Commuting - Do you ride "big" or "small"?

Due to the lack of bike path sized snow ploughs in DC I have recently been braving regular roads on my commute and its got me to thinking where my optimal road position should be? I used to cycle as close to the footpath as I could but am coming around to the opinion that it only invites cars to try and 'sqeeze' past you.

Now I bike about 1/3 - 1/2 of the way into the lane so cars have to pass me as they would another vehicle. I think I'm safer that way. What do the rest of you do?

I'm in the DC area too. I ride as close to the white line as possible. Most of the streets I have to take are pretty wide and there is plenty of room for both a car and a cyclist to exist peacefully. There are only a few places on my commute where the road actually gets kinda narrow. Cars will just veer into the oncoming lane most of the time to pass me. On those rare occasions when there is traffic coming the other way, they pass me, but there is still a good foot or two between us. The majority of my ride is on the bike paths... and the majority of the part that is on the road is neighborhood streets.

Have you noticed that some parts of the bike paths are plowed/sweeped, but other's aren't? I find it odd that they would take the time to plow one section and ignore the rest. I've gone to knobby tires... so doesn't bother me either way, but I prefer to ride my road bike on the weekends and until the paths are clear, I have to go with the mountain bike.

PBW

I stopped hugging the curb a long time ago. Cars will squeeze you if they think they can get by with an inch to spare. I stay right as far as possible on wide streets but on standard sized lanes, I take up the whole lane. Some cars still try to cut it close and only get half way into the left lane. That still pisses me off but at least they give me a little more room.

For me, it all depends on the road width, among other things. If the road is wide enough for cars to pass me easily and there are no parked cars, I'll stay near the curb. If there are parked cars, I'll ride about 3-4 feet from them to stay out of the door zone. If I have a left turn ahead or the right lane is a "turn only", I'll move over and take the lane.

Paul

I ride assertively, not aggressively, and position myself in the road according to conditions.

I'll be in the middle of the lane if needed

I commute to New York City. And I never hug the curb.
I try to stay about a car door length from park cars.
drivers here are use to seeing bikers, all they want you to do is be predictable (Sp). I stay away from the curb because its to much junk I pick a straigth line and ride it. we have a problem with double parked cars and taxi unloading and loading.
I plan for these early and give hand signals this seems to work
In New York City

I have been back at riding for just under 1 year. It didn't take me long to figure out that the closer you ride to the edge of the road, the less room an auto will give you on the pass. :eek:
I ride in the lane where the autos run the right wheel. I keep an eye on my mirror, when a car goes to pass I swing twards the white line just as they pass and this gives around 5 feet of clearence. It also seems to slow the autos some. I have had pickup trucks pass me going 60+mph and miss me by inches!:mad:

Please don't let me find your PU in the Wallie World parking lot or you will need to have that nasty scratch fixed!!!!!:rolleyes:

At one apartment I had, There is a fair sized hill to ride down. Its 4 lane road the speed limit is 40 mph. I learned If I rode in the lane anywhere, cars would try to squeeze by even when the left lane was empty. what would happen was a car would whizz by at 45 or 50 mph just 6 inches away. I finally gave up and found an alternative route!

I can only speak for myself, but I agree with those who say that the more you squeeze over, the less room cars give you. For some reason, drivers try to get around me without crossing the center line. It's as if they don't want to be inconvenienced.

But if I ride out into the lane far enough to force them to cross the line, they realize they have to cross the line and they go ahead do it with plenty of room to spare for me.

If the lane is wide, it's not a problem anyway. We just share the lane comfortably.

An occasional clown will try to buzz close by me, but that's rare.

Originally posted by chewa
I ride assertively, not aggressively, and position myself in the road according to conditions.

I'll be in the middle of the lane if needed

Ditto. It depends on whether or not the road has a shoulder, and whether or not there's any junk (i.e. broken glass etc) there.

Normally I try to take a line 2 foot from the curb. this means I avoid any nasty surprises in the shape of sunken/raised drain covers and the like. It also gives me somewhere to go if someone gets too close.

However I will take the full lane if need to

I'm about as big as they come 6'4" 250 riding my MTB festooned with bright orange reflective tape (as well as some on my helmet ). On my way home today I was riding about 3.5 to 4 feet off the curb on a four lane road and I STILL had dip$4!+$ passing me within a foot of my handle bars! What the heck kind of logic is used by these idiots? (FWIW the VAST majority of the jerks were drivingSUV's) "It's something in the way I don't have to respect THE LAW as it pertains to that 'thing'" Yes I said "thing" you should see these twits jump when I yell at them for passing me too closely it's almost like "oh crap!! that's a PERSON" then it's right back to la-la land (no offence velocipedo) I've started to carry copies of the motor vehicle code to staple to people's foreheads (or so that the officer in charge of investigating the potential accident has an idea of what stautes we're violated.) Stupid moronic jerkballs!!:crash: :crash: :mad::mad:

I honestly think being in a SUV (I havenever driven one) may reduce your spatial awareness, people who've been driving cars for years forget they are in something that much bigger

not that this is an excuse for them or anything...

Uhmmm....I ride small. :(

I wish I had the option of "riding small". No, when I ride it's like a semi-truck doing 60 mph on a dusty dirt road - small animals beling blown off the shoulders as I pass by, trees losing their leaves and children running for the cover of their mother's skirts.

I also drive my car alot and try to keep in mind what the driver sees as he is approaching me from behind. Like many other posters here, I believe it's safer to pick a line and keep to it rather than moving in and out of the lane. I'm not shy about moving 4-5 feet to the left of a parked row of cars. That way I don't have to serve into traffic (and surprising some poor guy in his car who only wants to get by with the minimum amount of fuss) If I move to the far right and don't allow myself any margin, I'm creating a bad situation for everyone.

I try to be predictable to those I am sharing the road with.

Originally posted by Hants Commuter
Normally I try to take a line 2 foot from the curb. ...
However I will take the full lane if need to

In the absence of parked cars or right-turn-only lanes, I do the same. I try to stay about a meter away from parallel [to the curb] parked cars, and even farther from diagonal-parked cars.

i ride small too. i don't get the bit about putting your bike out into the car lane unless you have too. i've come across cyclist who are doing it and it smacks of arrogance, and it pisses me off, even though i, too, am a cyclist.

i have ridden miles with racers who thinking nothing of riding side-by-side, hogging the lane. and i can assure you they have more close calls than i would if i were riding reasonably to the right side of the lane.

that's my opinion, anyways.