"In Ireland, I would have them in, and you would just cruise away, but here, if you're not 100 percent alert on your bike — taking your ears out of the equation is a big deal in cycling around Chicago because you can hear a car coming, you can hear brakes," he said. "I'm more aware of how alert I need to be in Chicago. … If you ignore that, then you have to accept some kind of responsibility if you get hit.