BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

People run with the volume up because earbuds usually have a scratchy sound when you run with them in. You probably need some projectiles.

That's a very thoughful write-up from someone who runs and bikes. Thanks.

having recently acquired the first set of earbuds that actually stay in my ears well enough to run with them, I noticed something wearing them around... If the volume is high enough to enjoy the music but low enough that it doesn't hurt (a wide window), I can hear enough ambient noise to make decisions about my surroundings and act accordingly. Then again, I may be able to hear because of my freakishly shaped ear canals that deny seating of any other earbud. I've also yelled full volume at a guy in my neighborhood who was walking in the middle of the street (literally veering into the middle as I was trying to pass him dragging the mutts) with no response. I had to run with the dogs into the lawn to avoid him AND the car he didn't hear come up behind him (we have no sidewalks). So I don't know how that works.

I've run in the street before, but only because the sidewalks were impassable (snow, cracks). And a bike lane? Bikes are too quiet - a car I can hear creeping up on me, bikes I can't (with or without earbuds).

I hope one day Pittsburgh has enough cyclists, bike lanes, and runners to have a the opportunity to have a similar problem.

It's happening in Pittsburgh sometimes: I have seen runners in the Forbes bike lane through Frick Park pretty regularly. The sidewalk on that road isn't great (although I run on it all the time), and it sucks that the sidewalk only goes all the way up the hill on one side, meaning you have to run with traffic behind you if you're headed uphill, but I still think people are sometimes making really bad choices when they choose to run in the bike lane instead of on the sidewalk there sometimes.

The other night one of them was running uphill/inbound on the non-sidewalk side (so his left) as I was coming downhill. We couldn't comfortably share the lane, and he had nowhere to go (well, he could have edged to his left, but he wasn't making any moves, and I wasn't going to wait for him to do that), meaning I had the responsibility of merging with traffic to avoid him. This might have been okay, but the reflective jacket that seemed to make him feel safe was really not enough to make him visible from the distance that was necessary in that situation, considering that it's easy to reach speeds >25 MPH coming down that hill. I saw him in time and was able to merge to get around him, but if I had had wimpier front lights that didn't reflect as well and had thus seen him later, or if there had been heavier traffic in the adjacent lane, we would have been in trouble.

Maybe I'm having the same mentality that cars have about me, but I just didn't quite get why that was the option he chose when he could have been on the sidewalk or SOMETHING other than what he was doing. Is it bad of me to have been frustrated with this guy? I occasionally run on the road even when there's a sidewalk, too, but when I do it, it tends to be for short periods on residential roads when, like ejwme said, the sidewalk is impassable, or I'll hop off the sidewalk onto a carefully-verified-as-traffic-free road for a second if I don't have a better way to get around a bunch of slow-moving pedestrians, but I don't like doing it, and I don't assume people can see me when it's really dark, and I don't do it when I can't bail easily to avoid oncoming traffic.

When I ran I would regularly run streets in Squirrel Hill (especially in the winter) because the sidewalks were either unsafe or icy. I did have an issue one evening when I was on the Wightman sidewalk and swerved towards the houses when a ninja cyclist came towards me. When I hit a small (6 inches?) fence and landed flat out, cracking a rib. I did point out to him he could have bought a light and ride in the bike lane.

Frankly, I think it should be illegal to run on public streets with earbuds/earphones - just as it is already illegal to operate a motor vehicle with them. That goes for cycling as well.

As for running with or against traffic in our out of bike lanes, that one is a little more complicated. Due to weather conditions I can understand that there are SOME circumstances that kind of force runners in bike lanes running with traffic but it should be more the exception than the rule.

Earbuds should be the rule, and I have the same lack of respect for those who run or cycle with earbuds as I do for those who cycle without helmets.

Do you think that should be the case just in terms of running on the street itself, or also on the sidewalk? Just curious.

And I normally only wear one earbud and leave the traffic-side ear free, which still allows me to hear approaching cars as well as other runners - is that an improvement, or is that still a terrible idea from your perspective?

(I'm talking about while running - I totally don't understand people who bike on the road with earbuds in.)

I also don't see a way that you could legislate that without also forbidding people from wearing earbuds/headphones while *walking* on any public street, which seems silly. Maybe I'm totally wrong, though (maybe it's not that hard to draw a line between walking and running there, or maybe it's not that ridiculous to legislate the wearing of any sort of earbud while walking OR running on any public street, but it seems that way to me).

personally i can't wear earbuds while riding. i feel very disoriented in traffic to the point that it is uncomfortable for me. i do know people who do it all the time and they seem to do just fine with it. maybe i'm just wired that way, i seem to rely on input from all my senses (excluding taste and smell, maybe?) to feel safe while riding. i would assume that runners are the same where some are fine with the earbuds blasting away while others would become disoriented or oblivious to their surroundings. just sayin..

I think some people might have an image that the sonic barrier the 'buds provide as almost protection ("Weird guys can't try to talk to me."), when (IMO) they expose you to the many dangers that can be avoided by listening.

I like being able to hear the pitter-patter of little feet when I travel, say, through East Liberty.

There are routes I avoid due to the distinct smell of crack cocaine smoke.

Mick - I totally use headphones/earbuds as "pseudo protection"... but at work, when I'm stationary. In the winter, the earphones keep my ears toasty and people think I'm doing training. Walked around the office with the earbuds in a few times... Makes me feel weird, so I often pull one or both out.

And my first reaction was "No, it's not that weird guys can't try... it's that I'm not rude for ignoring them since 'I can't hear them'".

apparently it's not too uncommon for women to use the headphones, sunglases, reading a book, texting ruse to fend off unwanted advances in public. i've heard independant testimony of this technique from lots of women i know. wtf apparently we men must be a pretty lecherous lot to warrant such treatment.

Well the treatment is often deserved.

OTOH, not hearing approaching violence so you don't have to listen to some guy saying "Hi! How ya doin?" might not be the best strategy.

In my limited experience, it's not that it's common, it's more that ... the times it does happen are really weird. Like look for help from passing strangers, make sure you're not followed when you leave, and don't go back to that location ever again weird. But that may just be who I attracted when I was younger.