Originally Posted by
weshigh
I am the rider in question. There was not enough room. I ride this route every day. Even if there was, I was going at roughly the same pace as the rest of traffic, making it pointless. Its not safe or predictable to be weaving back and forth in and out of primary lane position. Shared lane doesn't mean you have to share it at the same time, but that this lane is shared by cars and bikes. Trust me, I've experimented with different lane positions and doing exactly as you have said. I move to the right, a driver comes up next to me and takes forever to pass and then I am forced to stay in the door zone or stop completely or risk a dangerous maneuver to get back into the main part of the lane.
That being said, further back on my route it is only 1 lane in each direction. During that section of my ride I am required as a slow moving vehicle to pull off when 5 or more cars are stacked behind me. I use the full lane until it is safe for me to pull to the side and allow any traffic that is backed up by.
Alright, respect!! I appreciate that you're conscientious about what you're doing & I understand you know the road well, so I'll take your word for it. I'm sure we all have our own tricky sections of road we know & have our own way of riding them. I totally understand what you're saying about the halfway pass in traffic & how it can create a dangerous situation so I can understand your strategy in that situation. Looking back at the video yes you are going nearly the speed of motor traffic & not really preventing folks from making lights & that sort of stuff. It's unfortunate that the officer didn't notice this & just leave you be.
Still I disagree about the existence of the sharrow itself having much if any weight in a lane takeover scenario. I'd do the same blocking kind of thing (as visibly and predictably as possible) if I felt the road was unsafe for cars to pass whether there was a sharrow or not. I do not, and also do not believe that motorists perceive sharrowed lanes as a 'give-right-of-way' scenario. To me the sharrow is a bit of a joke & I fear that some cyclists may feel empowered with confidence by their presence. I've never seen a public announcement, a flyer or any sort of communication to the common people (as in non-cyclists) about what they are, but we as cyclists have attempted to seek out the purpose & understand what those things are. Since the cyclists I've spoken to seem to have varying interpretations of what sharrows actually mean, what on earth do the motorists think they mean? Can't be good...