Advocacy & Safety - An instance of taking the lane...

Taking the lane is highly subjective in my opinion, depending on the conditions, but this part of the road called for such an action, and it gave me the space I needed. More commentary under the video.


http://youtu.be/11tkQPQLIRo

In that spot, with that kinda-door-zone bike lane, had you been going 20 mph, I'd have taken the lane too. At the slow speed you were going, there really was no need to, IMO.

Except you didn't take the lane. You rode in the right tire track.

(That was exciting.)

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In that spot, with that kinda-door-zone bike lane, had you been going 20 mph, I'd have taken the lane too. At the slow speed you were going, there really was no need to, IMO.


Except you didn't take the lane. You rode in the right tire track.

He is riding a really wide "bicycle".

(That was exciting.)

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He is riding a really wide "bicycle".

With 3 wheels.

Except you didn't take the lane. You rode in the right tire track.

And that wasn't taking the lane? Frankly I also thought he could move over just a touch more, but when I take a lane, I never ride in the middle... the possibly of grease and oil there is just too high. Motorcyclists are taught never to ride in the middle, but instead on one tire track or the other.

Main reason I went out that far was because of the wide trailer and truck parked next to the bike lane. I think most of the drivers knew why I was out there, so they didn't have an issue with me. The second white truck driver yelled for me to get out of the road, which was silly... I was not in the best of moods at the time and told him to shut up. He didn't hear me anyway. Most of the time I just wave, because 99% of the time they are yelling a compliment of my rig. Which is nice...

Traffic was slow in this video clip, given the light had just changed, but sometimes they blow past me at 35 to 40 mph. Given that I am on a trike that is stable at slow speeds, it wouldn't be so much a problem as with a bicycle that can wobble and possibly fall over at low speeds, going uphill, under load, being passed relatively close. Depending on the road situation (quite varied around here), I will tolerate it if need be. Riding on highway 1, for example, I have to put up with the heavy and rather fast traffic on a narrow shoulder.

And yes, my trike's width, including the trailer's track, is 33". So from the camera's POV I'm in the right tire track, but my left wheel is over halfway across the lane. I just got tired of people squeezing past me at that section when I was stuck in that position with no place to go... so this time I thought I'd see if I could improve the situation. I signaled, edged out into the right tire track, and watched people use the other lane to pass.
Once I get past that congestion, I can get back in the bike lane, because farther up the road the speed limit increases and when it hits the edge of town, it goes up to 55 mph, and the bike lane turns into a nice bike path seperated from the road by verge and a fence).

Another minor detail; the rider is a she, (me) and in her early 50s. :)

I like that idea of telling drivers to shut up... even if they don't hear it... It just gets that chip off your shoulder.

Ride on ma'am.

Especially since they are giving me silly advice, given the only place I can go is up. :)

The drivers in that video are quite considerate!

They are quite bike-friendly in this area.

I like that idea of telling drivers to shut up... even if they don't hear it... It just gets that chip off your shoulder.

Ride on ma'am.

I do it all the time. Occasionally I do get a comment back. I just keep going towards my destination.

I do it all the time. Occasionally I do get a comment back. I just keep going towards my destination.
Keep yelling "clever" comments/combacks at motorists who already have displayed hostility towards you, and one day you might be delayed goings towards your destination.

Keep yelling "clever" comments/combacks at motorists who already have displayed hostility towards you, and one day you might be delayed goings towards your destination.

Shut up!

Keep yelling "clever" comments/combacks at motorists who already have displayed hostility towards you, and one day you might be delayed goings towards your destination.


+1
Why try to bother sociopaths?
It reminds me of the father at the gas station that told a fellow motorist not to smoke while pumping gas.
He wife / kids watched him burn. He could have simply driven away / called authorities.

Shut up!

;) Smile when you shout dat at me, pardner! ;)

;) smile when you shout dat at me, pardner! ;)

ok :D

To my eyes the OP was avoiding the door zone but not giving a clear signal that the lane was too narrow for safe sharing.

It may be just semantics, but I avoid ideas of "lane control" or "taking the lane." All I can do is show by my position whether or not the lane can be safely shared.

Keep yelling "clever" comments/comebacks at motorists who already have displayed hostility towards you, and one day you might be delayed goings towards your destination.

