I hope you'll find a range of different things to motivate your cycling Miranda.

I actually avoid using earplugs and headsets. I get abit of an headache after awhile. I'm the sort of person that literally sits through a 3-hr. plane flight, with the tv on ahead and intermittedly reading a magazine and watching the movie.

But am pretty wierd, until I moved in with my partner over 7 years ago, I didn't live in a household with a tv for about ...20 yrs. I will sometimes play music cds at home on my computer. And have a tiny cd music collection ..that I seem to only remember when I need classical music (baroque) to do oil painting..

and I don't like using a cellphone and hence, don't have one yet. My hearing has been tested twice in past 4 years...and it's normal.

I actually welcome many different outdoor noises while cycling..except for constant trucks. Really it's more polluted air that is bothersome rather than car noise.

It is visual variety in the environment that stimulates me in cycling, to keep on going, to see more... not music. ..probably another reason why this sport has hooked me..since that visual stimulation spills over into other areas of my life. To me, cycling is seeing, learning more about the world around me..