joejack951
01-28-08, 03:50 PM
It is impossible to keep motorists bottled behind you for the several miles between clean passing opportunities on these roads; doing so doesn't result in less close passes, but rather, more dangerous passes in the face of short sightlines or opposing traffic. It also turns out to be less dangerous to let individual cars pass as cleanly as possible than to let a dozen cars stack up behind you and have them all pass in one big glob, trapping you inches from the edge of the road (no curb, remember?) for long periods of time.
Regardless of the possibility of doing this, it certainly is illegal at least where I live (see the slow moving vehicle section of the vehicle code). No vehicular cyclist with a clue about traffic laws would suggest doing that.
For some, curbhugging (note when I use this term, I simply mean riding near the edge of the pavement) might be the method chosen for their greatest convenience to avoid having to pull over to allow faster to pass (assuming, of course, that they are concerned with obeying the law). For others who might not be comfortable with the close passing that results from curbhugging, there are more options than avoiding these roads completely. I don't ride them every day but I have enough experience on them during commuting hours (going places other than my home) to feel like I can comment.
In situations where the lane is marginally wide for lane sharing (say 12.5 to 13 feet), my method of choice for cycling these roads is, you guessed it, default to a centerish position. Depending on the speed and cooperation of passing traffic, I will either slow them completely to my speed, or almost there, before moving aside and letting them pass at a marginally close distance. I will alter my speed as necessary to be sure I'm not going too fast too close to the edge of the road (ideally, I'm at about 15mph or slower). Once the motorist(s) have passed, I move back to my default position. Assuming that I can keep the flow of traffic going with this method, I'll continue on. If I run into an issue where either the volume increases such that I end up off to the side for so long that traffic is passing me at full speed or if the pavement edge degrades or the pavement narrows, my only moves from the center will be to pull over completely and let the backup pass or to move aside slightly when being passed by a motorist using the oncoming lane.
I've found that even on heavily trafficked rural single lane each direction roads I can get by with only pulling over once every couple of miles at most using these strategies. At no point do I find myself trapped against the edge of the road being passed closely and at high speed, nor do I have motorists making stupid passing manuevers using the oncoming lane. Using a mirror is obviously of great importance for being able to gauge same direction traffic's speed and position and for keeping an eye on the general volume of traffic behind me. The level of interaction with traffic is high and when everyone cooperates, it's a lot of fun (for me at least).
Regardless of the possibility of doing this, it certainly is illegal at least where I live (see the slow moving vehicle section of the vehicle code). No vehicular cyclist with a clue about traffic laws would suggest doing that.
For some, curbhugging (note when I use this term, I simply mean riding near the edge of the pavement) might be the method chosen for their greatest convenience to avoid having to pull over to allow faster to pass (assuming, of course, that they are concerned with obeying the law). For others who might not be comfortable with the close passing that results from curbhugging, there are more options than avoiding these roads completely. I don't ride them every day but I have enough experience on them during commuting hours (going places other than my home) to feel like I can comment.
In situations where the lane is marginally wide for lane sharing (say 12.5 to 13 feet), my method of choice for cycling these roads is, you guessed it, default to a centerish position. Depending on the speed and cooperation of passing traffic, I will either slow them completely to my speed, or almost there, before moving aside and letting them pass at a marginally close distance. I will alter my speed as necessary to be sure I'm not going too fast too close to the edge of the road (ideally, I'm at about 15mph or slower). Once the motorist(s) have passed, I move back to my default position. Assuming that I can keep the flow of traffic going with this method, I'll continue on. If I run into an issue where either the volume increases such that I end up off to the side for so long that traffic is passing me at full speed or if the pavement edge degrades or the pavement narrows, my only moves from the center will be to pull over completely and let the backup pass or to move aside slightly when being passed by a motorist using the oncoming lane.
I've found that even on heavily trafficked rural single lane each direction roads I can get by with only pulling over once every couple of miles at most using these strategies. At no point do I find myself trapped against the edge of the road being passed closely and at high speed, nor do I have motorists making stupid passing manuevers using the oncoming lane. Using a mirror is obviously of great importance for being able to gauge same direction traffic's speed and position and for keeping an eye on the general volume of traffic behind me. The level of interaction with traffic is high and when everyone cooperates, it's a lot of fun (for me at least).