That is if, I yell loud enough for them to hear, at the speed they are driving.


+1
Why try to bother sociopaths?
It reminds me of the father at the gas station that told a fellow motorist not to smoke while pumping gas.
He wife / kids watched him burn. He could have simply driven away / called authorities.
Personally, In the situation you remember, I agree with the father. I would have been more vocal. Because, Even gasoline vapors can cause an explosion with the right ignition source.

Actually I was signalling. That is why the cars behind me were starting to change lanes. I clipped the rest of the video, where I had to remain out in the lane for a while longer, and I took up half the road, until the parked cars thinned out and I could go back to riding in the bike lane without any problems with obstructions.

It looks like the bike lane is wide enough to have a car door open and you still in the bike lane, but I have to admit that I have little experience with parked cars (my commute takes me through light suburbs and rural areas with few parked cars).

Yes, most of the time there is space if I have my left tire right on the fog line. In this case, I was passing a wide trailer and dually in the parking zone. Often there are semis and trailers, trailers with machinery and RVs parked along there. No space for me. I ride in many kinds of road conditions around here, I'll take what space I need to be as visible as possible, and people can pass me when they are able. :)

Today, I was 'taking the lane' to/from, a doctor's appointment. Two motorists' honked at me(one of them was having a love affair with her horn....yes looking behind me, I did see a woman in the drivers' seat), and another motorist told me to get off the road. I told them all rather loudly to 'shut up!!!!'. I never gave up the lane to any motorists'.

looks good..

i don't if drivers are used to bikes in SJ but I never have had someone yell or honk at me, and I often take the lane...

Today, I was 'taking the lane' to/from, a doctor's appointment. Two motorists' honked at me(one of them was having a love affair with her horn....yes looking behind me, I did see a woman in the drivers' seat), and another motorist told me to get off the road. I told them all rather loudly to 'shut up!!!!'. I never gave up the lane to any motorists'.
OOH-OOH! You are a tuff guy, ain't cha?

Today, I was 'taking the lane' to/from, a doctor's appointment. Two motorists' honked at me(one of them was having a love affair with her horn....yes looking behind me, I did see a woman in the drivers' seat), and another motorist told me to get off the road. I told them all rather loudly to 'shut up!!!!'. I never gave up the lane to any motorists'.
They usually can't hear me, so I prefer to tell them they're number 1. ;) Sign language....

Although, I could confuse them and tell them they're number 2, euro style. :roflmao2:

OOH-OOH! You are a tuff guy, ain't cha?

Not 'tough', but 'absolute' in my right to be on the road. I have a 'thick skin' from experience. Every time I 'played the game'(hugged the curb, got on the sidewalk), I have had more close calls and accidents, than when I was on the road 'taking the lane'. The only time I was hit from behind, was when I was stopped in a dual-turn(both directions) lane, waiting to merge into traffic southbound, after crossing the northbound lanes.

I was also talking earlier, with a handyman that is working on my neighbor's house. He commented that AAA finally admitted, the DC-Metro region has the worst traffic congestion in the U.S.

Of course that is debatable. But it would account for a lot of the frequent hostility from motorists', towards cyclists.

They usually can't hear me, so I prefer to tell them they're number 1. ;) Sign language....

Although, I could confuse them and tell them they're number 2, euro style. :roflmao2:

lol

The CHP disagrees with you moving out of the bike lane for that reason, the same CHP that will ticket drivers if they don't completely change lanes for them. Even with your left wheel on the line, it looks like you'd still be in the door zone.

I'd tell the LEO that I didn't want to be in the door zone, because I like my face just the way it is, and would prefer to keep my teeth a little longer. I've had a couple of people open doors as I was passing, and if I had been in the bike lane, I'd have run into them. All it takes is a moment of mental drifting, on my part, it seems I have to babysit most people out there... I don't go out in the traffic lane except for good reason... I prefer to stay out of the way whenever possible. It's when drivers perceive you are just being an oppositional little cuss, that the trouble starts... I've had cars pass me with plenty of room only to have a conniption over a pair of cyclists, riding side by side ahead of me, one in the bike lane, the other in the road. All the same, the very occasional admonishment to "get outa the road" generally happens when there's no other place for me to ride. Oy. Vey.