Well today I had to run down to the store to fetch some coffee and creamer for my grandfather. I decided today would be the day that I would experiment some with claiming the lane to see if it really is safer. I was smart enough to check our state dmv manual before to insure that I was legally allowed and it did state that unless posted, I could ride my bike on any road except the interstate.

My route consisted of two three roads, my road and another road which doesn't carry much traffic, and another road which cuts straight through our town and leads to the interstate. On the first two roads I had no problem and until my way back I saw no cars. On the main road I had several cars pass me and I discovered that it is in-fact safer to claim the lane (though I did try to stay towards the right of the lane) and allow cars to pass me as if I was a car. They got further away from me then they would have if I would have just tried to ride in the grass. I did have one car that decided that he wanted to honk his horn at me as he passed but he still maintained a safe distance from me and him.

On the way back though I tried to turn off a bit early that way the two cars behind me could go ahead an pass but in the process of doing so I nearly crashed after my bike hit something. So from now on, I am going to claim the lane and let the cars behind pass safely.