"dgk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:landotter said:My safety is my business, and I'll happily remind people to obey the
law. Want to listen to an iPod and ride? Do it on the trainer. Wearing
one on the bike path or street is being selfish and a finger in the eye
of other's safety.I don't go on about helmets, that's personal choice, but riding the
wrong way, or riding and choosing to cut off one of your senses affects
everybody's safety.Your freedom ends where mine begins.
I listen to radio as I commute. I'm biking for over an hour each way,
do you really expect me to waste that time? I rarely listen to music
though, most of the time I have talk radio on. Usually Air America or
Pacifica, that way I can actually learn something.Sometimes I listen to lectures or webcasts. I never have the volume
high enough to intefere with hearing what's around me. In the summer I
drive with the windows closed and music on. I can't hear a thing that
occurs around the car.Just keep alert, that's the idea.
Was there a huge debate when radios were first being installed in
cars?
I agree with dgk. It gets to be mighty boring to ride the same old route
everyday and listening to some music while riding makes the ride ever so
much more enjoyable.
I mainly ride around my home town on a daily basis and I know all the
traffic and other hazards without having to even think about them anymore. I
like to wear a headband over my ears to cut out all of the outside noise. I
do this on even the hottest of days. I count on my eyes to keep me safe.
Yet I know what Roger Zoul and landotter are saying also. I would NEVER wear
headphones while cycling in unfamiliar territory and I would most certainly
NEVER wear them while doing a group bike tour. I wear them strictly on my
solo rides about my home town. Surely, that is a reasonably safe thing to
do.
One other thing, I do not like to see kids wearing headphones. They are too
stupid to be doing anything which distracts from the business of riding a
bike safely.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota