The relative speed that's relevant to how much brake stomping he needs to do is not the closing speed on the cyclist, but the passing speed relative to the slower vehicle being passed.

Prior to passing the car in front of him, the driver must move his vehicle laterally so far left that the right side of his car is past the left side of the slower car, plus a safety margin. If the oncoming cyclist is traveling in the center of the lane, there is plenty of time for the motorist to see him, notice him, and react to him, by simply moving back into his lane, prior to even starting to pass the car in front of him. Even if he started to pass the car already, only relatively minor braking (not "stomping") is required to slow down enough to quickly get behind the slower car and back in his lane.

The key is for the cyclist to be noticed and recognized as an insurmountable obstacle that precludes the passing option as soon as possible. The best way for the cyclist to effect this is by establishing and maintaining an assertive position near the center of the lane, all the time keeping in reserve the back up plan of heading off the road in the highly unlikely event that the oncoming passing motorist is homicidal, drunk, asleep, or incapacitated in some other serious way (part of the reason this is highly unlikely is because a driver so incapacitated is unlikely to execute a pass... now, a driver drifting into the oncoming lane for no apparent reason... that's another matter altogether, for which the question of optimal lane position is a crapshoot).


I view "tailgating" for cyclists about as non-vehicular as speeding 5-10 mph over a 55 mph speed limit is "non-vehicular" for motorists... an unserious technical violation of the vehicular rules of the roadway.

It is true that pacelining has its risks, but the most serious can be mitigated by heightened alertness for potential hazards, and all are borne by those who choose to engage in the activity. It rarely leads to fatal injuries. In this case not paying attention to what was going on up ahead is probably at least as much a contributing cause to this incident as is the original decision to participate in pacelining, or in deciding to get on his bike at all that day for that matter...

I think condemning pacelining for those who choose to accept the risks based on either this unique incident, or the non-VC argument, is an overreaction. The argument that pacelining is inherently dangerous (and should be avoided because of it) is eerily similar to the argument that cycling in traffic is inherently dangerous (and should be avoided because of it). Both arguments share a similar lack of appreciation for how much control the participants have in affecting the safety of their respective activities (cycling in traffic, pacelining in traffic) as compared to how little is completely out of their control.

I cycle thousands of miles per year "tailgating", and believe the benefits are well worth taking the risks.

Serge