I use headphones sometimes. It is extremely rare to see another cyclist where I live and the terrain is pretty flat. The wind comes across open fields and music can help keep spirits up and let you keep going. Most of the time I wear headphones, I am doing some sort of Time Trial effort of the TT bike on a back road that has no stop signs. Almost no turning, just keep my head down and continue pushing forward. It also makes me focus a bit more when I am looking back for cars.
As I’ve said, my eyes keep me infinitely more aware of my situation than my ears, which I find are often deceptive and distracting. Especially with wind distortion.
And I’m not sure hearing a vehicle, if the driver is driving wrecklessly or at a point of crushing you, will help any road user. If it happens, it happens.
Allow people to enjoy their ride however they want to I say. I adapt how I ride when wearing headphones, I have had not one incident in over a decade of almost daily commuting/riding in and around London. If you ride, be aware of your surroundings at all times, riding with total caution and confidence, particularly in urban areas, has served me well. Headphones or no headphones, they’re irrelevant. That’s my opinion.
Constructively adding to @mcneese.chad and @ellotheth replies, and not meaning to pile on, I’d add the reminder that drivers…
have problems with distractions, including cell phones (how many drivers do we see holding a phone up, how many are still distracted by hands-free options) and car interfaces (notably but not exclusive of touch screens and dial-manipulated menus)
have, in all honesty with regards to US drivers, remarkably low incentive to drive safely, including driving the speed limit and not hitting things.
On the second point, not a lot of traffic incidents are actually “accidents,” this is too true with motor vehicle-bicycle (and motorcycle) collisions. Probably too many on this forum personally knew a person who was struck and killed by a motor vehicle driven by a distracted driver while the cyclist was legally and safely riding within a marked shoulder historically & regularly used as a bike lane (in the situation I’m thinking of). And in most of those cases, the incident was declared an ‘accident’ without blame assigned. This is not a call for retaliation but to point out that in other countries, where cycling is immensely safer (Spain and Switzerland leap to mind), the driver of the armored heavy vehicle is automatically at fault to be proven otherwise. The driver’s habits are thus changed and there’s a clear pattern of drivers wishing to avoid a collision with a cyclist. (This is linked with enforcing traffic laws.)
One of my two serious bike injuries was caused when an oncoming cyclist with ear buds cut into the opposite lane of the bike path on a blind corner. Near head on collision, broken arm for me, nothing for the other guy.
I live in an area with a lot of short steep hills although there are some longer climbs/descents and/or flats. It’s a lot of “country” roads and the towns/villages I pass through are small, 12,500 people being the largest but most are 500-2000 people. For as bad as my hearing is, I can typically hear a vehicle long before I see it. Relying solely on visually noticing a car in the area going 50-60 mph (80-96 km/h) doesn’t provide much of a warning, if any.
I am solidly in the NO headphones while riding. Never ever if you are riding with someone else. And I just don’t think it’s safe even while solo. Also I enjoy the solitude/silence of a long solo ride. It’s therapeutic for me
I use a wireless boombox (the new kind not the old style LOL) but I live in a ranch and my family have a large paved road loop around the estate which is private, so no issue there, I do have a few horses running around me sometime!
It totally depends on the ride and mood for me. On my work commute, I usually listen to a book/podcast. On solo rides, depends on the intensity/purpose of the ride. Music can help pump me up and get me working. Never wear it on group rides, and rarely if ever wear it on mountain rides. With other trail users and unable to see far enough ahead around turns and hills etc, there is not enough time to react to unexpected things along the trail as it is, and being deaf doesn’t help. Plus it is much more pleasant/helpful to hear sounds out in nature on the trail then it is to hear traffic on the road. It is good to hear the bike and tires on the trail as that provides some feedback about how to control things.
With that being said, whenever I ride road solo, whether commute or for training, I use a Take a Look mirror, and have gotten in the habit of checking that frequently enough that a vehicle cannot sneak up on me. I have found that helps me feel more secure than even riding without headphones. Can see a lot farther than I can hear. I can generally tell if a vehicle is aware of me or if I need to be more defensive as it approaches. I prefer to be able to keep an eye on them as they are coming up so to speak, than just trust that they are giving me enough room. Can’t tell that by just hearing them coming. Between all my bright clothing, helmet, and my obnoxiously bright blinkies, it will be hard for anyone to argue contributory negligence at my wrongful death hearing. Even with headphones, I can still hear environmental sounds as well as I could if I were riding in a car. I don’t think cyclist are held to a higher standard of being able to hear than any other vehicle are they?
I can’t really listen to podcasts when riding, except on the trainer for something like Pettit where I can truly zone out. Music ends up just being background noise because I’m not really focusing on it. I guess the thing is that I’m not really listening with any focus to whatever’s coming over my headphones because I’m engaged in the ride, but I enjoy the background of music.
I agree that if someone is focused on the podcast or conciously banging out the lyrics to music in their headphones while riding, they’re probably not engaged and that can be dangerous.
There is very much value to this. The week before a race, I usually ride without music just so I can listen to what my bike has to tell me and tune/adjust accordingly.
I run my tail light in traffic all the time as well. I notice tail lights - night or day - far earlier than not when I’m driving, so I use mine quite a bit riding solo. It’s not the cool thing to do, but my wife and daughters appreciate it.
I regularly use headphones to listen to podcasts on long runs, if it’s mostly parks or trails. But I quite often find myself ‘getting into the zone’ and not being quite sure where the last ten minutes have gone.
Seems to me that if I did the same thing when cycling it could have potentially fatal consequences. For me or for, god forbid, a playing child that I wouldn’t be able to hear.
I’m willing to take calculated risks with my own safely, but not with others’.
I think this question is a personal preference based on personal experiences and the situation. For me, though I like to listen to podcasts, news, and music, I am dead set against doing so while cycling or running outdoors. Indoors, where the surface is steady (no potholes to be found on the Kickr, and no, that’s not a feature request, nor on the rare treadmill, which I avoid with a passion) and things are not willfully or ‘accidentally’ trying to kill or maim me (or lack the discipline to try hard to avoid either), then headphones and/or visual (tv) stimulation is perfectly acceptable. Outdoors, even living in a region where the road infrastructure and driving culture is very cyclist friendly, or cycling on the trails, or running in either, the risk of getting hit, drifting, or simply zoning is too great. Just running on a trail, if I zone out too much, I may miss something and go down, as happened last year while running the moonscape that is Fuerteventura (which made cycling the next day more interesting and led me to stay out of the pool for a bit).
Appreciate we are all different but I honestly don’t understand why you would want to. Enjoy being outside and listening to what’s going on around you. I’ll caveat that by saying that I don’t listen or watch anything on the trainer that is above endurance too, I prefer to be focusing on the effort.
I’ve always felt that people who have headphones in outdoors aren’t truly getting that effect that cycling can give you, being disconnected is surely one of the benefits we can all get.
Each to their own, it would be boring if we were all the same.
Indeed. There is so much artificial noise and information around us that I, personally, am happy to tune out of it completely, visually too if possible via hikes and MTB. Singing birds, streams, grass and leaves rustle, etc, is all some of us need. I understand, however, that there are a lot of people who live and need the noise, some can’t sleep in total quiet, for example… How many of us ever take a moment and look at the sky, moving clouds, or actually hear naturally occurring sounds.
