Nicodemus

"a cyclist came out of a parking lot, didn't look to see if anyone was on the road and ..."

I understand your point, but the first thing missed was the more important by far. The issue is more that he's not paying attention. It's lazy, inattentive, irresponsible cycling that is more dangerous than headphones, and your example is a case in point. He's dangerous because he's a dick.



I never thought of that. So the other end of the spectrum (safe boring cycle paths vs. insane traffic and noise) seem to have totally opposite reasons to do the same thing. Spooky.

Wrincle

Used to use headphones a lot when I was biking on my own...but yeah, you need to be aware of your surroundings when you're biking, so headphones can get annoying at times. I put a small speaker in my CamelBak hooked up to my MD player and that's how I get tunes while riding now.

dobber

I use my iPod Shuffle ($66 shipped from Amazon after signing up for thier credit card) with one ear bud. During the morning commute I listen to my downloaded Bob & Tom show, which is mono.

While I wouldn't wear phones while riding in more trafficed areas, 95% of my morning commute is down rural farm roads. I'll also use it when doing long distance rides on rural roads when wide shoulders are present.

Allister

Or any of the other threads where this has been discussed.

Allister

What? Sight and balance? How do headphones effect either of them?

aikigreg

I do it, but I don't ride on roads much. Keep the volume low enough that I can hear, and I kinda look before I cross lanes and intersections and stuff.

KirkeIsWaiting

I road this morning with iPOD. Some french techno stuff and two earbuds.
It was early, hardly any traffic but still I hear all of what is going on around me.
Enough that twice I heard, from trucks at a traffic light "that chicks got a nice ass!"
go figure.

Metro

It's much easier with a bike than with headphones, by the way.

EnigManiac

The two vital senses are sight and hearing. As much as some may argue it, hearing is integral when you're riding. I have heard strange sounds from my bike and was able to stop to repair a component before it became a serious hazard. I have heard shouts of warning from motorists, fellow cyclists and pedestrians when something unusual was happening behind me and was able to avoid collisions by taking evasive action or emergency stopping. I have heard low growls from dogs that suddenly and unexpectedly darted out to chase me that I wouldn't have heard if I'd had headpphones on and been listening to music even at a low level. I have had countless situations with cyclists that could not hear me as I sounded my horn to pass and very nearly collided or those who suddenly came into my lane (out of driveways, parkinglots and off sidewlaks),but could neither hear my shouts nor my horn (and I have an airzounds!).

Don't get me wrong, I am a musician and music has been my life and living for thirty years. I value and love my music. I just don't think that it's appropriate to listen to (with headphones) while riding in the city. Perhaps in a quiet country environment with few, if any, dangers.

It's illegal (though rarely enforced) to have excessively loud music in a motor vehicle (and even then it isn't covering your ears, disallowing any other outside sound) and, although I'm not sure if it's illegal to wear headphones while riding or not, it certainly is more dangerous than not wearing them, in my estimation.

Wheel Doctor

My commute is BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 miles each way. I use a small transistor radio for company or a small cassette player with a speaker for books on tape. I could get away with ear buds or HP's but they are illegal here in Maryland. I may make a single earpiece and pipe both channels from my iPod or stereo cassette player into it and wear it in the right ear.

Dr. Moto

True, and blind people can play golf, but can you deny they are at a disadvantage when it comes to being in tune with their surroundings? Deaf people learn to compensate through a lifetime of being deaf all the time. I doubt the average person who temporarily impairs his hearing with headphones is going to develop the same type of compensation skills. I rely on my ears far too much while riding to voluntarily go without them.

Mojo Slim

Don't deaf people ride?

FreakinNewDude

I was driving home a while back when I noticed a biker on the sidewalk. He
popped up a curb between driveways. As he did, his blinking tail light fell off
onto the sidewalk. I got up next to him trying to tell him what had happened
but I did not exist. He stopped at a stop sign to presumably cross and I
figured this would be my chance to get his attention as I stopped right next to
him. I sitting in my driver seat was 12 feet away yelling at the top of my lungs
waving my arms. The whole time he was looking over my hood (my general
direction) at a cop who had pulled someone over across the street. Never noticed
me. Finally, I honked at him. He jumped a bit and looked at me long enough to
think that I was trying to get him to go or something. So he took off again, not
crossing the road as I originally thought, but straight ahead. I thought well I
guess I'll try one more time. As I got next to him and honked again. He sped up.
I guess he thought I was harassing him at this point. I just said F him, I don't
have a tail light for any of our bikes. It just proved what I always thought. Either
don't use the headphones or, if you do, keep the volume to a point where you
know what the hell is going on around you. Especially biking and jogging alone.
This guy could have been mugged, hit, *****... whatever. Instead he lucked out
and just looked like a mindless nutsack.

notfred

You people must be riding really slow if you can hear a new accord or any of these other cars that barely make a sound when they're running over the wind noise in your ears. When I'm riding, sound gives me very little useful information about cars approaching from behind.

