evaluating and managing risks to one person can seem like something completely crazy and a "death wish" to another person.
but all in all, riding a bike not in a war zone is something that is very doable, you just gotta use yer noggin and be situationally aware at all times and know when to be on high alert, and the few times when to get the hell out of the way and add a minute or 5 to your day (and yes, choose routes that arent horrible, although I'm sure we have all had the misfortune of being stuck on a totally crap road with tons of traffic or trucks that we were not expecting--part of the game unfortunately, despite it obviously being something we want to avoid as much as we can).