Re: Headphones/Music: I rely very heavily on my hearing when I ride; since cars inevitably make noise, this is usually my first tip that a car may be nearby. I would advise using headphones with extreme caution. At least here in Michigan, cars do not respect your right to use the road, since the drivers all work for the auto industry and believe you should be driving one, so full awareness of all cars in the vicinity is absolutely crucial. (Plus, you get to hear some fairly creative insults). I would assume this holds true in most other places as well.

Which brings me to my question: Michigan has very few bike lanes, fairly fast roads, and incredibly rude drivers. Most of the time, with my MTB, I can at least hold my own on the roads, but there is one stretch of my commute where I am going on a fairly steep uphill into the wind, so I am usually topping out at around 8mph while pedaling as hard as I can in the lowest gear, of course in a 35mph zone. There are few other options, since this road crosses a river about a block away from this stretch and there are only 2 other roads in town that cross it. Riding on the sidewalks in Michigan is legal (and the sidewalks on this street are even specially marked "sidewalk bike path", so this is always an appealing option, though these sidewalks get moderate pedestrian traffic. What would you recommend doing?