mike

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.

Hunter

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.

mike

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.

technogirl

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!

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".

orguasch

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

LittleBigMan

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!

ljbike

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

Joe Gardner

Mike, i love your posts! LOL

Donna Summer, Village People, Voyage, El Coco... 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.

Chris L

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

A F Baker

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.

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.

mike

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.

technogirl

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?

mike

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.

RainmanP

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

Joe Pozer

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.

mike

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.

LittleBigMan

I prefer Japanese Gagaku music.

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

cruiser

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.

technogirl

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...

Gary

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 !!

roadbuzz

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.

toolfreak

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.

RainmanP

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

tourman

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.