Originally Posted by
r_kangaroo
when you say "taking the lane" you literally mean popping into the traffic lane and riding as if you were a car? middle of the lane? I'm new to cycling and I did this today. I did it especially when I came to an intersection in which the cars traveling in the lane with me have the option to go straight, right or left. I signal which way I'm going with my hand. I felt really exposed out there, waiting for the light to change with a car in front of me and a car behind me.
When I'm not approaching an intersection, I generally ride about 5 feet from the sidewalk, technically in "the lane", but cars can get around me with minimal effort.
So is that what ya mean by "taking the lane?" Pardon my ignorance, I just want to avoid ending up as the subject of a sad post in the advocacy and safety forum
I'm willing to bet that the cyclist in the picture is in the traffic lane temporarily until he is past the equestrians at which point he will move back over the fog strip. Stopped at a light waiting to turn left isn't the best example I don't think. In such a situation I move over so I am out of the direct path of a collision between two cars. At a light waiting to turn left that would be on the drivers side. YMMV but I have not found it a problem in many years of doing so, to ride as far to the right as possible when being overtaken. Most drivers in my area will still pull over the centerline. Most. Not all. However, even the ones who don't haven't hit me or clipped me with a mirror. Driving lanes are a lot wider than many of you act like they are. Getting in the lane and forcing them to pass you "properly" will only infuriate most drivers and IMO that is when cyclists get clipped. Make it easy for them to pass you and they will do it in a manner that endangers no one.
H