Originally Posted by Helmet Head
It is this case, and reading Cyclecraft by John Franklin, that convinced me that a cyclist should normally use the full lane in a situation like this, riding no further right than the right tire track, and only moving further right temporarily when safe and necessary to help faster traffic behind him pass him, but never any closer than 1.5 feet from the edge of the road.
That's what I've been doing for years. I didn't know there was a book written about it. I'll use it as a reference to calm down my wife who freaks out because I ride in the middle of the lane.
Once somebody explained his theory to me about the distance you should keep from the edge of the road. If you keep one feet from the edge, then cars will only leave you one feet when they pass by you. Wherease, if you keep 6 feet, then they will pass by leaving you 6 feet.