So some of you are probably going to freak...let me start by saying that I ride through the country, lighted up like a UFO, two rearview mirrors and a helmet. For the past week, two cars have passed me. That said, I've started listening to my Ipod while riding. It started out with some Phillip K Dick novels which would really slow me down (concentrating WAY too much on the text). Today, I threw on some old metal (i.e. G&R, Poison, Motley Crue, Metallica, etc) and older rap (Snoop, Dre, Eminem, BIG, tupac, etc). Now, I've got over 10,000 songs on my computer, so it's bound that I"m going to have a fair amount of this stuff, but I almost never listen to it...unless I'm commuting.

I've discovered a new performance enhancing drug! Riding without music, I'd do 7.1 miles in about 45 minutes just cruising. With Phil, it'd be about 50. This morning? 35 minutes. I know, right?

So, does anyone else listen to music when commuting, and if so, do they listen to stuff other than what they'd typically listen to? I'm usually a classic rock/folksy kinda guy (Simon and Garfunkel is my current Pandora station...)

I don't have an iPod, but I occasionally whistle while commuting. Seems to have no effect on speed.

I prefer the rhythm of the road.

The last time I played Metallica, I think my "cruising" speed went up 3-4 mph, at least.

I've set up a smart playlist that only contains tracks I've never played (that is, after I ripped them onto my computer -- never played them all the way through on it or any of my iPods, either). It's over a thousand tracks, ranging from Norah Jones to Tommy Dorsey, Empire Brass to Fishbone.

I used to load my Shuffle with this playlist, which in turn introduced me to one of the hottest pieces I've got (IMO), Richard Strauss's Don Juan, served up by the wind-powered brass weaponry of Solti-era Chicago Symphony. I think that Farkas, Herseth, and Jacobs were on that crew. Holy cow...

I shuffle, when metal comes on I can get alittle rush of energy. But I love listening to OLD Lovlines from the early 2000's. Good times, I've got over 350, one and a half hour commercial free shows, and have been through them all once, now doing it again. I'm pretty sure everyone I pass thinks I'm nuts because of the big smile and outbursts of random laughter. I'd like some more music though.

Lots of fast electronica with a few hard rock or metal groups.

I listen to music while riding. But not on headphones. I have it rigged with a pair of Sony desktop speakers with their own battery power supply. My cell phone has a 4GB memory card with the tracks on it.

ipod is usually on shuffle, but since I am a child of the grunge era its usually some alt rock band. I do have some Rage Against the Machine that sends me into a bit of a pedaling frenzy. Its the same playlist I listen to when I am skiing.

Not during my commute, but training rides on the MUP I'll wear my earphones.

Judas Priest's "Painkiller" album is a good one for picking up the pace.

Punk rock mostly. Lately: The Clash, GBH, This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb (heh), Bomb the Music Industry!, The Damned, World/Inferno Friendship Society, The Jam, Circle Jerks, J Church, Minor Threat, Elvis Costello, early Against Me, Cro-Mags, 999, The Screamers, Off With Their Heads, Dillinger Four, Iggy and the Stooges, and on, and on, and on.

I also have an external speaker rigged to the bike. It does not have a power source so the sound is tinny and quiet, but it's perfect because when the traffic is high and I need to really pay attention, I don't hear it. When i'm on the quiet backroads, it comes through loud enough that I can sing along. I like to sing when I ride, and my speaker setup doesn't afford much bass, so I tend to stick with melodic folk, blues and pop. I love Eva Cassady for the fall, Iron and Wine, and Kings of Convenience. Not very motivating for fast paced riding, but seasonally appropriate. Once the winter really sets in, I will probably listen to a lot of Tool and A Perfect Circle. Tough music for tough rides.

When I take the MUP to work I'll throw on some Skinny Puppy or Front Line Assembly. It does make me ride faster. Tried listening to Mozart one morning and it slowed me down.

Seems to me like it might be a lot safer than earbuds.

I listen to my Ipod during commuting. Rock music. Flaw, Dope, Soil etc....

I rock a mix of old metal, country and classic rock. I had to take the Pantera off of the playlist though, I got mean. I definitely feel a wee bit faster when I have a good track on.

A teen in Indianapolis was hit and killed a couple of weeks ago after he ran a red light. He was listening to an I-Pod while riding, the police believe he lost his situational awareness while listening to the music. I know you said you ride mostly in the country, but I would still recommend against listening to music with ear plugs.

16 posts in to get an anti music comment. Better than usual I guess.

Let's repeat what he said, lit up like UFO, mirrors everywhere and no traffic and I'm going to guess he's not a clueless teenager. Some people would recommend against music on a trainer I think.

As for me, I shuffle it up and ride under similar conditions to yours. At times it is absolutely performance enhancing.

Let's add a qualification to that....depending on the rider and conditions it may be safer but not necessarily.

I should be a bit more clear on my ride - once I get out of town (on a back street with 3 intersections that don't have signals in my direction), I have exactly three intersections. The only way to get hit is either oncoming or being rear ended - mirrors take care of the latter, and I can eyeball the former...Is it more dangerous? Yeah, probably. But, that said, I think I'll stick with it.

ETA: were I still living and riding in Indy, you'd better believe that I'd never wear anything that would inhibit any of my senses - way too many dangers, from cars to dogs to pedestrians.

my MP3 player died a few miles from work and I missed it. the good news is - the last song I heard was BTO's "Takin Care of Business" got a new battery for the ride home!

I listen to spoken word programming on my ipod (different podcasts) and use noise cancelling head phones that allows me just to use one ear-piece. I believe the noise canceling effect allows me to hear traffic better, because it reduces wind noise and I don't have to turn it up that much.

i listen to my ipod every day during my commute... not so loud that I can not hear traffic of course.

Also... has anyone's ipod died from it getting too cold? I used to put it in my vest pocket last winter but it would freeze and then crash. It would do the same thing in the pocket of my knickers... I ended up basically strapping it against my skin to keep it from freezing.

I mostly listen to communist talk radio (Pacifica network or Air America). But sometimes I listen to music, and I do it commuting through the big city. Never very loud and never with noise-cancelling earphones. Mostly the music doesn't have a noticable effect on my speed or awareness, but I've noted that Reggae will knock a few MPH off. And I stop halfway home to take a nap. I think it's the contact high.

10+ (including Tommy Dorsey). IMO, listening to music while riding is an effective performance enhancement that leaves no tell-tale residues in the blood stream.

I've posted my cycling playlist on my Public Profile, about 250 songs. How I did it is on this thread, Cycling Playlist Exchange:

https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus-50/596762-cycling-playlist-exchange.html See especially posts #'s 1 and 46.

I used to do pretty much the same thing. I set up a playlist that contained songs I hadn't listened to in at least a year and would autofill my shuffle from that. I discovered a lot of great "lost" tracks that way.

BTW: if you like Don Juan, you need to get your mitts on the Solti/Nilsson/Vienna Philharmonic recording of Elektra. That's something awesome right there.