Originally Posted by tjspiel

Some context is worthwhile. The higher the speed of travel, the less likely I would be to take a lane. On a 30 mph road, which is pretty much the speed limit on the non-trail parts of my commute, I'm probably not moving much slower than they are and there's not a lot of passing going on. If somebody does decide to pass me, I'm visible as soon as the car behind me moves over into the other lane to go by, - well before they actually pass me. And I think it's pretty normal for the driver in the 2nd car to look to see what the car in front is trying to pass.

My goal is simply not to be forced on to parts of the road that aren't fit to ride on and to avoid situations where cars would be tempted to pass too close to get by. It's not to block traffic. I'll often take the lane in winter because the tire tracks are typically the cleanest part of the street (not always but often), but I'll regularly pull off to the side to let cars go by.