How do you counter Bard...

Seriously, how do you counter Bard's weaknesses when you play him? Despite being the champion i've played the most with, i'm having a hard time playing around some of his inherent weaknesses. When he's behind he has a hard time catching up, and when he's winning, he doesn't perform that great either.

1. His chimes requires you to roam, problem is, when you're behind, you can't exactly go in their jungle to collect them, and without them, you scale even less.

2. His Q has a weird behavior. Sometimes I'll throw it in a group of three minions, the beam avoids two of them and hits a champion behind. Sometimes the beam will seemingly curve and hit a minion on the side. I still can't figure it's behavior, it doesn't seem to have priority targets, yet when enemies are grouped, the second enemy hit seems random.

3. Cooldown reduction is ''weak'' on him. I have more success when i don't actively seek to itemize towards the CDR cap. Unlike most supports where hitting the CDR cap is mandatory, on Bard it's just a bonus. Sure it's not useless, it's just that beside his Q and W, CDR is not a strong stat for his E and R. You won't be spamming those spells. Sure it's handy to have those spells off cooldown sooner, but chances are you're better off using a better item even if it means skipping CDR. Also his passive, which is a huge part of his utility, doesn't benefit from the stat.

4. Bard is the ONLY champ i max R last. One point at six, and then it's Q>W>E>R or Q>E>W>R. It's almost a waste to put a point in there just to shave a few seconds off of an ult you won't be using on cooldown.

5. His squishiness. Despite countless baiting potential, Bard is squishier than some adc, while having a shorter range than them. It makes it dangerous to poke with him. If their jungler or mid can insta-gib me, i'm better off not roaming outside my side's jungle at all. It sucks to know i can't help my midlane at all because if i come close i'll get one-shot by an Annie.

It seems that the biggest challenge when playing Bard, is to play around his massive weaknesses.

I'm somewhat hoping experimented Bard players can help me have a better time when playing the league's most fun champ.