I like that - his injuries are not too serious?? I thought he broke 9 ribs, lost the skin off his nose and face and spent the night in intensive care?

From Cyclingnews.com

Alberto Lopez de Munain was diagnosed with a hydropneumothorax caused by nine broken ribs, a broken left collar bone, a broken shoulder blade, damage to the left shoulder as well as grazes and cuts to his back, knees and face. He is conscious, in a stable condition and out of immediate danger, as he is getting drainage to improve the hydropneumothorax.

Sounds kind of serious to me.

"Do ya think there was an IPOD involved? "

This is a fuckn joke, right. What does an ipod have to do with it. I'm always riding with music and I'm one of the safest riders out there. Just because you listen to music doesn't mean that you cannot pay attention to and judge traffic. I believe that your experience and your ability to judge what cars might do next that keeps you alive on the streets. And this has nothing to do with listening to music. To me, it's even safer to ride with music because I don't get the crap scared out of me when some fuckn pipple covered teen asshole honks at me, or when a dog in the back of a pickup barks at me within inches of my face.

I might listen to music when I train, but I don't ride in big groups. It's not just poor bike handling skills that cause crashes, it doesn't take much until something happens when 50 people ride within inches of one another.

And last, I hope that Lopez de Munain will recover soon.

---

�The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.� -Michelangelo

MoodBoost Drink : Mood Support + Energy.

He was trolling and got one.

Agree with your rant though!

---

Larry

Don't be afraid to ride too long or too hard. That's what cell phones are for. Rich Strauss

THe photo and caption came directly for Graham Watsons site.

http://grahamwatson.com/...enform&05giroSt2

---

____________________________________________
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Albert Einstein

<<This is a fuckn joke, right.>>

I hope it was a joke - for your sake. But I will not be surprised if you end up like him. Blocking such an important sensory input is dangerous.

---

---------------------------------------------------------

You can't deny it! If you can not hear traffic, other rider’s instructions (on group ride), or that Ambulance bearing down on you from behind you'll lose valuable reaction time. Split seconds count!

Paul

---

____________________________________________
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Albert Einstein

Don't forget loose dogs, deer, and other things that come up behind you.

I've never wrecked/been hit. I attribute some of that to hearing things coming. It's not a the only reason, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard something coming and only managed to miss it because I squeezed the brakes before I saw it.

"On your left. ON YOUR LEF...gaaahhhh!!"

"Blocking such an important sensory input is dangerous."

In Bicycling Mag a few years ago they commented that you shouldn't ride with headphones because it's dangerous to ride when you can't hear. The next month a letter was printed from a deaf guy who asked the question. Do you think it's dangerous for me to ride a bike then?

There are morons that run and ride with thier volume too loud. But it is possilbe to keep the volume just loud enough to hear music and hear around you. I gaurantee you I can hear someone calling "on your left."

I stopped yesterday to get a gatorade yesterday during my workout and the Muzak was pumping out "all my X's live in Texas" Without my own tunes to llisten to I'd have had that song stuck in my head for almost two more hours. I'd have ended up in a rubber room.

Curious- how do you feel about driving while talking on a cell phone?

---

"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Curious - how do you feel about driving while listening to the radio?

Multi tasking is always tricky. But when your life depends on your attention being focussed on one primary task, I think you should remove all distractions that might get in the way.

---

kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

you can't enjoy the sounds of silence and your pedal stroke? I live for that. Maybe that's the runner in me talking, but there's something to be said about training without any aids. One person once told me that while on a trainer, turn off the lights and ride in the dark for hours. Mind you, it was partially tongue in cheek, but he probably does that. Be tough, leave the Ipod at home.

you know the thing that i find hard is when i'm riding with my iPod and my phone rings and so i have to pull one of the earphones to answer the call, but can't really reach back into my jersey to turn the iPod off because i'm riding with one hand talking on the phone...

usually don't get passed so I don't have to worry about that one.

---

�The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.� -Michelangelo

MoodBoost Drink : Mood Support + Energy.

Sometimes the first sign you get that something is up with your bike is audible - a clicking chain or pinging spoke. I prefer to ride with my ears open for that.

I have the same problem, and it is even more difficult when I try to look back at the same time because I just passed a beautiful chick in a mini-skirt. The IPod cables get in the way and of course I'm holding the phone with my left hand and have to turn to my right to watch the girl.

Now, that would be alright if I had washed my glasses in the past year and they were not that dirty.

I guess it would be even worse if I was wearing a helmet with all that gear revolving around my head/ears.

Curious - how do you feel about driving while listening to the radio?

I think most people drastically underestimate how adversely it can affect your driving.

---

"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

"In Bicycling Mag a few years ago they commented that you shouldn't ride with headphones because it's dangerous to ride when you can't hear. The next month a letter was printed from a deaf guy who asked the question. Do you think it's dangerous for me to ride a bike then?"

Based on the experiences of a deaf friend of mine and his other deaf athlete friends, YES, it's dangerous for deaf people to ride out in traffic. My friend is constantly hitting the pavement.

> Based on the experiences of a deaf friend of mine and his other deaf athlete friends, YES, it's dangerous for deaf people to ride out in traffic.

Out in traffic, most would not dispute. Some would apparently ban those without 100% frequency and tone coverage from every bikepath, everywhere. A different proposition.

I'll bet you your next pay check I can hear more of whats going on around me with the music when riding then you can in your car with the radio on. I ride about 50% of the time with music. I can carry on a full conversaton with any one I'm riding with even with the music. Its just loud enough for fun, not to take over my ride.

I heard a question awhile back posted here on ST....in not so many words

Just how does a car sound different coming from behind if its going to hit you?

Most cyclist accidents with cars are caused by cars turning left in front of you from the opposite direction. Last time I looked music did not block my eye sight! I've had lots of very close calls while riding....and the music NEVER had a thing to do with them.

The last one was an old idiot guy that beeped his horn as he pulled up next to me and then immedialty turned right cutting me off as he entered the local police dept parking lot. When he turned, his front passenger door was at my front wheel. I actually did a power silde and quick right turn with my full racing rig to avoid his car fender. I caught him in the lot and blasted him with EVERY 4 letter word I knew.....I was pissed!! He said the car behind him was tailgating him and he could not slow down to let me go by, so he beeped his horn at me and then "ABOUT KILLED ME" to make the turn too fast!!! He didn't want to go to the next entrance about 100 yards down the road.

OK OK OK>...enough....I'll ride with music.....sorry!!

---

.
.
Paul

True Scenario: Triathlete on a two lane highway in the bike lane (shoulder) is killed when when a boom on a concrete truck comes loose and swings away from the truck into the bike lane. Cars behind the athlete try to get his attention by beeping their horn, but are unsuccessful. In the true story, the triathlete did not have on any type of music device. He simply either did not hear or, if he heard, did not understand the significance of the horn beeping behind him. I suppose that it could happen to any of us. For my money, I would like my hearing to be as unimpaired as possible. Just maybe if he had heard/understood the car horn he would be alive today.

True scenario: guy was driving a car, didn't see the rat in the street, hit it. In the true story, the guy was not blinking, but for my money, blinking should be outlawed while driving, as it could cause you to not see stuff.