You know those rides you take at 6am simply for maintenance? Those rides where, despite your begging, all of your friends decide to stay in bed or turn their phones off?

Ok I admit it. Usually I’m actually the one that stays in bed. Its just so hard to get up, dangit, and if you have to go by yourself to a familiar trail (especially early) it can actually get boring! I mean, isnt half the fun watching your friends crash, curse and do unintentional stunts that defy gravity?

Oakley may have an answer for the common biker or sports enthusiast. Their “Thump” sunglasses feature a built in .mp3 player that seems promising. I don’t know about the rest of you, but its a heck of alot easier for me to exert myself when I’m listening to metal. 5:45 am, my Trek, some Zao playing… it’s alot more appealing than the usual sounds. You know…. your grunting, the buzz of 10,000 insects following you, birds gleefully chirping despite the ridiculously early hour…. I’ll take music any day.

Obviously there are some pitalls associated with bringing music on the trails. I have an Ipod, which is great… but there’s a 3 foot headphone cable. I can see it now: 20 mph down a nice piece of singletrack listening to Metallica then BAM! I get tangled with a thorny branch and suddenly get decapitated!

Well maybe its not THAT dangerous. And Oakley’s glasses have no cables, the headphones are attached directly to the frame arms. But unlike my 20 gig Ipod that was $300, the glasses are $500 and store 256 megs of songs. Hmmmmm…. not exactly blue collar. And have an accident… well the shades are plastic. Ouch.

If you’re innovative, bored and have about $150… do what this guy did. Sure its a joke, but its hilarious and alot cheaper than buying Thumps.

I’m so building these…

So what do you all think? Is it folly to bring tunes to the trail or does Oakley have a solution? You may look like an astronaut wearing the “Thump” glasses but… hey… I wear spandex shorts so who cares?