Bekologist

THAT is one intimidating sounding commute. like, worst case scenario...

I ride a lot of two lane highways, during the week, and face a fair amount of oncoming traffic. I find me on a bike does NOT discourage people from passing.

got to maximize forward visibilty. I don't know if that will prevents drivers from passing while oncoming, but it won't hurt. combine this with a wider profile and visibility from the back with a slow motion flag set off to the side on a spoke or a pannier. Add a planet bike superflash.

A 1 watt Luxeon front headlight (or better), set on FLASH. (Nightrider MAX is a sixty dollar, AA powered headlight that strobes) Even better, a Dinotte headlight, set on flash.

ANSI traffic safety vest.

I'd even consider a Marine safety Strobe, set somewhere its' not going to blind YOU. A mast mounted Marine strobe.

boy, and there's absolutely NO shoulder? just a crumbling fog line? and unpaved, loose shoulder?

If there's even six inches of pavement to the right of the white stripe, there's relative safety in the shoulder. with a wide profile from the rear, a rider can ride even a skinny shoulder in relative safety, with a wide profile behind and good vis there...

I'd be giving some serious thought to alternate routes, a bike that can handle shoulder riding, wider virtual profile, ANSI vest, slow motion triangle, flashing headlight and tailight, and a mast mounted marine strobe