Brett’s fine Nick Cave article got me thinking about music and cycling. We spend lots of time alone on our bikes. The bike is on autopilot, it stays upright from second to second, freeing up our brains to consider anything or nothing. Music might be the only riding companion we have but it has to be the right music.
Being as Pro as possible is not necessarily a good thing. Pros tend to blow through all stop signs and they care not a damn about Rule #62. As adamant as I am about sock length and color, I’m more of a hardliner about Rule #62. It is one Rule I have positively never broken, honest Father. Half my friends do though, oh I see them with their wires and ear buds. I get it, I just don’t ever do it. I want to know what’s coming up the road behind me. I also like to hear the world as I ride but I really want to hear that dog or cement mixer before they are right HERE. And I sometimes enjoy the voices in my head. They get me.
Before you go for a long ride, preplan your music, don’t just turn on the car radio as you motor away to meet your riding friends. A moment of inattention and you could be riding three hours with The Carpenters. My wife and I have a pact when riding together. Neither is allowed to sing aloud whatever terrible jingle or 80’s anthem song is plaguing our brains. Sharing such things is not good for a marriage.
It is the early morning riding where my brain is most susceptible to contamination. Wrung out from a night’s sleep, my brain will absorb anything. I have to saturate my brain with good music before something terrible gets in there; once it is in there, it is not coming out without a fight. I had an early morning teeth cleaning and while captive in the chair, their office music programming played nothing but Cher for thirty minutes. Oh I thought it was amusing at the time. The next day, Cher was still there. I was not amused.
Predawn, rolling along in the truck, bike in the back, something great on the stereo, even if the windshield wipers are on, this is how we get up for a ride. There may only be one song in the head for the next three hours but at least if will be a good one.
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My son is into K-Pop and J-Pop. Accidentally catch some Korean rap on your way out the door and that's your day screwed right there.
This for instance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzC4hFK5P3g
@the Engine
There! Right There! I see what you did. That's my ride today now fucked!!!
@the Engine Wow, I'm not sure if I find that most disturbing visually or aurally.
@the Engine wtf? You gotta be kidding me... Did I see oomph loompas ?
@wilburrox I meant oompa loompas... you know, from Willie Wanka... whatev...
I find that the right mix, during a TT warm up does a good job of setting the mood to prepare for the on coming suffering. To me there is something supremely unique to the suffering of a time trial, and doing so consumed with a calm psychopathic like fury gets the job done rather nicely. Only a handful of songs can incite this emotion, but chained together and piped into my skull via a personal little stereo system is the way to do so pre race.
Obits have been on full rotation on the playlist in my mind on the last few rides.
@Deakus
That's nothing. I took the family to a kids concert on a Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning was 3 hours of this...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lauLmAYqXdo At least it has a driving beat.
The worst part of the unwelcome song is that despite attempts to come up with a replacement, I am in the moment unable to think of the name of a single song, much less replay lyrics in my head to push it out.
Timely article.
I have never been one to break Rule #62. On Sunday morning though, as I was kitting up for what was to be a solo century, I thought, "...maybe it would be nice to have some music along for part of it". And so I stuck the wife's Ipod into the back pocket of the jersey. At about the halfway point I gave it a try. For me, the iPod headphones are such a leaky fit that I found that I could still hear cars and the like on the quiet road that I was riding. Even still, I rode about half the time with the left earphone out. Audio fidelity wasn't particularly important to me....just being able to hear enough to be able to internalize the melody and feel myself riding with the beat was enough of a distraction for me. I don't think it will become a regular thing though...