Actually, today I tried speeding up when they came past, and it made a world of difference. The more momentum I have, the less they shake me. On the way home I had a nasty headwind and heard one SCREAMING up behind me--I bailed onto the gravel out of instinct and nearly wiped out.

I used to take my old metal clunker to work and had no trouble with the big trucks--but couldn't make it up the big hills. New bike is super light, and I'm not that heavy either. Good for hills, bad for trucks.

Unfortunately there is no alternate route to work and the highway I take is a major travel route for transports traveling between 80-110km/h (50-70mph) with barely 6" of pavement past the white line in some places (we don't have paved shoulders in Ontario. It's just gravel).

Sounds pretty dangerous when it's all in writing. But I still feel WAY safer out on the highway than I do riding in a city.