. You are arguing that he should be allowed. All you have to do to race in those categories is start (not finish) 10 mass start races.

Nobody is 'skilled at riding with music'. You either have common sense and use open air headphones and keep the music at a low enough level to hear what's around you or you're a moron and you crank it and tune everything out. All the people I know who ride with music would never do that. 'Extremely lucky'?Yeah, OK, whatever you say. Most of those miles were in the immediate NY City Metro area, one of the most densely populated places you could ever ride a bicycle.

I'm still here.

Why is is that 95% of those condemning this practice have never even tried it on any kind of regular basis? Now that's pretty stupid. But that's as far as riding on the road. But in racing? Ipods are not legal, that makes sense to me whether I once poached that rule or not. My bad. Won't happen again. There's no need to debate music in racing.

Is racing with music legal? or is it a phsychological advantage? If it is legal do you use it? I notice that climbing hills is very easy when I have some good hard rock music.

Yes, all the time.

About to line up at my last race ;)

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/Mike_Kamp/bik2.jpg

must be an older photo

you know, before the helmet laws came in.