Riding with music: Any attempt to sync cadence with beat or vice versa?

[Jeremy McCreary]

I listen only to ambient sound in traffic, but listening to music with bone conduction earphones is safe enough on exercise laps around my sleepy neighborhood. Many benefits with the right music, whether or not I pedal in time with it, but especially when I do.

So 2 questions for you:

Q1. When safe to listen to music, do you make any attempt to (a) flex your cadence to sync with the beat, or conversely (b) bring music that syncs well with your preferred cadence?

Q2. If yes to (b) above, what's your preferred cadence, and what music works well with it?

NB: Not looking to get into a big debate about the wisdom of listening while riding. We have other threads for that. Let's just assume here that you have a safe place. Thanks!

Much research has been done on cycling, running, and walking with music. The many benefits are clear. When these activities are done strictly in time with the music, they're said to be synchronous. Otherwise, they're asynchronous.

Spin classes to music are generally asynchronous, but the right music can still motivate performance, elevate mood, distract from suffering, fight boredom, and make the whole session a more positive experience — all of which make you more likely to do it again.

Personally, I much prefer the synchronous route. But not so easy to find sufficiently motivating music that also syncs well with my strongly preferred 90 rpm cadence.

Why? Because motivating (aka driving, propulsive) music tends to have a tempo in the 110-140 bpm range — especially around 120 bpm. (This is no coincidence. It's apparently hard-wired into the human brain.)

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You might use some metronome app
(Drummers do it all the time!)

 

[DaveMatthews]

I have not found a sufficient platform to safely listen whilst riding. But... have not tried the bone conduction route.
I have no doubt I would be subject to the beat be it voluntary or involuntary.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I have no doubt I would be subject to the beat be it voluntary or involuntary.

Once, I owned an old van. Drove for a ride with a friend; we were listening to the music from the radio. At some moment, we were waiting at the red light while listening to one of the famous rock ballad (cannot remember which one). 'How loud the drummer's hi-hat is there!' I remarked. It was the turn signal click perfectly synchronized with the song!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

You might use some metronome app
(Drummers do it all the time!)

Oh no, I'm after way more than just a beat here. The music as a whole has to make me want to move as well. That's the challenge with synchronous cycling to music — getting a propulsive groove and a cadence-friendly tempo in the same tune.

But when it all comes together, the mental and physical effect is magical. Time flies, the boredom of riding laps vanishes, and the leg power just flows to the ground.

The music-driven mental and physical state I want for cycling laps is easy to come by for fast walking. Like most humans, I have a natural fast walking pace at ~120 steps/min. And not coincidentally, Amazon Music's got tons of highly propulsive music at ~120 bpm.

Hence my highly propulsive and fully synced dog walking playlist:

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/1a7840ee13d44dc2b8e06e12d48271a0sune?ref=dm_sh_XHm7gw6vyzxTERSD3tW6I10x9

Showing my age here, but every track is dog-walk tested for tempo and groove. Uptempo funk, R&B, Brazilian jazz, and some EDM genres are especially effective. The few tunes closer to 130 bpm are there for me to work up to.

Now, a 90 rpm cycling cadence does sync partially to 120 bpm music, and a very strong groove can partly make up for a weak sync. But this ~120 bpm playlist's mental and physical effects are noticeably weaker on the bike than on foot.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I have not found a sufficient platform to safely listen whilst riding. But... have not tried the bone conduction route.

Having nothing over or inside your ears is a big safety plus with bone conduction earphones, and the audio quality is quite good. But the attentional bandwidth issue's still there. At 77, I probably have less remaining bandwidth than most here.

I have no doubt I would be subject to the beat be it voluntary or involuntary.

No surprise for a musician.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Having nothing over or inside your ears is a big safety plus with bone conduction earphones, and the audio quality is quite good. But the attentional bandwidth issue's still there. At 77, I probably have less remaining bandwidth than most here.


No surprise for a musician.

Yes, the distraction aspect is real. Sometimes I find myself in that situation whilst driving, and that ain't good! Not talking about using a phone...
Another thing is that I often find it to be an opportunity to free my mind from "stuff" (whilst riding).
That said, music by default does that for me VERY often!
Oh... and if I'm doin' what you're doin' in 8 years, I'll be happier than a swine in excrement!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yes, the distraction aspect is real. Sometimes I find myself in that situation whilst driving, and that ain't good!

It can be even dangerous for the driver! There is a fast song by Buzzcocks (cannot recollect which one) in which the lead guitarist plays a solo that I've always described as "falling down the stairs" Once, I was driving through the very centre of Gdańsk and even didn't notice when I started speeding while listening to that very song! And no, it was not the "(I hate) Fast Cars"

Perhaps I will recollect that song!

Here it is!

Jeremy, my music theory knowledge tells me you can try pedalling at 90 bpm when the song is 180 bpm.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Jeremy, my music theory knowledge tells me you can try pedalling at 90 bpm when the song is 180 bpm.

Of course. Problem is, not much music I personally find motivating at 180 bpm. Know of any examples that would motivate you to pedal along?

 

[6zfshdb]

With the increased number of nearly silent EV's on the road, I'm beginning to think that listening to music while riding isn't that much of a safety issue anymore.
I was nearly tagged by one this spring at a trail road crossing. The EV came around a bend at a good clip and nearly hit me as I started to cross. I heard nothing until he hit the brakes.
By law, EV's are supposed to have sound emitting devices when travelling less than 30 km/h. With speeds faster than that, tire noise provides sufficient warning.
Come to think of it, maybe I should get hearing aids instead of music earbuds.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Problem is, not much music I personally find motivating at 180 bpm. Know of any examples?

Most old PUNK songs, ones from late 1970s, the UK

 

[gromike]

Love Shack by the B-52's?

 

[PCeBiker]

Love Shack by the B-52's?

It's as big as a
Seats about 20

Rock Lobster was another hit.
It was earlier I think ?

 

[PCeBiker]

How's about this Donna Summer song from the late 70's for high cadence and a song that was Very Popular

 

[Gionnirocket]

I ride with music daily.
Never as a sync count but it sure as hell can add to the adrenaline and feed motivation

 

[PCeBiker]

And for the cool down after the sprint, there's this song,..

Low Rider don't use no gas now...

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

How's about this Donna Summer song from the late 70's for high cadence and a song that was Very Popular

Good thought. Will definitely add this to my 120 bpm walking playlist, along with some other Donna Summer tunes.

But fast-sounding doesn't mean 180 bpm. The drums here are beating out a pulse (fundamental tempo) of about 125 bpm, while the synth bass is going at double that rate.

So no better sync to a 90 rpm cycling cadence than the rest of my walking music.

There a number of Android metronome apps. Most will tell you the tempo when you tap a button to the music.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

It's as big as a
Seats about 20

Rock Lobster was another hit.
It was earlier I think ?

Yes, that one's very close to 180 bpm but unfortunately not the kind of groove I'm looking for.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

And for the cool down after the sprint, there's this song,..

Low Rider don't use no gas now...

Thanks. Great walking and pedaling groove but only ~130 bpm. A bit fast, but a good one for the walking list.

The cycling list needs (1) a groove I like AND (2) a ~90 or ~180 bpm tempo that fully syncs with my 90 rpm cadence.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Love Shack by the B-52's?

Thanks! At 135 bpm, not great for walking or pedaling in my case.