Originally Posted by LittleBigMan

That's how it helped me. When I learned my first job was to take as much lane as I needed as a legitimate user of the road, I discovered I wasn't being squeezed into the gutter. Human hamburger is not on the menu anymore.

Also, I found out that I felt much safer, probably because I didn't have so many scary encounters. Go figure--the main reason I hugged the curb was to protect myself, but I ended up putting myself at greater risk. It's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy: cycling in traffic is dangerous, so I stay out of the danger by hugging the curb; cars squeeze me, proving cycling is dangerous...