>I haven’t ridden on the road since.

It's laughable how proud some cyclists become when they think a painted stripe will somehow protect them from cellphoned sharks.

Obviously US bicycling infrastructure is laughably dangerous, and nobody deserves full-blame for exercising their legal rights upon roadways -- but e.g: biking up Lookout Mountain's shoulderless 2-lane highway is. stupid.ly common. These are tourist roadways winding through a mountainrange – are you cyclist's suicidal, or just hubric? Nobody knows where they are, and your dumb_ass is in the blindcurve going 2mph.

Your legal right #RIP

Indeed.

I sometimes lament that I wish I could ride in a group again, but it’s such a hurdle to get over mentally for me.

It is a lot of fun having camaraderie with similarly skilled riders hammering it out in the big ring for two hours, but just never have been able to get back to that place where I’m comfortable enough to do it.

Edit: oh, rereading your comment… my friend was not at fault in her crash. She was a careful rider just out for a spin and happened to cross paths with the wrong idiot who was distracted and veered onto the shoulder. I was expressing sadness that that is all it took to end her life.

People do advocate for separated bike paths and concrete barriers between bike lanes and car lanes.