dinankid05

You can definitely ride with headphones if you do it the right way . Personally I love listening to music while training so that I stay motivated. It is dangerous to cut yourself off from your surroundings so I found a way to wear headphones that is much safer. First get a pair of classic over the head style phones with earpads ( the kind that used to come with all portable cd players) if you don't have any. Then put on a helmet (like you should in the first place) and adjust the straps that come down from the corners of the helmet and converge to form the chinstrap so that they are fairly close to your ear and well centered. Then put the headphones on, resting on this convergence point so that they cover your earlobes but not the actual ear canal and have the headband go behind your neck. This method works well, at least for my pair because they have well balanced sound and good base quality. I don't know how well this would work with a pair of phones with weak base because the headphones aren’t firing directly into the ear with this method. This is certainly a great compromise between wearing a pair around your neck and mostly hearing midrange/treble frequencies and possibly damaging them from high volume and wearing headphones traditionally, (it works almost as well as wearing a pair normally, kind of like the difference between listening to music in a stopped car with the windows in a car open instead of closed). This also reduces the audible air turbulence that goes through headphones worn traditionally. Also get a remote for whatever audio device you have if you can and learn the buttons without looking at them. I haven’t tried this mountain biking yet, so I don’t know if large bumps would be a problem but if you have them cradled in and the straps hold the phones against head, this shouldn’t be a problem, if you are worried about breaking your headphones maybe try a rubber band or something to secure them to the helmet straps or just get a cheap pair which is easy to find in this style.

spinnaker

I really love this argument. It is so foolish. I have two good eyes too but I am not going to walk down a street with my eyes shut. So does that mean blind people should not walk the streets? You need to use every tool at your disposal to stay safe. Ears, eyes and brain.

Just remember the following.

1. Please sign your donor card as mentioned.
   
2. Please do not have children so that you can help support the Darwin's theory of natural selection.
   
   

Street Sweeper

I do, I need to listen to music almost constantly.. and preferably music I tolerate, not what the guy in the Honda with 30" wheels listens too.. I leave it low enough to where I hear it clearly, but can also hear traffic and people.. I haven't had any issues so far..

Jarery

I do 50 km a day, every day on my commute. I listen to music/radio the whole time. I can also hear shouts, sirens, horns, and anythign else just fine.

If low volume relaxing music added to the myriad of other city traffic sounds makes you unable to ride safe....well you probably shouldnt be riding in traffic anyways then.

false_cause

Personally, I use my ears too much and am not comfortable in traffic with my iPod going. Between doors and cars and pedestrians, I'm not good enough without my hearing. On trails, the music can help me drive my pace and move faster and enjoy the ride more. Since I always make sure to look all around before I make any moves, it's only the sudden unplanned moves where I'm significantly less aware of my environment and might have a problem because I haven't heard someone coming up from behind. But those situations are so rare, it's a calculated risk I am comfortable with and take.

recursive

Well, everyone should probably sign their organ donor card, but I think you misunderstand Darwin's theory.

Natural selection does not work by appointing nanny-staters to dictate who they see fit to reproduce. It works by preventing those who are unfit to reproduce by killing them before they are able to do so. Therefore, unless headphone wearing causes a statistically significant increase in fatal accidents while riding, (of which I have never seen evidence) it's not a evolutionary selection pressure, and has nothing to do with Darwin's theory.

ken cummings

More than death affects evolutionary selection. If women dislike your using headphones when you should be listening to them it will affect your chances of reproduction almost as surely as death.

redden

I don't see a problem with it. There is a better chance of not getting hurt when you are relaxed. Being aware of an impending collision with result in your tensing up.

Seriously I don't think that riding with headphones=death.
It depends on the ride, your headphones and the volume. I listen to podcasts on my comute and can still hear my surroundings.

Personally I think riding with a full bladder is much more distracting than headphones. Wonder if there are any studies relating accidents to the urge to piss. Maybe to be safe, Depends should substitute for bike shorts.

ken cummings

Reminds me of a character from "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" named Zaphod Bettlebrox . He did not want to see bad things so his glasses would go black when something dangerous was about to happen.

james Haury

Using headphones while riding? Un smart, you want to hear that car coming up behind you or the train at the crossing. Another nice thing to be able hear are the birds on a nice relaxed trail ride.

DataJunkie

tweet tweet *snore*

M3ta7h3ad

tried it once, within 50mtrs I got buzzed by a bus and it scared the crap out of me. Never again.

If I listen to music on my commute its from my mobilephone walkman thing and its using the loudspeakers built into the unit.

redden

Guess what it boils down too is doing what makes you comfortable. I decide while I'm riding, depending on the situation. I've been buzzed by buses when not wearing headphones. Pretty scary either way. U can hear the bus but the sound will not give u a clue if it's gonna buzz you. Perhaps a mirror?

spinnaker

Actually no. There are more cyclists out there then just you. If I need to break my pace or if we get into an accident because you can't hear me then your choice just created a problem for me.

redden

Well of course I'll check with you before using my ipod, weather riding our walking. U perfer email or phone?
Sorry, how rude and thoughtless of me.

