During this morning's commute, I was thinking about what it would take for me to become one of those cyclists who gets into some kind of collision with a vehicle during my short ride to work. I examined every corner I cut and every street I cross day after day and I realized that all it would take is one distracted split-second to change my whole life.

When we commute the same exact route every day, I think we might take for granted that the condition of the pavement, the timing of oncoming traffic, and the alertness of the usual morning drivers will be exactly the same day in and day out. This can make us lazy in our sensory process and can have us whipping around that same old blind corner faster and faster each day, paying less and less mind to what might be coming up the other way. I noticed today that, even though I feel completely focused every time I get on the bike, something about the sameness of my daily commute might be playing tricks with my head and making me a little cockier than I should be.

For this reason, I'm going to start varying my route a little bit each day, just to keep sharp. Has anybody else thought about this and/or done something about it?