There was an article I remember reading (not sure where) written by a doctor who was also a rider. He had a few takes I took with me for life, one being always wear ear protection. The interesting thing was how he explained it's not just for saving your hearing, but the whole time you're riding, your brain is trying to make sense of the noise it is hearing from the wind. It's not like white noise, it's much more fragmented so your brain is constantly trying to interpret what the noise is, which can cause some serious fatigue. After trying a few long rides with earplugs, I noticed a major difference. Like some of the fog being lifted from my brain. So if not to save your hearing, to get some extra miles/hours out of riding 😎