Originally Posted by
CB HI
Holy ****, paulypro post make him appear to be a new cyclist, but he claims to have been cycling for over 20+ years. It is sad enough when cops do not understand cycling law, but when 20+ year cyclist have no clue and side with clueless cops, OH MY!
Originally Posted by
CB HI
Seattle has several Road 1 cycling safety classes. You really need to take such a class and stop wrongly interpreting cycling laws.
Thank you for the advice, but respectfully, I still disagree. I'm just saying regardless if some lobbyists decided to paint cryptic bike symbols on roadways 11 feet out or not, that I'd feel like a dick holding up traffic if there's space for me to move aside, such as a long break in parked cars, decent shoulder roadspace etc. I find myself on sharrow marked bike routes daily and almost always end up well to the right of them, aside from the times when it's necessary to take up that lateral space. I plan these maneuvers with the flow of overtaking traffic to minimize disruption to traffic flow & also maximize my own safety. Once and if there's enough space, such as no parked cars to door you, there's hey like 10 feet of space to move the heck over & let some cars by, or at least give them the illusion you're trying to be respectful.
I think that concept of 'share' in sharrow goes both ways, which doesn't entitle one to just own the lane indefinitely until the sharrows are gone. From looking at the video the road looks immaculate but the OP says it's poor, so I can understand getting out there and taking the lane in this situation. Plus in his case he was traveling very close to traffic speed & I do agree with his strategy, though I could see why motorists may not.
It's cool.. If you want to roll down the middle of the lane just because there's a sharrow painted on it go for it. I just tend to believe it's asking for road rage or a similar non-incidental talking to from an officer. I feel that the concept of sharrows themselves is a completely foreign concept for non-cyclists (motorists) so I'd be wary of relying on them as an aura of protection, just sayin'.