There is a difference between the morons who have earphones in both ears with the volume jacked up, and the reasonable people that only have them in one, with the volume at a moderate level. In California, it IS illegal to have both ears covered/blocked, but not only one ear. Go figure.

Edit: I have admitted I was wrong below
VVV

Well I ride on the road, not the MUP, so I don't have to worry much about muppets trying to pass me. But even when I do toodle down a MUP, they have these things called mirrors now, that with proper attention, much like in a motor vehicle (how convenient), you can monitor what is going on around you and see the muppets coming long before they can huff and puff 'on your left', which I can hear just fine, btw. :lol:

I don't care because I run into at most 3-4 other cyclists(which I pass, I never get passed) and a handful of pedestrians/joggers which usually are going opposite of traffic because I don't ride on MUPs. The only thing I have to deal with is a constant stream of cars going by on my left. So what's your f'ing point?

If you're insecure about the size of your music library, the "at least it's mostly legal" defense is a a common move to execute. Unfortunately, as you've pointed out, most people who don't sell records won't actually give a damn.

I ride with my ipod 90% of the time when I am solo and 0% when in a group. I have been hit by cars twice in my life and neither time I was using the ipod. Cars are generally traveling 20+mph faster than I am so whether I hear them or not is going to make little difference> The key is to be attentive regardless, people can phase out and not pay attention to what they are doing whether they are listening to music or not.

By the time someone says "On your left" to me, I've already been keeping tabs on them for a couple minutes via my mirror. Whether I have anything in my ears or not, they lost their chance to surprise me.

I ware my Ipod all the time. Here in Los Altos on Foothill Expressway it is straight with a nice shoulder for bikes. I know how fast or in this case slow I am so I stay to the left unless it is uneven in which case I am more to the right for a stretch. I crank the tunes and push my HR up. It is sort of a motivation, as last week I did 15 miles at an average pace of 17.6 which is new for me. I am always looking around and haven't had issues. I don't crank it either so I can hear folks letting me know they are passing. The less people that pass the better I know I am getting. :D

Nope but that could be the case for you. :)

This may be good when you are riding alone, but I hate when people use these systems on group rides and/or event rides. Not everyone share the same taste in music.

Illegal to wear an ipod while walking... when are we going to realize that we protect stupidity!!! Go watch Idiocracy... we seem to be heading there if we don't let our gene pool get a little thinner!!!

... I'm only partially kidding!

I'm not really proud nor ashamed of my music library, just pointing out the facts. I'm really not interested in filling my HD with music I don't care for. Most of the music comes from CD's my wife and I have accumulated over the last 20 years.

OTOH, I'm not impressed with people with thousands of songs merely copied from their buddies.

The point was that I enjoy listening to music since I've been using iPods for longer and more than nearly everyone here (>5000 hours over nearly 7 years), just not on my bike.

-murray

Pcad's gonna be pissed when he finds out you stole his Walkman.

i don't know about you guys but my MP3 player has adjustable volume.

no one would be stupid enough to blast their music and block out all noise.
keep it low. don't use noise cancelling earbuds, stay on the side of the road always.

and listen to rage against the machine, ACDC, evanescence; ride hard and before you know it 60km has gone by.

Don't bet on that

Deaf people ride bikes, too.

I'm sure that they wish they could hear music from an mp3 player, whether while riding or not.

:deadhorse:

true.

then its natural selection.

some still ride without helmets. go figure.

Never mind stupidity...

One ear bud? Volume down? Huh? Maybe if you're listening to some podcast or something.

For me, I want the best sound possible. For that, isolation is necessary.

Now, consider this. I ride a two lane rural highway on my commute. I SEE everything that approaches front and back EVERY F'N TIME. Why the hell do I need to hear them too? Explain that to me you natural selection and safety nanny goons! Come up with the scenario for me that says I need to hear em.

You do what you want. For me the music is backround noise. It adds to the ambiance, but it isn't the primary objective. It is possible to listen to the music and still use all of your senses. I don't see the point in completely cutting one off intentionally, but I know that's what you will say about me not using a mirror, so I'll just leave it at that. To each his/her own. Whatever makes you feel safe. But if I come up on you and you are in my way and you don't hear me asking you to move over because you are compltely isolating yourself, then I'll smack you. Just you. Of course that scenario shouldn't happen because you are always looking in your mirror, but I encounter people like that all the time.

Do you ride in traffic without a mirror? Well, natural selection I guess.

And enough of the threats internet tough guy. :rolleyes: I'd be embarrassed.

Gee, I called that one. Anyway, it wasn't a threat... I said it wouldn't happen because you would see me. But most people, mirrors or otherwise, don't pay enough attention to their surroundings, and when they are wearing their earphones on both ears with the music blasting they are totally oblivious.

But regardless, I do try to follow traffic laws, and whether you like it or not, riding with earphones on both ears is always illegal and riding without a mirror never is.

Do you have documented proof of this? That riding with earphones on both ears is always illegal, everywhere, every time?

For me, I'd like some isolation just to keep my ears from ringing afterwards.

When I can't even hear the drivetrain because of the wind noise (17-20 mph into a 15-mph headwind is fairly loud), then it's too loud, especially for two hours of riding.

I've ridden before with either isolating earbuds or good earplugs, and I'd usually feel pretty relaxed when I got home. After my ride earlier this evening without earbuds or plugs, I was sitting there on the john, noticing that my ears were still ringing -- which wasn't a problem after rides with hearing protection.

No. I was referring to just the US. I suppose its possible that somewhere in the US allows it but I would doubt it. I leave it as an exercise to the readers to disprove me.

Edit: I have admitted I was wrong below
VVV

Got it. You don't actually have any proof that riding with earphones is always illegal everywhere, every time in the US, but you're going to lie that it's always illegal, everywhere, and every time in the US until proven otherwise for the sake of an online argument.

http://www.yourcelebritystuff.com/wp...-of-my-ass.jpg

I haven't looked at the vehicle code for every state to prove that lights are required at night but I think it is a safe bet. :thumb:

Note: for the purposes of this discussion regarding earphones, hearing aid devices are excepted.

Edit: I have admitted I was wrong below
VVV

http://members.aol.com/plittle/StrawmanPoster.jpg

I'm not sure how many consecutive times you need to be proven full of ***** but we're already at two, so I'll be off to do something else now.

I have three PDFs of DC bike laws, and none of them contain the words "headphones", "earphones", or even "music". So, yeah, even here, where a cyclist mayor is trying to push cycling further into the mainstream (as if it even needs his help anyway), using a music player while riding isn't (yet) an issue.

I've got my local laws in Illinois as well, and they don't saw a word about any of the above. He was just lying to try to have the last word. Sad, but you see that a lot when people try to control other people's behavior.

I've only been doing it without incident in the NY Metro area for 20 years. So far so good.

Whew.

It must be the iPod that keeps me safe.