Incriminating Headphones

So I went to get my morning coffee before work, on my “Spadina Bike” (Ever hear the song “Spadina Bus” by the Shuffle Demons?), and was stopped by a cop outside of the shop. She wasn’t in uniform, and just talking to me casually outside. She wanted me to know that there had been a complaint about me riding my bike around town with my headphones on. I asked if it was illegal to wear my headphones around town while I bike, and her reply was “No, I think a citizen was just concerned for your safety.” And I assured her that I always make sure that I can still hear traffic, and that I am conscious of my driving when on a bike, thanked her for her information and went into The Water Buffalo to get my joe. But I was not impressed, and I know exactly why this complaint was made and my skepticism leads me to believe that the complaint was certainly not out of concern.


You need to understand where I live; everyone has at least one vehicle, if not two (myself included; thank you mom and dad…:)) and they are used to “ruling the road” per se. People like to get from point A to point B conveniently, and quickly. Now this is where I think the lack of understanding or to put it bluntly, the lack of consideration comes in. As a person on a bicycle, I am a vehicle, not a pedestrian, and I have a right to the road. On my vehicle, with my head phones on, I am just the same as the dude in the big truck with his tinted windows, tunes blasting (you can usually feel the bass before you see the vehicle) and he/she is usually talking on a cell phone or texting his hot lover. Haha Now I’m being facetious….So, when I zoom down the hill towards the lights (Yes, we only have one set of traffic lights in our town) I actually stop if the light is red, BECAUSE I AM A VEHICLE. Then when it’s green, I go. Ok, so I don’t have as much acceleration as a vehicle so it takes me a bit to get my mojo working, and there in lies the problem. People may have to wait a few seconds for me to get going again, and become a vehicle. And people are impatient, and will complain, as they have done, and blame the headphones. SHE’S NOT EVEN PAYING ATTENTION; HER MUSIC BLASTING, THAT CRAZY ARTIST THAT ROAMS THE ROADS OF RED LAKE STOPPING EVERYONE’S PROGRESS ON HER BICYCLE. If I had a dollar for every time a vehicle cut in front of me, or opened the door when I was biking by, or skimmed passed me a little too close for my liking; I’d probably have enough money to buy those people a bicycle of their own. It’s amazing that taking off my headphones is going to some how, miraculously, stop people from being insensitive drivers.

If you haven’t done it, you can’t imagine the freedom and exhilaration and serenity of riding a bicycle and listening to your favourite songs. I have a playlist on my itouch that is labeled, “Holy shit, that’s good” that is mainly for my biking expeditions. My senses are being stimulated; the fresh 8am air cutting through my body, the hot coffee accidentally spilling on my legs because my thermal mug doesn’t exactly fit on my bike rack, the smiling faces that whiz by me, the bumpiness of the parking lots….biking to work becomes a glorious, sensual journey as I’m accompanied by much loved musicians. (Haha Right now I’m getting a visual of biking down the road with the Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band…)But above and beyond the personal entertainment that I derive from being on my Spadina bike, roaming the streets of Red Lake is my right, and I’m going to continue to do so, with my headphones on, thank you very much.

Spadina Bus by the Shuffle Demons
hearing, headphones and bicycle rules