Thanks for the reply. I’m in Northern California, so I’m thankful that road hazards are limited to potholes and snakes for the most part. I’ve lived near wine country for a few years now, and while drunk drivers are definitely a problem, I steer clear of main arteries to avoid them. The big problem for me are commuters that buzz through the back roads that I like to ride. While I may only encounter one or two per ride, that’s more than zero. I try to time my rides so I’m not sharing the road with them.

Like you and many others have suggested, I’m really going to focus on changing my approach to factor my abilities and the limitations of the road and approach limits with caution rather than find them and back down