After 26-years of serious bike commuting I feel safer on road trips. I mostly commute, but I take weekend rides. I have a semi-touring commuter, an old road bike, and a mountain bike based commuter. All have blinkies, reflectors, mirrors and Air-Zound airhorns. And I've been using a glasses-mount Take-A-Look mirror for years.

There is nothing more reassuring than being able to glance up to the left and see approaching vehicles in the mirror. If I am out on the road and I see a vehicle approaching from the rear and there is not enough shoulder to ride on, I pull off into the grass and wait five seconds for the vehicle to pass.

I think back to how I rode care-free and ignorant of traffic growing up in Chicago...and truthfully, I shouldn't be alive.

Although I constantly consider traffic and my part in it, I still find plenty of joy and freedom when riding, even while commuting.

Perhaps some pre-planning can lead you to less traveled roads.

But ultimately I feel the longer one lives, the more one learns about what potential dangers exist in the world, which should lead most people to a more cautious approach to life.

It is just human nature.