DataJunkie

...and the chance of that would be something like .001%?
bleh

I-Like-To-Bike

Monday and Tuesday's playlist furnished so you can adjust your pace accordingly in advance. Don't want to create a problem in your pace.

billie holiday - Love for sale - Cole Porter
Billie Holiday - A foggy day
Billie Holiday - A Sailboat In The Moonlight
Billie Holiday - Ain't Misbehavin'
Billie holiday - Ain't Nobody's bizzness
Billie Holiday - All Of Me
Billie Holiday - All the Way
Billie Holiday - Am I Blue
Billie Holiday - April in Paris
Billie holiday - As Time Goes By
Billie holiday - Autumn In New York
Billie Holiday - Billies Blues
Billie Holiday - Blue Moon
Billie Holiday - Body and Soul
Billie holiday - Body and Soul 6min
Billie Holiday - Cant Take That Away From Me
Billie Holiday - Carelessly
Billie Holiday - Cheek to Cheek
Billie Holiday - Come Rain or Come Shine
Billie Holiday - Comes Love
Billie Holiday - Crazy He Calls Me live
Billie Holiday - Cried for You
Billie Holiday - Day in day out
Billie Holiday - Don't Explain
Billie Holiday - Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Billie Holiday - East of the Sun
Billie Holiday - Easy Living
Billie Holiday - Embraceable You
Billie Holiday - Everything I Have Is Yours
Billie Holiday - Fine And Mellow
Billie Holiday - Fool for Wanting You
Billie Holiday - Georgia on my mind
Billie Holiday - Gloomy Sunday
Billie holiday - God Bless The Child
Billie Holiday - Gone With the Wind
Billie Holiday - Good Morning Heartache
Billie Holiday - Guilty
Billie Holiday - Hello My Darling
Billie Holiday - He's Funny That Way
Billie holiday - How Deep is the Ocean
Billie Holiday - I Cover the Waterfront
Billie Holiday - I didn't know what time it is
Billie holiday - I Get a Kick Out Of You
Billie Holiday - I Hear Music
billie holiday - i loves you porgy
Billie Holiday - I Only Have Eyes For You
Billie Holiday - I Wished On The Moon
Billie Holiday - If They Can't Believe That Your In Love Wit
Billie Holiday - I'll Get By
Billie Holiday - I'm Pulling Through
Billie Holiday - It Don't Mean A Thing If I
Billie holiday - It Had to Be You
Billie Holiday - It's Like Reaching For the Moon
Billie Holiday - I've Got It Bad & That Ain't Good
Billie Holiday - I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
billie holiday - I've got you under my skin
Billie Holiday - Jeepers Creepers
Billie Holiday - Just one of those things
Billie Holiday - Just The Way You Look Tonight
Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin
Billie holiday - Lady Sings tbe Blues
Billie Holiday - Let's Call a Heart a Heart
Billie holiday - Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
Billie Holiday - Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)
Billie Holiday - Love For Sale
Billie Holiday - Love Me Or Leave Me
Billie Holiday - Lover Come Back to Me
Billie Holiday - Lover Man
Billie Holiday - Me, Myself and I
Billie Holiday - Miss Brown to You
Billie Holiday - Misty
Billie Holiday - Moonlight In Vermont
Billie Holiday - More than You Know
Billie Holiday - My Funny Valentine
Billie Holiday - My Man
Billie Holiday - My Man Live 192
billie holiday - my melancholy baby
Billie Holiday - My Sweet Hunk O' Trash
Billie holiday - Nice Work if You Can Get It
billie holiday - on the sunny side of the street
Billie holiday - One For My Baby
Billie holiday - Our Love is Here to Stay
Billie Holiday - Out Of Nowhere
Billie Holiday - Pennies From Heaven
Billie Holiday - Please Keep Me in Your Dreams
Billie Holiday - Romance In The Dark
Billie Holiday - Say It With A Kiss
billie holiday - September Song
Billie Holiday - Smoke gets in your eyes
Billie Holiday - Solitude
Billie Holiday - Some Other Spring
Billie Holiday - Someone to watch over me
Billie Holiday - Sophisticated Lady
Billie Holiday - Speak Low
Billie Holiday - Stars fell on Alabama
Billie Holiday - Stormy Blues
Billie Holiday - Stormy Weather
Billie holiday - Strange Fruit
Billie Holiday - Summertime
Billie Holiday - Swing
Billie Holiday - Tenderly
Billie holiday - That ole devil called love
billie holiday - the end of a love affair
Billie Holiday - The Man I Love
Billie Holiday - The Moon Looks Down And Laughs
Billie Holiday - The Very Thought Of You
Billie Holiday - The Way You Look Tonight
Billie Holiday - Them There Eyes
Billie Holiday - These 'N' That 'N' Those
Billie holiday - They Can't Take That Away from Me
Billie Holiday - What a Difference a Day Makes
Billie Holiday - What a Little Moonlight Can Do
Billie Holiday - When A Woman Loves A Man
Billie Holiday - Willow Weep for Me
Billie Holiday - Without Your Love
Billie Holiday - Yesterdays
Billie Holiday - You Go To My Head
Billie Holiday - You Let Me Down
Billie Holiday - You're My Thrill
Billie Holiday - You're so Desireable
Billie Holiday & Cole Porter - Night And Day
Billie holiday and Lester Young - The Man I Love (1)
Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong - Stardust
Billie Holiday, Lester Young A sailboat in the moonlight
Billie Holliday - Don't Explain (Dzihan & Kamien remix)
Billie Holliday - If Yor Were Mine
Billie Holliday - Night And Day
Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday - Body and Soul
Chuck Berry - Almost Grown
Chuck Berry - Around and Around
Chuck Berry - Back In The USA
chuck berry - beautiful delilah
Chuck Berry - Brown Eyed Handsome Man
Chuck Berry - Carol
Chuck Berry - Guitar Boogie
Chuck Berry - Hail Hail Rock n Roll
Chuck Berry - Havana Moon
Chuck Berry - House Of Blue Lights
Chuck Berry - Johnny Be Good
Chuck Berry - Little Queenie
Chuck Berry - Maybellene
chuck berry - memphis tennessee
Chuck Berry - My Mustang Ford
Chuck Berry - Nadine
Chuck Berry - No Particular Place To Go
chuck berry - oh baby doll
Chuck Berry - Reelin' And Rockin'
Chuck Berry - Rock And Roll Music
Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven
Chuck Berry - Route 66
Chuck Berry - School Days
Chuck Berry - Sweet Little Sixteen
Chuck Berry - Thirty Days
Chuck Berry - Too Much Monkey Business
Chuck Berry - Worried life Blues
Chuck Berry - You Can't Catch Me
Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell
Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis - Sweet Little Sixteen
Jerry Lee Lewis - Boogie_Woogie_Country_Man
Jerry Lee Lewis - Boppin' At The High School Hop
Jerry Lee Lewis - Breathless
Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls Of Fire
Jerry Lee Lewis - High School Confidential
Jerry Lee Lewis - ***** Tonk Rock 'N' Roll Piano Man
Jerry Lee Lewis - Let The Good Times Roll
Jerry Lee Lewis - Shake Rattle And Roll
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On
Jerry Lee Lewis - Wild One

