OK, I'm officially old - I'm going to complain about loud music.

I was walking by a cube today and I heard music. I looked over and saw a person with headphones one. This wasn't blaring music, but I could hear it loud enough to hear the lyrics. Oh well.

Tonight when I was running (with my ear phones on) a guy ran the other way and I heard his music - over mine.

I realize headphones aren't sound proof - but what sorta volume are these guys listening to? That can't be good for your hearing to have that music pumped into them.

No real point, but a question - do you guys blare your music in headphones? In general, I never listen to my iPod above 50% volume. Even then it feels loud to me.

But really, I hear ya. I just don't understand how these kids can have earphones on with the music so loud that I can hear it crystal clear from long distances. Not like, "Oh, I hear music." but word-for-word, note-for-note.

I can only imagine what that sounds like to them. But I never understood the allure of loud music, anyway.

It makes up for having shitty speakers/headphones. And yeah, it does damage your ears. Especially the in-ear kind.

Show them how to use an equalizer and they'll realize that is the problem, not the volume.

As they cause more damage, they have to turn up the volume to compensate, and then it causes more damage, they lose a bit more hearing, well, you can see where this is going.

I love music, but, not loud.

I like to listen to music but I don't believe in shutting out the world. If I have headphones on in public I at least try to keep the volume down to where I can hear if someone speaks to me in a raised voice. Unless I'm in the mood to shut out the world of course.

The way I see it you shouldn't be able to tell what someone is listening to in their headphones, be it music, a book or a language lesson.

So many people do this at the school I go to. It's amazingly annoying. You'll be talking to someone and then this guy will plop down next to you all, he's totally oblivious, and you CAN'T TALK OVER HIS MUSIC! He has no idea what is going on either.

So do I touch him and say, "Hey can you turn your music down?" or do I just leave him alone. I always leave him alone. SIGH!

Most of the time if I'm in a place where people can talk to me I just use 1 ear bud and softer noise...if I'm jogging or something, still soft but both plugs.

GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!

Had this issue with a teenager on a train in front of me a few months ago.
I was dead tired, having gotten stuck at an airport overnight in Newark, and the next flight to Toronto was 3 days after that, and all I wanted to do was to get home. So, exhausted, I board a 10 hour train to Niagara Falls, NY, try to rest/sleep, and some 13 year old douche in front of me is blaring music loud enough for me to hear the lyrics to.

Now, I normally don't care about people listening to their music. If you want to deafen yourselves in the privacy of your own home, then go for it. Darwinism and all. But when it affects *me*, then I get pissed off.

Couldn't help but lean forward and gently ask (twice, because he couldn't hear me the first time, surprisingly) : "Is that a personal sound system?".
Him : "Personal? Yeah, it's for me. Why?"
Me : "Well then why the fuck can I hear it? Please turn it down".

This brings me to my other beef that Orme touched on in the original post. People doing exercise outdoors with headphones in.

Now, props to people being outdoors cycling, running, or even walking. Good job. But, for fuck's sake, don't have your music on so loud that you can't hear me coming up behind you. Nothing pisses me off more than when I'm cycling down a path and there's a runner/walker in front of me, and I either shout "passing on the left" or something like that, or ring a bell, and they have NO clue of my presence until I pass them (usually having to swerve because they take up the entirety of the path). And, sadly, some of the worst offenders are female runners. Jesus Christ. I know Toronto's a fairly safe city, but when I'm 15km out from the nearest road, following a nature trail down by the water that's completely secluded, and you have no idea that I'm there until I pass by you within inches, do you really think that's a good idea?!?
Bloody idiots.

/sigh.
Ok, I feel better now.

if i have some nice over-ear headphones i can listen to some stuff loud. but most headphones (like the crappy buds you wear when you work out) get so abrasive after about 40% volume.

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Kinda off topic....but why the fuck do cyclists insist on riding in big packs along busy 2-lane roads with no shoulders?

Seriously, I swear I must live along the most popular bike trails in all of florida or something. There's always some fucking death-wish carrying idiot riding his little cycle right down the side of a busy 2-lane road that has no shoulder or anything at all so cars are having to swerve by him - from behind him no less - into opposing traffic at 55 mph constantly.

Can't they find a road that's actually...you know...safe to be on? Go down some side roads or find some wider ones or ones with shoulders or...I dunno.

It's even better when the road has a paved sidewalk or bike path alongside it and they choose to bike in the road anyway.

