Originally Posted by noisebeam
Are these roads without BLs also narrow, or are they sufficiently wide so you can share the lane comfortably (i.e. you are several feet from curb and cars can pass you with >3ft clearance) side by side.
The road is somewhat narrow. It starts out pretty wide, but gets too narrow for a bike lane, although plenty wide enough for sharing. For some reason it's always some older person who nearly runs me over in this spot. There's no line at all along the side, and no sidewalk either, and no parking.
It bothers me a lot more when there's plenty of room when some driver takes up my space. When the road is very narrow to the point that drivers really ought to wait for me rather than try to pass, I am bothered less if they do decide to pass and pass me closely (as long as they aren't going to crash head-on into somebody else.) Maybe it's because I expect it and they're usually not going so fast as on a wider road where I don't expect them so close.
Originally Posted by noisebeam
I ride on lots of 45mph+ multilane (usually 5-7 lane) arterial roads, they are on a 1mi grid.
I ride a lot on narrow streets, some of which are very twisty and hilly, with only one or two lanes in either direction, at either residential speeds, or 35 mph or so. Usually there is no sidewalk, no stripe or a stripe that is right at the edge of the asphalt leaving no space to claim for a bike lane (in otherwords, it's a stripe but not a bike lane and not enough space to pretend it's one.) The faster road has a bike lane and an adjacent MUP. I go back and forth between the bike lane and MUP depending on the quantity of tourists and my mood.
I am the type of person who if given a choice will take the lower stress option as long as it gets be there in the same time. I can comfortably handle, but will take routes to avoid interactions with high speed cars. Given this I find that I am more comfortable when there is a WOL instead of a BL, on the exact same type (just described above) road. My wife who rides much less frequently at speeds never more than 12mph, who is also much more concerned about traffic also feels the same way. In fact she was the one that brought this to my attention many months ago.
So I really wonder why some folks prefer WOL or BL. It can not be only the person, but it must also be the environment.
Al
I prefer that drivers of cars not invade my personal space, and if in some places a white line will help them not do that, that's what I like. A nice long, white line vanishing into the distance really keeps drivers in their space and out of mine.