I avoid highways as much as possible as there are a lot of bucolic country roads around here. But I have to traverse some of them for a bit to get between the nicer riding roads. One 4 laner where the average speeds are about 70 left me thinking that these 'take the lane folks' can't be talking about roads like this. I wouldn't ride this road if there was no shoulder to ride on. But the other day I ended up on a portion of this road I hadn't been on and it turned out the shoulder was stripped for repaving and really wasn't in shape to ride on. Faced with either changing my planned route or taking the lane, I opted for the latter. (I'd planned ride over some new territory for a week or so and damn it, I wasn't going to scrap it only a quarter of the way into the ride.)

Moved to the center of the right lane and held that position and I have to say it worked out much better than I might have anticipated. Everyone moved to the left lane seemingly without complaint. (There may have been some grumbling of course, but I couldn't hear it.) And since the travel lanes had been repaved, it was real smooth going.

I do ride with two flashers on the bike and one on the helmet and that may help. Drivers can see me from a pretty good distance and can move to the left lane well in advance.