I ride in a city, with an hour commute thru heavy rush hour traffic each way. From the time I leave my house, till the time I pull into work, I have 1, 2 or 3 lanes of solid traffic going past me at speeds from stopped to 70 kph. I ride on the ride, not the sidewalk or mup.

I hear cars comming from behind me non stop. What is removing my mp3 player and hearing them at 300 ft back instead of 250 feet back going to do ? I already ride a straight line along the right hand side, taking the lane when needed due to safety. A car that is goign to go past me at 2 ft clearance sounds the exact samn as one that will hit me. I cant pull over, look over my shoulder, or do anything different when I hear a car coming, or I wouldnt make it 2 blocks in an hour.

If your lack of spatial awareness and bike handling skills are so poor you cant handle music in addition to the bike/traffic/wind sounds, then you shouldnt be on a road to begin with. Get some training wheels, and ride the mips at a leasurely pace. Me, im gonna plug in my ipod and ride in traffic.