Originally Posted by
Oneder
I just got back from 10 mile ride next to the freeway. The freeway was 100 yards away from the trail but I can still hear cars at least 200 yards back from my position. I also had cars pass me on side streets and could here them all the way from one light to the next. I can hear the engine, hear the air around them even hear the TIRES for god's sake. That's a quarter mile away. You are definitely either impaired or not reporting or testing accurately here somehow.
Of all of the big fish claims I've read on this website, that one pretty much takes the cake. This trumps the daily 40-50mph descents by a long shot. Hearing an approaching car from 600+ feet despite other ambient sound? There's an intersection less than 100 yards from where I'm sitting, and I can't hear every car taking off from it on a quiet residential street. At a quarter mile? Unless we're down at the track or someone is really romping on it, an individual car is (usually) inaudible at that distance. I can hear the Mustang driving jerkbag that takes off from every intersection like he's at the Pomona Dragway from a mile away-- literally. But none of that has anything to do with what's going on here.
Cycling is not a pursuit that is limited by a rider's ability to hear. A person with absolutely perfect hearing has no real advantage over someone with poor, or even no hearing. We're not fighter pilots-- we don't need 20/10 vision and otherworldly reflexes. That's just a fact, because I am not extraordinary in any way. Don't need to be. Riding a bike isn't that difficult. Some people seem to choose to make it seem more difficult than it actuallly is.