re: I almost killed a cyclist

I ride as if I was a car. The only thing I may do is if there are 3 or so cars at a red light, I may pull up on the right side of the cars on the shoulder to get through the intersection faster, but I stay off to the side and never pass a moving vehicle. Only way that guy had a right of way is if there was a bike lane. I try to stay as far to the right on non-busy roads as possible. I have cars pass me that don't even have to put a tire in the other lane and I feel perfectly comfortable. But every once in a while, there's a jackass that blows by me as close as possible. They've got two or three feet they can get over without even veering into the other lane. I'd say that if you rode a bike once in a while, you'd see that there are far more a-hole drivers to cyclist than the other way around. Cyclist can be annoying (I lived on river road and hated them), but I don't find they do as many shitty things as I've seen drivers do to myself and others.

As far as the tights and outfits. I started out wearing loose shorts. But when I started riding 30-40 miles. It is a lot more comfortable (chaffing and lack of padding) to wear the bike shorts. I do not wear the decked out cycling jerseys as if I was pretending to be a pro.