I’ve been a roadie since I was a teenager in the mid1970s and I don’t see that changing. I did buy a MTB not too long ago and do some gravel and XC rides but am not into single track technical stuff. I like the gravel, especially since they’re usually big groups and have a real social aspect to them but they can’t replace the sensation of riding a quality road bike on a good road.
To the OP’s point though, the fact that Pcad was killed while cycling has hit home. My routes tend to have good lanes and be popular enough with the cycling community that drivers are pretty aware. I’ve been hit three times in all of those years and none were serious. My one time getting hit on a motorcycle was very different but also a completely different situation. It only takes one bad driver and we’ve had that fact forced upon us whether we’ve thought about it much before or not.
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“Life is not one damned thing after another. Life is one damned thing over and over.”
Edna St. Vincent Millay