Cyclists - headphones?

[Herbsman.]

How does music increase your concentration? I'm sure it does the opposite.

Maybe it stops him from thinking about how tired he is, how much his legs are hurting, and how much he wants to stop pedalling. Music might reduce certain parts of your awareness but it can keep you focused on what you're doing as well.

 

[mauvais]

Maybe it stops him from thinking about how tired he is, how much his legs are hurting, and how much he wants to stop pedalling. Music might reduce certain parts of your awareness but it can keep you focused on what you're doing as well.

And that's how I rode 100 miles

Edit: to explain a bit more, music keeps me happy and motivated, instead of going 'ugghh more boring fields'. If I'm motivated, I'm likely to be more focused on what I'm doing, as above. If that's true, then I'm more likely to be aware of what's going on, instead of very tired, very bored and just wanting to get home at all costs.

 

[Nixon]

I often play music on my bike but at low levels and usually only mellow music rather than bonkers techno.

standard.can't be doing with nothing too heavy.personally i don't see anything wrong with wearing headphones.i feel if it is making me feel more jumpy and making me ride more erratic on my bike,ill just take em out.i only like riding with one in anyways

 

[gentlegreen]

Several posters sound like they're wearing "in-ear" 'phones.

I strongly recommend getting some open back ones. (they work fine with a helmet and keep your ears warmer too )
I couldn't ride with the ones that came with my MP3 player.

 

[cybertect]

most of us don't cycle on the M25 most of the time.

I have actually done that!

Admittedly, it was while it was being built - Figuring I'd never get the chance to do it again, I sneaked down a bank near Leatherhead on a Sunday morning shortly before it opened and cycled along the M25 for a couple of miles.

 

[oneflewover]

Admittedly, it was while it was being built - Figuring I'd never get the chance to do it again, I sneaked down a bank near Leatherhead on a Sunday morning shortly before it opened and cycled along the M25 for a couple of miles.

Well reminded, I did the length of the A1 - M1 link road in West Yorkshire including the bridge over the River Aire in its many pre public usage states.

With my radio in my ears - to keep OT

 

[Hagal]

Dangerous, probably stupid. I did it once and had about 3 near misses. If you do for god's sake keep off the road and have the volume down low so you have some situational awareness.

 

[mauvais]

If you do for god's sake keep off the road

 

[big eejit]

I tried wearing my mp3 player once while cycling. I found it quite scary. And I was surprised how much I rely on my hearing to keep me safe without even realising it.

 

[gaijingirl]

I always whip out my story of the guy I saw holding his mobile phone to his ear while riding no-hands round Elephant & Castle roundbout as an example of real lunacy

Don't know if it's the same guy but I saw a guy doing just this whilst cycling round that massive junction at Oval today - in fact, he was doing that bit where you cross from Brixton Road over to the huge junction where you go left for Waterloo and straight for Elephant - a junction which creates relative chaos anyway!

I nearly fell off my bike in shock!

 

[shave]

Been cycling for years in London now. Hearing is absolutly fundamental to safe cycling. Its fairly easy to tell what it is behind you when you listen - Taxi, lorry, car, bus, police van which direction they are coming from and where they are going. But it's also about hearing other things liks sirens, people, occassionally identifying if something has fallen off yer bike.

Out in the sticks probably makes feck all difference.

I did a CBT recently and I was amazed at how I felt completely divorced and in a bubble with a helmet on. All I could hear was this bee in a tin can and feck all else. Felt weird.

 

[kerplunk]

Pedestrian headphone wearers should take care too - I watched with horror as a youth stepped out in front of a car on a pelican crossing a couple of weeks ago. He should have heard the car as it was accelerating hard towards him but he only heard it when the tyres were screeching under braking and it was too late then.

I felt kind of guilty because I pulled up at the pelican crossing on the line as there were cars queuing the other side which must have given him the impression the lights were on red, but he didn't check the other way. He wasn't badly hurt though so I daresay he's learnt a good lesson - death by ipod is a stupid way to go...

 

[Herbsman.]

I felt kind of guilty because I pulled up at the pelican crossing on the line as there were cars queuing the other side which must have given him the impression the lights were on red,

Don't for one minute feel guilty for doing what you are supposed to do. It is not even remotely your fault that this happened and it is not your responsibility to give pedestrians any impression. The fact is that he should have stopped and looked, not made an assumption. I mean come on now, the green cross code isn't that fucking difficult is it? Green man + stopped traffic = safe to cross, red man = do not cross. For fuck's sake is it that hard to understand? I come into contact with people like this every day and I spend a lot of time hoping that I don't end up getting hurt (and hurting someone else) because someone carelessly stepped out without looking.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that he wasn't badly hurt, and I hope he realises how lucky he is and that he has learnt from his potentially fatal mistake.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

On some other thread, someone mentioned that they think cyclists who wear headphones are twats.

I think cycling with headphones is suicidal. I've tried it, and to be honest I wouldn't do it again unless I actually wanted to die. When you're this vulnerable on roads, not protected by a box of metal and a seatbelt, you should be using all your senses to the full, in my opinion.

When I see other cyclists doing it, they seem much less aware of what's going on around them... I would go as far as saying oblivious... I can't help but think 'twat'...

So, what do you think? Is it no worse than having the CD player on while you're driving a car? Or is it different because the sound is much closer to your eardrums? Anyone have some scientific knowledge on this subject?

I am right behind you.

It sounds like madness but then I remembered I used to do it every day from Bethnal Green to waterloo. I somtimes feel a bit vunerable walking with headphones these days.

 

[cybertect]

Green man + stopped traffic = safe to cross

I don't assume it's safe and check anyway. You never know what's coming that may not stop.

Some cyclists, for example...

[lights blue touch paper and runs away fast ]

 

[Herbsman.]

Some cyclists, for example...

Just punch the cunts and they'll soon stop

If any cunt carrys on while i'm crossing he'll get booted

 

[shave]

Take a chill pill dude!

 

[Herbsman.]

Take a chill pill dude!

No, fuck that. I love cycling and cycling is great, but when I'm crossing a road and some cunt on a bike thinks it's ok to carry on going through a red light while the green man is showing, he can fuck off, and if it happens to me again I'm gonna kick him off his bike.