As cyclists sharing road space with traffic, it often feels as though we're locked in an eternal struggle to access the serenity that should be intrinsic to riding a bike. This isn't anyone's fault, in particular. Motorists have the right to be there after all, and that's a moot point anyway because they're not going away any time soon.
This may not be your experience. Depending on which country you live in and even which part of it, the only struggle you might recognise in your own riding is when you're pushing hard up a steep climb. Rural France, or even Norfolk in the UK, in my own limited bike-based travels, offer the cyclist a relatively untroubled passage and the so-called 'war on the road' can seem a world away.