Those paths are usually really badly maintained. When I rode in Cleveland, it took them weeks to clear off the paths I normally rode. People got pissed off that I would be riding in the street. Give me a break. I'm riding in the middle of winter with all the appropriate means of alerting you to my presence. I'm getting to and from where I need to go just like you are. Just because you'd never be able to do it in a hundred years doesn't mean I'm not equally entitled to the road, especially when it's just a matter of moving your wrist 3 inches to steer into the left lane.

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Knowledge without reason is useless.

http://boxrockssocks.blogspot.com/

Yeah, that's clearly what it is, I'm jealous that you can ride a bike. (?)

Apparently you've never been taught to read in context.

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Knowledge without reason is useless.

http://boxrockssocks.blogspot.com/

Seriously though. Try it some time, guy. Biking to and from where you actually need to go on a daily basis is HARD. Especially in the fucking snow. So no, I don't think it's easy, especially with completely oblivious drivers out there who would kill you in a second if you let them.

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Knowledge without reason is useless.

http://boxrockssocks.blogspot.com/

Yeah, clearly the drivers are the dumb ones.

I heard a good way of not letting a car hit you is to not be in the road.

Couple things...

1. I'm glad Bovinity caught Arach's ridiculous "I can ride a bike" statement. I almost commented on it, but I figured someone else would chide him soon enough. Are we supposed to be impressed?

2. Riding a bike is a pain because the road is usually SAFER than sidewalks... but it introduces new dangers and can be annoying to others.

3. When riding a bike on the road, you should do your best to ride in the middle of the street, not on the edge. More bikers are hurt by getting "winged" than simply ran down by a car.

I'm all for bikers on roads and all, I just don't understand why they choose to ride on some of the roads they do.

I live sorta in the country (It used to be REALLY in the country, gogo sprawl) and most of the "major" roads are very narrow, 2-lane, hilly, shoulderless roads with 55 MPH speed limits. It just seems like nothing but an insanely dangerous place to go riding a bike.

The whole situation kinda sucks. If you are riding a bike because you cannot or do not want to own a car, there is a limit as to what your options are.

If you are riding to train, it is hard to find good places to go. You figure 10 miles is a short training session on a bike. Finding a good stretch is hard. For example, where I live my options sorta suck. We have interstates and narrow 35 mph roads all around. There are some bike trails, but those are often more dangerous than the roads.

But, I see guys who are obviously training riding on a 5 lane, heavy traffic road. I understand if you are training 150+ miles a week that you get bored, but it boggles my mind why people choose some of the roads they choose.

Either way, as you sorta noted - it's not the motorist's problem. Riders with the "f-you, I pay taxes too" attitude are the ones that lose, eventually.

In many states, e.g. Wisconsin (http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/safety/veh ... /rules.htm), cycling on sidewalks is illegal for "bicyclists past the learning stage." In every state that I know of, bicycles are also technically vehicles with the same rights and responsibilities of road use as automobiles.

So legally the cyclist has every right to occupy the entire right lane on any road where cycling isn't explicitly banned. Of course, sane cyclists are much more defensive than that.

I'll also second Orme's opinion that finding a safe route to ride on (either for commuting or for training) can be damn tough, especially in semi-rural areas where the roads are relatively few and narrow.

/shrug

Same laws in Maryland. That's why I said "paved sidewalk" and not just "sidewalk".

Bicycles are additionally required to maintain a speed no less than 10mph below the legal speed limit.

In Florida, cyclists are supposed to stay as close to the right curb/edge as possible if they are going slower than the current traffic.

They're also not supposed to ride more than two abreast. Groups don't bother me as much though, it's that lone guy that's more dangerous.

That's weird. I guess they just don't enforce the no sidewalk thing up here around Wausau, Wi. Everyone seems to ride on the sidewalks.

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Larreth Wolfsong (long retired)
Lanys T'vyl, Everquest

Zinky, Lvl 60 Warlock
Thunderhorn, WoW

It is the same here in the DFW metroplex. There are a ton of cyclist here (personally, I want to get a new bike and join them). In my town you can pretty much expect to see at least a few bikes out every time you go out. On Sundays it looks like the Tour de France is motoring through the town, and honestly, I think it looks cool.

I can think of around 15-20 different places around the Seattle area to ride pretty safely. I've always been a bit of a biking enthusiast though, so granted I've spent a good deal of time looking for those specific areas. Granted it might be tougher where fewer roads exist in rural areas, though really I haven't had much trouble finding them in between extreme suburban and extreme rural areas.