redden

Well masser, I was hopen to use the ipod for the comute to work tomorrow. Will you be on Topanga canyon blvd, PCH or Sunset Blvd around 0530?
Can I listen to the ipod? Please!!!

I would like to listen to it while sitting at break, but I might not hear you walking by and u might have to break stride.
I was also hoping to eat broccili for lunch but that might cause me to fart in your general direction..hmm

spinnaker

It was a generic "you".

Happens to me a lot. Someone up ahead listening to tunes, not paying attention on a narrow path but plenty wide under normal conditions for passing, not moving over after repeated calls, I need to slow down to pass safely.

Jarery

Ahh, now its clear.
Some slow casual cyclist riding on a bike path is listening to music.
And you have to slow down.

Sounds like your exceeding the safe speed of the bike path regardless of wether or not the person ahead of you is listening to music.

Try the roads, you know those really wide paths with cars on them, then you dont have to slow down because of music relaxed cyclists.

I-Like-To-Bike

Whaa, Whaa, Whaa f-ing, Whaa!

spinnaker

You are now ASSUMING.

Of course I guess I am assuming. Maybe they do hear me but chose not to move over.

Street Sweeper

Jesus, Billie fan? Haha.. Eh, anyone who says it's un-smart is pretty ignorant of people.. Some people can do it, others can't.. If you can't ride safely, then just do without! If you can, more power to ya! I can, and I'm not about to stop.

CdCf

Couldn't be bothered to read all three pages, but it's pure stupidity and recklessness to diminish your ability to hear what's around you by using earphones. Not only does it put you in a much greater danger from other traffic (you can't hear if a car is coming behind and towards you or just passing you to the side), but it also impedes other cyclists riding faster than yourself, when they can't raise your attention to get you to move out of the way.

This second issue is one I encounter almost every day riding to and from school. People cruising along on their too-large uprights, no helmet and white cables coming out of their ears. No amount of shouting or ringing my bell will get them to notice me. Only when I slowly creep by them do they startle out of their musical cocoons and swerve away from me. Like it matters then - I'm past them by then...

Stupid, STUPID idiots!

I-Like-To-Bike

Yep, that's it in a nutshell. If some people can't chew gum and cycle at the same time they should make the choice appropriate for their own limitations. Not everyone is so incapable. Believe it or not, safely riding a bike does not require the skill sets and reflexes of a test pilot. It ain't rocket science despite what some apparantly klutzy cyclists might think.