Originally Posted by
mstateglfr
Valid concern for sure.
I have experienced that hearing, while beneficial in some situations, isnt a necessity for safety.
When cycling without ear buds and music, I hear wind. Thats almost all I hear- wind.
Its probably because I am so strong and fast.***
- on gravel roads, I hear wind and tires rolling over stone.
- on paved roads I hear wind and some car noise from their engines and tires.
- when no cars are around in paved roads I hear wind noise.
- on mups I hear wind noise.
My hearing is compromised when riding due to wind's white noise, so listening to music in the background just doesn't make me feel safer or dull my usable senses.
Head on a swivel. I look ahead and behind before passing on maps or changing lanes on roads. Otherwise, its straight ahead in a consistent line so I am predictable to others on the MUP or road.
see and be seen these two things are what I view as necessary for safety/situational awareness.
I'm actually quite fast myself and have done a bit of experimentation. My suspicion is that people rely on hearing at high speed to varying degrees because the shape of their ears can affect what they hear. I've generally found that I can hear a lot at 20-22 mph despite the loud wind noise because there appears to be a relatively narrow frequency band that the noise occurs at. I can distinctly hear other sounds at different frequencies, including motor noises and tire sounds. I can even hear bird sounds. At about 24-25 mph, the volume and the frequencies both increase enough that I really don't hear anything else but wind noise.
I'm not claiming that sound is my primary sense in situational awareness, but on a MUP where people are, by rule, supposed to be announcing their passes, it's baked into the cake.