A bike will never win in a fight against a car and does not belong on the road if there is no place to safely ride the bike to begin with.

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Jake Rivers - Senex Legio
Get off my Lawn alliance

The road is a safe place to ride a bike, as safe as it is for a motorcycle or small car anyway. It's not the rider's responsibility to move himself to another location, it's the driver's responsibility to be fully in control of their vehicle and to not hit the rider.

Who wins in a collision is irrelevant unless you're going to put forward the idea that only large, sturdy vehicles should be using the road.

The only agument I would have about a bike being as safe as motorcycles is that motorcycles can keep up with the flow of traffic. In general, even in residential areas, cyclists cannot keep up with the flow of traffic.

Yeah, a motorcycle flows with traffic. A bicycle - when on a poorly chosen route - becomes little more than an obstruction in the road.

LOL QFT. LMAO just thinking about some old fucker saying this shit.

Seriously, if you are bitching about somone's music being to loud, it is time to put you out to pasture.

I've always hated loud music, even when I was young enough to count my age on my fingers. /shrug

No motorbike will drive down the middle of the road at 10mph.

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Jake Rivers - Senex Legio
Get off my Lawn alliance

So the cars should break the law and cross over the line into oncoming traffic on a 2 lane for bikers who 99% of the time don't obey traffic signals, stop signs or proper road etiquette?

Nothing pisses me off more than waiting to get around some clown in his stupid looking 2ft long racing helmet with all his spandex biker garb on and finally getting around his dumb oblivious ass and then coming to a stop sign/light only to have the moron just slow down check traffic and then shoot right through without even stopping.

Ride the Monon trail you fucktards, that's why they spent millions of $$ on it.

Oh and...

GET OFF MY LAWN!!

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken
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VEGETARIAN -Noun (vej-i-tair-ee-uhn): Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride.

Hahah, second time that picture has been posted on this thread, I love it. =)

The bike trails are awesome, I used to ride them every day, though I have been slacking off the last month or so.

The bike trails here in Cinci are great, you really should take advantage of them. They are one of the few bright spots in this shit hole of a town.

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Yeah, that's half the problem - some cyclists decide to make their own rules, or force vehicles to constantly play leapfrog with them. If I'm on my bike on the road, (1) I make damn sure I can make a reasonable attempt at staying with the flow of traffic. If I'm cycling at 10km/hr, I shouldn't be on the road. It's unfair to the traffic there, and it makes you like pathetic anyways; and (2) I obey the rules of the road. That means no skipping through red lights even if it's clear, and queuing up at a stop light behind a vehicle instead of overtaking 10 cars by sticking to the curb to get to the front of the line, only to force them to re-overtake me 30 seconds after the light turns green.

The other half of the problem is that a lot of motorists don't realize cyclist rights and the laws regarding cycling on the road. As mentioned above, in most areas, cyclists are entitled to an entire lane, and don't need to cycle on the side of the road (usually where there are potholes, sewage grates, and other things that are decidely unfun to ride on with a racing bike with slicks) if they don't want to. I especially love it when people honk at me, or shout "Get off the road!" as they pass me, as it ensures I'll get a good workout cycling as fast as possible to catch up to those people at the next traffic light so that I can bitch them out face to face. Ignorant bastards. Especially when it's some morbidly obese douche stuffing a cheeseburger in his mouth in his giant Hummer in downtown Toronto. That's my personal fave.

You forgot to mention how you have to repeat the entire process of trying to get past that same fucker again 30 seconds later after you get a green light.

and yeah

GET OFF MY LAWN!!

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Jake Rivers - Senex Legio
Get off my Lawn alliance

hasten thee yon, from mine lawn

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You should see the mopeds around here trying to climb mountains, they pretty much are doing 10.

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Marauder Harabakc Goat

I do some, but even then I get frustrated. Like Loveland - maybe I have bad timing but it's such a pain to get to and it's always crowded. But, I manage

Well, I have always lived close to the trails. I lived within walking distance of downtown Loveland and now I am 5mins from the Milford part. I probably wouldn't recommend going if you lived in say... Mt. Lookout.

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A moped is not a motorbike.

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Jake Rivers - Senex Legio
Get off my Lawn alliance

It's a bike with a motor =p

Regardless south of the border we usually just call them motorcycles.

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Marauder Harabakc Goat

Ah, see living close is key

I am a bit spoiled - I used to live up in Beavercreek, right by the base. So, I could ride my bike 5 minutes for warm-up and be at the trail that snakes all through Beavercreek and Fairfield.