Biking with ipod (Page 3)

You also can't compete with kickboards, pull bouys, hand paddles or fins... should we quit training with those, too?

I use a lot of things in training I don't necessarily use while racing. Doesn't make it "wrong" at all. Just personal preference.

And now we've resorted to name-calling. Awesome!

 Troll alert!

Agreed (With the Bear)  

I bike and run with an I-pod unless I'm with someone else...

Not to mention they probably wear thick-soled cushy shoes when they run.

I was JUST wondering about this very issue yesterday... So heres how I'm going to play it, 2 ear buds in the park, one ear bud on the road.

Somethings gotta keep me going while I'm training. On race day I've got adrenaline for that - every other day I've got a million other reasons not to be training, music makes it more enjoyable for me. That and with the right playlist I often train harder, which leads to better results. 

On my bike It depends on the day, if it's windy and/or wet outside I'll leave the iPod at home, but on perfect condition days it really doesn't do anything to put me in danger... I can rarely ever hear cars come up behind me, and I do routine shoulder checks before I do anything that isn't a straight line. So my headphones are really only a problem if I get tangled in the cord!  

Same thing I thought when I read that comment.

I do not bike with music for several reasons. I want to be as safe as possible so for me this means no extra auditory distractions. Other reasons - I don't need another thing to mess with before I head out the door. Between the aero bottle, helmet, Garmin, cell phone, and nutrition, I've got enough crap to keep track of. Also, I don't have enough music on my Ipod. I only have one playlist that I listen to for running and I'm already getting sick of those songs. Honestly it is just not a priority to me for a ride. I love it on a trail run though!

NEVER

I have a tough time texting while listening to music.

!!!!!!TFIC!!!!!!!!

Truth be told there are those that pay attention and those who do not. 

I will not ride with the latter.

I worry more about the people driving the cars and their attention span.

Too dangerous.

In some cities (Dearborn, Michigan for example) there is an ordinance against it.

I think biking in Dearborn, Michican is too dangerous.  I don't ride in the city....just too much traffic.  I've bike out on country roads and back roads.  During some of my century rides, I might be passed by 20 - 30 cars total.....over 5+ hrs of riding.  I avoid highways at all costs.

I'm not trying to stir this pot, but what exactly is the safety issue?  I have come up behind cyclist who were not wearing headphones and said "on your left" and they swerve into me.  I've done the same thing with runners who have swerved into me or taken a step to their left and just stopped dead in front of me.

Yeah, that was probably me.  Sorry about that.  Everytime I look back I tend to swerve out....never been a very good cyclist.

X2

I know it isn't conventional wisdom, and I am very new to road biking and all of the conventions that go along with it, but sometimes I worry that all that stuff can create a "moth to a flame" effect.  I know you're not supposed to go out looking like a ninja, but is there really any proof that making yourself more visible is safer?  Don't we, as motorists, tend to drive towards something we're looking at?  

I don't listen to music on the bike but it's not because I can't hear because of it...plenty of deaf and hard of hearing folks safely ride road bikes right?  It's more the whole gear drama of cycling to begin with...I don't need any more moving parts right now.  

No because my mobile will not allow me to listen to music and text at the same time

Seriously though, I do and for the most part don't see any added risk from it.  Perhaps if I were biking/running in the middle of a busy city it might be better to have both ears open to hear horns coming from the alleys.  But on a big shoulder, bike laned road out away from the city is hearing a car approaching from behind really going to help?  It's not like they yell out "hey, I'm going to splat you" from 500 yards out so you have time to react.  Even if there was an auditory signal you were about to be hit, it would not happen soon enough to allow time for you to take evasive action.  

When I was a kid, all the fire trucks were red.  Now they are high-vis yellow.  Why?  Because someone did a study and found that high vis yellow catches our attention better than any other color.  I'm guessing becuase you don't see that color very much.  RE the lights....I was driving home from work one night and about a mile+ ahead of me I see a blinking light.  I was like, "WTH is that?!"  I watched and watched and finally saw that was a cyclist!  I was so impressed I pulled along side him and asked him what type of light he had as it was very effective.  He said it was "Dinotta lighting". 

I have no statistical data to substantiate my belief that increase visibility reduces risk but I know how easy it is to space out when driving a car and when we things that "don't fit" it stand out.  You don't see hardly any high vis yellow in nature so that color makes us take notice. 

But again, of all the cases of cars hitting cyclists I've read about, not once has it been becuase the cyclist was distracted.  It is almost always the motor vehicle operator that is distracted.