Million threads, I know.

I have been riding local here in my deadend neighborhood with my iPod and some earbuds. Love it, as it is so much easier to just pick a genre of music based on your feeling that day, and keep cadence to the music.

I had mentioned in another thread about my anxiety riding down public roads. I just REALLY hate that moment right as a car passes, I get all stiff which is really bad for keeping control. I went out today, and wore my iPod while taking the road route and it did WONDERS for the anxiety. I kept the volume low enough that I can actually hear outside noises...my test is to see if I can still hear my freewheel. But I noticed that with my mind occupied by the music, that I did not have any problems tightening up every time a car passed.

I see a lot of posts where people claim how foolish it is to ride with earbuds, and just about as many posts with people discussing using them.

I mounted a mirror on my bike, so I can see when cars are coming, and can hear them as well, def. not as well as with nothing at all, but nonetheless. I am just curious though, I mean if a car is going to sideswipe you, is hearing it coming going to help anyway? Aside from visual clues if you happen to be watching the mirror, just as dangerous not watching the road, how are you going to be able to tell just from sound that someone is too close. To me, when a car is passing (buzzing) at 55+MPH it all sounds the same....I am of the thought that being less anxious in the saddle for the passing is better than the alternative.

i think the whole earbud thing is about knowing a car is there. say an obstacle pops up and you have to swerve to avoid it. besides looking back, an audible cue that a car is there before you swerve to avoid the obstacle is very helpful. that said, i don't have an opinion either way.

tldr.

yeah yeah music is great but you should only be riding with the right earbud. trust me.

just for you botto

If you're comfortable listening to music while riding then just go for it. I enjoy it a lot but only do it in low traffic times/areas.

Before assigning any legitimacy to your anxiety, it would probably help to know the number of cyclists involved in a crash with a passing car while listening to music at the time. I doubt it matters one way or the other.

I use a mp3 player with ear buds, and a helmet mounted mirror. I dont use it if I am ridding with someone, or in a group. I dont always use both buds, sometimes just the right. I tend to watch the mirror a bit more with the ear buds in.

Another music fan. I really like these:



BUT, I fully accept that if I'm involved in any kind of accident while wearing them, (even if I'm paralyzed by some drunk running a red light) that I am at fault.

Just as the blind develop keener hearing & other senses, so too must a rider who voluntarily impairs his or her ability to hear hazards.

^^ I dunno about using IEM's while riding...I mean, I don't ride with music, but I used to be a huge audio buff and back when I still had Shure E4's those things blocked some serious sound. I've contemplated riding the MUP's with music, and I'll probably do it once I get my hands on a new MP3 player. But with IEM's? It's tentatively on my "things to try before I die" list.

This is insane. Don't listen to anything but traffic unless you're ready to die.

before i tried riding with an earbud in my right ear... i thought it was so dangerous and just a bad idea in general... so naturally i had to try it. now i ride with music almost every ride.. unless it's a group.. then i'm chatting..
you can totally hear traffic and what's going on around no problem.. except now i have no excuse why i didn't answer the phone... cause it rings in my ear!

Awkward

https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...H7PmgD9EG9F3O0

I was thinking about riding with music, with myself being new to road bikes. However, I'll be riding the bike trail which is a couple miles from my house so there won't be an issue with cars for me. Would there be any reason not to listen to music on a bike trail ? Also I'd probably only ride with 1 earbud in so I can hear the other riders coming and will be purchasing a mirror sooner than later.

nice one

:

As a thought on this....in spite of the jogger wearing headphones....what was he going to hear? Engine was out, no prop, oil on windshield...I guess the pilot should have...blown the horn?

As kids, a friend and I used to hang out at a small airport in Palmetto. There was rarely any traffic, unattended, and a great place to go check out some airplanes up close. Keeping in mind this was a time before terrorists were trying to blow up the country, etc....We were out laying on the end of the runway just checking out the sky, and almost got landed on by a biplane crop sprayer. Even with his engines running, AND us looking up to the sky, we did not hear or see him till he was about 20 feet away going over us.

As a creator of music I find it interesting to observe how so many people consider our work to be nothing more than background wallpaper.

If I am doing my job correctly then you should consider yourselves impaired while operating a bicycle and listening to it.

You'll never hear the mountain lion who is about to spring if you're listening to music

I don't listen to music when I'm riding on a road with traffic. It's just stupid and dangerous. I only listen to music when I'm riding on a bike trail, and even then I keep it low enough so that I can be sure to hear what is going on around me.

Are you really that surprised?

I don't recall saying that I was surprised.