Bontrager

yes it is. you have specific organs in your ears that are responsible for transmitting that sense thru your vestibulocochlear nerve.

Dr. Moto

I turn my head to each side at regular intervals, which reduces the sound of air rushing past my ears and lets me hear better. I also take the opportunity to look back while I'm doing this. I'm usually listening more for tire noise than engine noise.

JungleCat

I don't have a problem hearing cars with my iPod on. You'd be surprised how loud tire noise is. I set it at a reasonable level but I depend more on my sight, constantly checking over my shoulder to see what's coming from behind. I've noticed little advantage on days when I don't ride with it.

remsav

I remember one incident when we scared a lady by honking and following her, when we realized we spooked her, we stopped chasing her to warn that she left her gas cap off and was spilling gas all over the road.

I usually ride in the MUP and have volume down to around 18-20 on my sandisk mp3 player, I can actually hear the birds chirping and the leaves crunching under my wheels.

FreakinNewDude

See that is what I'm talking about, low enough to here the world around you.
And to those that are talking about riding so fast the wind noise does not allow
sound, an accord I agree. A person 12 feet away screaming at the top of their
lungs should easily be heard. To be so mindless of ones surroundings is idiocy.
Hell a few weeks ago I almost took some guy on a bike out while riding between
two strip malls. He crossed in front of me from my right to my left. As I got
closer he was like " doop dee doo" as he decided to loop back to my right side.
I guess he was just riding in circles. If I had been going any faster he would
have been creamed. As it was I jammed on the brakes and stopped about three
feet from his dumb ass. He looked startled for a split second then looked at me
like I was the dumb ass. I yelled at him but I knew he couldn't hear me. Hell
he didn't hear my F-150 driving up, or screeching to a halt. I just hope he could
read lips.
In a gym on the cycles in the off season I say jam on (Hell one has to entertain
ones self somehow) other wise keep it to a minimum or not at all. This is
especially true in an urban environment.

azesty

I am wondering how you can hear the music over the sound fo the air running past the headphones or earbuds? It is always so loud for me that it spoils my enjoyment.

a

klemens

I listen to the music through sound isolating earphones (shure E2c). But I would never use them on a street since you don't hear anything even if the music is turned of.

recursive

A week and a half ago, I rode from Madison, WI to Wausau. I did not wear headphones. I think that it was actually useful to not have the headphones on, because I was out in the country for most of the time. Since there is such a low level of ambient noise out there, I was able to hear cars a half mile away that I would not have been able to hear listening to headphones.

But when I'm riding in the city, I frequently wear headphones, and it does not significantly decrease my level of awareness. The level of ambient noise is much higher in the city. You are hearing dozens of vehicles at the same time, which are frequently all around you. It is pretty much impossible to get valuable information from the sound of a 4 lane road with heavy traffic by sound. Hearing is still valuable for sirens and shouts, which I can still hear with headphones, but the low level sounds are gone anyway, so in the city, the headphones aren't taking away any awareness that wasn't already gone anyway.

Most of the behaviors mentioned as examples of poor behavior by headphone wearing cyclists are not directly related to the headphones. I see plenty of oblivious cyclists without headphones too.

Dr. Moto

Exactly. Like those guys in that NYC cycling video that was posted here earlier today. I mean, it's no wonder those guys were riding so recklessly, what with the Guns N' Roses blaring all around them.

toomanybikes

Great thing to do if you wish to be an Organ donor.

Metro

I did the 5-Boro Bike Tour, in New York last weekend with a newbie friend. It was crazy packed with inexperienced riders. Riding in the crowd was a woman who as actually having a loud comversation on the phone. I thought she was taliking to somone on the bike beside her, but no. She had a phone to one ear and one hand on the hanlebars (not even hands-free devise). I pray she did not have to come to a sudden stop.

Unbe-friggin'-lievable!!!!!!