It was a perfect afternoon for a ride here... until I passed by the scene of a vehicle-cyclist accident that must have happened a very short time (minutes) before I passed.

It was on the other side of a busy road, and I didn't stop as there were at least half a dozen people, including other cyclists and motorists helping with the victim and the traffic. I have no idea how serious the rider's injuries were- but they did not look trivial as he was lying on the road. Although that was the way I had planned to return, I could not bring myself to ride that route today - it is not possible to avoid crossing over a lane of merging traffic at that spot.

I was already becoming more of a "defensive rider" - assuming that drivers do NOT see me and don't expect me, but this really made me hyper alert for the rest of the afternoon.