Biking with ipod

I often run with music, but never bike.

The reason is simple: I run on paths that cars don't go on, so I'm not terribly worried about anything coming up behind me and splattering my body all over the pavement.  When I bike, I'm on the road, and being able to hear the car coming from behind me is part of my defense.  Awareness = safety.

I didn't know Abba had podcasts.

never.

For all the reasons it is dangerous when biking, it is also dangerous running. I've seen a few quite nasty wrecks on the trails around here because a runner was listening to an iPod and didn't hear the cyclist behind them and darted out in front of him.

Leave the music inside IMO...

One earbud, opposite side from traffic.

Unlike your average iPod user, I can hear what is going on around me, I don't crank the volume.  The wind noise is often louder than my music so the 'safety' argument is ridiculous in many cases since you can't hear over wind anyway.

Get out the popcorn, this topic is one like asking whether people that can barely swim have any business doing races even though wetsuits give them false security. 

Being able to hear my impending doom doesn't mean that I'm going to prevent it. I wear and listen to mine at such a low volume I can hear cars coming up from the rear.

I don't think wearing an iPod is responsible for more biking accidents. We can't control how people drive their vehicles. Besides most biking accidents don't happen from the rear they happen at same cross roads i.e. parking lots entering roadways, driveways, cross streets etc...

I did read somewhere that wearing an earbud in one ear distracts you more then if you wear both. Reason being your brain is trying to take in so much information through separate channels it has a hard time figuring out where noises are coming from. So wear them both or not at all. 

Two days ago I had a friend get hit while walking on the side walk. Somebody was in a hurry and pulled into their driveway and hit my friend. He wasn't wearing an iPod. He could clearly hear what was going on around him. He still got hit!

Lets stop blaming the victims. If you think someone wearing an iPod who gets hit by a car is at fault because they couldn't hear maybe they got hit because they weren't riding safely or the driver is totally at fault. 

Maybe they should take radios out of cars because people play the music to loud and can't hear.  I'm sure that will cut down on the number of car accidents each year....yeah right 

Not only do I bike, run and sometimes swim with with music, I also operate a 5,000 lb motor vehicle with the tunes jammin'!

Ear buds might actually be quieter with low level music than wind noise.  I submit that I can hear all but the very quietiest of noises.  Very seldom am I ever 'suprised' when a car passes me.  I also bike with a mirror as I sometimes will catch movement in the mirror before I hear anything.  And this is true even when I don't have music. To those people who think it is stupid, I have to ask, when you hear a car approaching quietly from behind, do you immediately drive off into the ditch?

How about this, I won't call your actions stupid for not using a mirror if you don't qualify my actions as stupid for listening to music when I ride.

Amen to that.  I got hit while biking and wearing and iPod.  I was heading south and watch the car approaching the whole time from the east.  I watched the pitch forwar at they hit their brakes at the stop sign and I watch them lurch forward and t-bone me as I entered the intersection.

People may think they are safer when not wearing ear buds but it's a very false sense of security.