billh

I had a meeting at a different campus yesterday afternoon, let out right at 5pm, and the shortest way home was one of the busiest streets in the area, 4 narrow lanes, no shoulder, feeding into the local interstate. Plus it was hilly. I've ridden that street in the evening with little problem, and hadn't really thought about lane position, but this was a little unnerving. The traffic was moving fast, say 40mph, and constant, zing, zing, zing, like a metronome, then backing up at the lights. I positioned to the right of the lane, even though I knew it was too narrow, as evidenced by the cars and trucks veering into the inner lane to pass. This was OK on the downhill where I was going perhaps 20-25mph, but on the uphill, I was cranking along at perhaps 8-10mph. Somehow I could not muster the nerve to take the lane on the hill. I imagined traffic backing up behind me, angry motorists. This was not just a fear, but reality because traffic was about 30 deep at each stop light. There was also a sidewalk, but did not want to ride that because I would eventually have to merge into the street. It seemed my options were 1) ride to the right like I was, 2) take the lane, yikes, 3) ride on the sidewalk, or 4) choose a different route. Advice, suggestions?