Do you listen to music while cycling?

[b1_]

Do you listen to music while you ride? what do like to listen to? What's your player?

I've got some wrap around Sony MDR-70s which work well with a helmet on, and an iRiver iHP140. I also wear ear plugs to cut down on wind and traffic noise which still gets through anyway.

I listen to techno and trance and it sure does add to the cycling experience ten fold. Ever toured in a foreign country and crested a mountain pass on a perfect day while listening to trance? - incredible, and highly recommended.

Does anyone else use music as their cycling fuel?

 

[jhuskey]

I have no bike paths to ride on and I have to constantly listen for traffic behind me. Besides the terrain is all steep here and I couldn,t hear the music over my gasps for breath and my heart beating.

 

[nitrogenmustard]

if you wear only one headfone you can still hear cars and it takes away from the boredom of long solo rides

 

[ejglows]

On special occasions I wil adorn my MD player and head out listening to true Rock, Lenny Kravitz, AC/DC (`She shook me all night long` being a favorite) anything that makes me MOVE. I agree on the techno, early morning rides call for Orb or sometimes Portishead, something peaceful to recenter you and make you focus on what is at hand (a hardass hill)and bring you ever closer to that special serenity found at the end of a tough battle (or old school prodigy to motivate you).

`Fly away` is my theme song....

erin

oh, and some rap helps my legs keep beat...

 

[Trekker2017]

On the roads where I ride, the need to hear the traffic both in front and behind me is paramount. That said, I have been know to put my shortwave radio in the breast pocket of my cycling jacket (I use either a photo vest or a fly fishing vest) and listen to whatever station I can pick up and somewhat understand. I used to love the BBC, but now they've stopped broadcasting to my region and have gone to an internet download broadcast. My favorite station for morning rides is Radio Australia.

 

[zapper]

Old rocker here...Aerosmith, AC/DC, Led Zep and Rush cranked up in one ear only!

 

[b1_]

Certainly if you consider it dangerous don't try it, but I definately recommend trying it on a deserted bikepath if you can. Where I live there's an exclusive pedestrian/bike path that goes clear across the city to the coast and you'll often find me on it music blaring.

It pays to find a player and headphones that puts out quality sounds, rather than a cheap radio and ear bud headphones that constantly fall out.

Put your tunes on shuffle, or just listen to your favourite radio station, and when a favourite song comes up you'll find yourself going faster if it's a rockin' track, or getting goosebumps if it's something like Simon and Garfunkel Sounds of Silence cruisy track.

It's just simply an amazing thing, and I created this thread hoping there were others who were keen on it; would be a shame if there weren't. I never feel more free than when I'm riding with my music; it just puts a big smile on my face every time.

 

[Glorified_G]

I used to ride with my ipod in my chest pocket and just set it to shuffle or create a playlist. Usually early to mid 90s rock/grunge/and all the good stuff that came out back then.

 

[mrowkoob]

Well I´ve always been a music buff but I like my rides to be quiet. I enjoy the scenery and sounds of the surrounding nature and a good ride relaxes me. I guess I could mtb with music but never road, just too dangerous.

 

[Glorified_G]

Originally posted by mrowkoob
Well I´ve always been a music buff but I like my rides to be quiet. I enjoy the scenery and sounds of the surrounding nature and a good ride relaxes me. I guess I could mtb with music but never road, just too dangerous.

I agree. I work in Toronto, but it's nice to go back home to my town where you can ride 10 minutes and be in the country and enjoy the peace and quiet.

 

[rek]

When on a bike path/veloway or off-road, yes. When on a "normal" road, no.. need to hear what's going on in traffic. Also when running (which is an impossibly boring activity without music, by the way!)

At the moment I use my old mobile phone believe it or not, a Siemens phone which has an MP3 player app and takes a 128MB card. It's old and flaky (the battery barely lasts 90 minutes) and am looking at replacing it with either a 256MB flash player or one of those tiny 4GB hard disk based players.

Originally posted by b1_
I also wear ear plugs to cut down on wind and traffic noise which still gets through anyway.

Always wondered how to get rid of the wind noise.. I never thought a set of little earphones could make that much wind resistance!

I listen to techno and trance and it sure does add to the cycling experience ten fold.

YES though I have way too much of it as yet unsorted...

 

[tyler_derden]

I am a hard-core Morphine addict (the band, not the drug).
Tom Waits is also high on my play list.

TD

 

[graf zeppelin]

I have on occasion brought my iPod along, but I find I far prefer listening to the natural sounds of biking.

 

[angotja]

It's not so much a danger issue...I just want to experience the most I can...Spatial awareness provides a more meaningful experience for me.

 

[b1_]

Always wondered how to get rid of the wind noise.. I never thought a set of little earphones could make that much wind resistance!

They don't. I use ear plugs and my wrap-arounds over the top. When I was about 25 I started to notice ringing in my ears from the wind noise after rides - it is very loud. Sometimes I will forego the music and leave my player at home and just put the ear phones on to keep the earplugs in and to keep my ears warm. This set up does muffle wind and traffic noise somewhat but never 100% - traffic is plenty loud and can be heard quite clearly over everything except the painful volume settings, much to my frustration.

I don't consider listening to music while riding dangerous obviously. To anyone who does I wonder if you consider listening to music while driving your car dangerous also? And to the guy who listens with only one earphone in, isn't that uncomfortable, even dangerous because of it's perhaps negative effects on inner ear balance? Sounds like the only way to ruin both the music and the riding to me.

