Oddly enough, I found that riding in a group taught me to hold a line really well, so I can feel pretty secure really close to the edge of the road, so I'm as far out of the danger zone as possible. I also scan each parked car I'm about to pass for occupants, and give them a wide berth.
Around here, there are SO MANY cyclists that drivers don't tend to act like jerks and try to get too close. Where I grew up, in rural Pennsylvania, it's a different story. There are roads back there that have the same amount of traffic and the same width of shoulder as the roads I feel comfortable riding here, that I would be really spooked trying to ride back there.
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"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles