Originally Posted by
sarahbruce
I have also wondered about this from time to time.
JYL- In my opinion you already stated the reason why it felt less safe going slow.
"When I'm moving slower than cars, I ride to the right of the lane, just out of the door zone, and in stretches with no parked cars I ride further to the right if a car is bottled up behind me. I use a helmet mirror to monitor what is going on back there. The faster I'm going, the more of the lane I take."
In my experience lane positioning makes all the difference and I know there are tons of other cyclist who feel the same way. By moving over to the far right while going slow you are letting people pass closer and within the same lane and then it feels less safe (and probably is).
+1 It took me a while to really assert this on the road, but it makes a huge difference. Sometimes I feel like I'm being rude, despite the cars having a turn lane they can safely pass me in, but as soon as I move over to close to or in the door zone I get buzzed by somebody who can't be bothered to give me even a foot or two of space. Nowadays this pisses me off enough for me to get right back out into the lane proper and force the cars to change lanes to pass me. MUCH SAFER,
and it makes my experience more pleasant. Or less unpleasant really, I don't enjoy riding on some of these roads, but I don't really have a choice in some places.