It's not so much a danger issue...I just want to experience the most I can...Spatial awareness provides a more meaningful experience for me.

I agree. This is one of the reasons I love to ride, because you get to experience the places you ride through more keenly than if you were in a car or a bus. But I think the music adds another layer on top of this awareness. Just occassionaly a song will start playing that fits perfect with the environment you're riding through, and you tear-up, or get major goosebumps, or can't help but smile. Listening to music while riding does not provide this constant flatline enjoyment, it ebbs and flows, and just every now and then peaks when everything, smell, weather, scenery, road incline, your mood, and the right song all come together to provide something I can only describe as a rush. That rush is what I seek when I take my music with me. It doesn't happen often, maybe once a week, more if I'm lucky, but when it does I'm in heaven; and Trance and Techno music seem to provide more "rushes" than conventional music.

I love it, you should too . Live dangerous ppl .

 

[wolfgang]

Originally posted by b1_
Do you listen to music while you ride? what do like to listen to? What's your player?

I've got some wrap around Sony MDR-70s which work well with a helmet on, and an iRiver iHP140. I also wear ear plugs to cut down on wind and traffic noise which still gets through anyway.

I listen to techno and trance and it sure does add to the cycling experience ten fold. Ever toured in a foreign country and crested a mountain pass on a perfect day while listening to trance? - incredible, and highly recommended.

Does anyone else use music as their cycling fuel?

I love music way too much to listen to it when I'm riding, jogging, or at the gym. I prefer to enjoy music when I can relax.

 

[b1_]

Originally posted by wolfgang
I love music way too much to listen to it when I'm riding, jogging, or at the gym. I prefer to enjoy music when I can relax.

C'mon man. I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, but you can't be saying that dancers, or even clubbers, don't love their favourite music more than you because they're not relaxing when they're listening to it.

When you're moving is a good time to listen to music as far as I'm concerned. But that's just me .

 

[Feanor]

Originally posted by b1_
Do you listen to music while you ride? what do like to listen to? What's your player?

I don't listen to music while I'm riding, I have a budget MP3 player and I listen to an endless loop recording of a cheering crowd, cowbells, occasional motivating remarks in French shouted from the side of the road, and basic hoots and hollers...

I made the recording from footage of the TdF and other races televised on OLN, and though it may seem insanely egotistical, and maybe even a bit bent, it has a definite effect on me especially while climbing... To mentally project yourself into a frame of mind where you think the crowds are cheering for you makes it seem like it hurts less, and that you have more to "prove" to the virtual crowd...

Its weird I know, but music distracts me while cycling, because my focus shifts to its tempo, or on reciting the words in my head, rather than concentrating on my spin, etc...

have a good one!

Feanor

 

[hippy]

>Originally posted by b1_
>Do you listen to music while you ride? what do like to listen to? >What's your player?

OLD SKOOL.. Walkman. You know.. one that plays those 'tape'
things

Got a discman but it chews through batts too quick.

Used to ride with choons all the time in the country but in the
city I always figured on making the most of my hearing to know
precisely when I was about to die..

Ridden a few times here (Melbourne) with phones in and it's
really not bad. I can hear all the cars. Cyclists behind me I can't
hear, but I can't usually hear them without phones in..
I still don't often ride with music but that's because it's just
something else I have to carry and get batteries for. Besides
which, I'm constantly listening to music everywhere else. Without
phones I get to listen to bogans yelling craftily created insults..

>I listen to techno and trance and it sure does add to the

What are you into? I'm mostly a techno head, but still have a few
hints of my metal background showing through

I haven't heard a good, 'new' trance track for years..

hippy

 

[b1_]

Originally posted by hippy
>Originally posted by b1_
>Do you listen to music while you ride? what do like to listen to? >What's your player?

OLD SKOOL.. Walkman. You know.. one that plays those 'tape'
things

Got a discman but it chews through batts too quick.

Before my iHP140 I had and old sony walkman with a broken tape deck. Had that for years. I had to listen to the radio. Had bass boost tho .

I'm very happy with my iHP tho. Don't have to buy a stereo now becuase this thing just plugs into my pc speakers with an optical in/out line. Use it in my car also. If you've got a big collection of music like me they're well worth it. Don't have to worry about batteries ever again either as it has a 16hr duration rechargable - will run out in a few years but is easy to replace with an even better battery anyway.

Originally posted by hippy

>I listen to techno and trance and it sure does add to the

What are you into? I'm mostly a techno head, but still have a few
hints of my metal background showing through

I haven't heard a good, 'new' trance track for years..

hippy

I listen to everthing from classical to rammstein to Trance to 70's easy listening. But my electronic tastes include Ferry Corsten, Airbase, Armin Van Buuren, Svenson & Gielen. Don't like progressive at all tho. Like Techno because it's got more energy than trance for riding, but trance gives me goosebumps . Atm i'm into Mac J - Nightware - that will get you out pacing cars when it kicks in around the 3 min mark .

There's plenty of new trance out there it just never reaches us in Aus - most record stores stock a pathetic selection and the radio stations aren't prone to air anything but the big hits. Best bet is to get on the net and find some radio streams out of holland like ID&T, or maybe the US based Digitally Imported .