Fixed it for you :P

I just have my team car pump up the volume!!

Be acutely aware of your surroundings at all times. If you can do that with tunes, great. If you can't, don't.

Well I don't do it if I'm going to be around the same people for any length of time. Besides, only commies don't like Led Zeppelin. :)

I don't wear earphones on my commute, but I've been known to put together a long playlist on my Zune for solo 200k rides. My commute is only 45-ish minutes and I'm usually concentrating on whatever my specific workout regimen is: Clock-watching doing interval sprints, checking my speed doing hill repeats, etc.

Almost always listen to the ipod on my commutes. Listened to menomena last night and this morning.

BTW... I can still hear traffic just fine. But it does limit my ability to have 2-way conversations.

I think drivers know we're listening.

I mean, every day they've got something to say:

Get the **** off my road!
LOOK OUT!
Why is HE in traffic!
Ah ****, not him again!

I also would miss out on the guys/gals who:

Squeal their tires to show me how much speed they've built up at the stop light
When they throttle their engine hard, to show me how Pepboy's Automotive helped them achieve better RPMs

Seriously, why would you want to listen to anything less than the hateful symphony associated with the general public and driving??!?!?!?!?!


And who can forget the guy who's pushing 2k watts of subs for YOUR pleasure. I mean, he spent all that money so you could hear what he's listening to, obvsly.

+1

Though I love both music and bicycling, I find I love them both too much to mix them.

i do it night and every morning for my commute. (i work the midnight shift) but i ride fixed so im always waiting for something to happen considering there are no bike trails along my route. but at night i have the advantage of car's headlights to give me advance warning.

Of course I do. I spend about 3 hrs/day on my bike. I don't think I could do that if I didn't have something to listen to. I can hear cars behind me well enough and on the days I don't listen to anything, I don't feel like I'm more aware, just more bored.

Yup!:thumb: I have days I do, have days I don't.

I love podcasts and audio books on my commute. Talking doesn't blot out the surrounding sounds like music does, and I'm on a very low traffic route. I believe I'm riding safely.

I don't like the idea of an iPod.

I rather use my Zen Stone, which is lots less expensive if I ever feel to use the asphalt as a waterslide ;)

I don't have any blind turns on my commute, and the wind blowing in my helmet sometimes makes me hear invisible cars. So, I have no problem with listening to music most of the time. Though in the winter, without peripheral vision, I go music-less.


FYI: Wearing both headphones while biking is illegal in NY state... (according to some cycling advocacy booklet or something.) So I don't ever wear both headphones in, and nor do you if you live in NY.

(Edit: and I haven't had a working iPod since an incident with a waterproof bag, a can of hawaiian punch, sharp track spikes and an iPod touch... I now use a Sandisk Sansa Clip.)

The music in my car is no more distracting than my iPod on my bike. I have a 2G 2nd gen Shuffle.

I do it all the time on my commute, in a city were I've lived for years. When I started biking I swore it off for safety, but after a few weeks I became knowledgeable of the roads and started to listen to music. I noticed I relied more on my sight than hearing. As a result, I have a habit of periodically looking over my shoulder, which has probably preventing many accidents. 1/3rd of my daily commute is above 20mph, where my hearing is pretty drowned out from wind anyway.

Technically, its illegal in my state (NY) to have both ears listening to music while bicycling. But cops in my city don't really care and I consider it fairly safe.

I would feel too disconnected from the world.

Check your local laws, It is illegal in GA.
http://www.google.com/search?q=headp...ient=firefox-a

So in states where it's illegal to ride with headphones, I wonder if it's illegal for hearing impaired people to ride biycles? Or operate motor vehicles for that matter?

I commute about two hours a day when I work and can't imagine not having some music or podio books along for the ride. I can't hear anything above the wind noise so I don't feel as though I'm missing much.

It's Illegal in Florida as well.

http://www.nefrpc.org/pdfs/bikeWays/safetyLaws.pdf

Don't listen to music while pedaling. I like to listen to other stuff like my natural surroundings. I also like to listen to my tires, the studded tires sound like popcorn. I like to be able to focus on the present.

I focus on the present as well, just with a better soundtrack.

Has anyone used this?
http://www.ihomeaudio.com/products.a...6&dept_id=1007

See post #26 :P

Because that would "infringe upon their rights".

I think the difference is that deaf people don't choose to be deaf, but us iPod/music listeners chose to use them. They want people to choose the best option available.

The trouble is, some people are too stupid to ride safely anyway, whether they're listening to an iPod or not -- but nobody blames the rider. So, if they just happen to be wearing earphones and have an accident, then golly, it must have been the music's fault, because nobody can be inherently stupid.