Originally Posted by
mulveyr
Even here in upstate NY I've found the difference between riding around Rochester and NYC to be quite significant; we have a *lot* of fairly narrow roads that have never been realigned since they were farm tracks, which means there are plenty of curves and poor sightlines. So it makes far more sense to be as left as possible simply to open up the sightlines a little more for the guy who's barreling up behind you at twice the posted speed. Most drivers won't try to pass you under those conditions unless they're patently suicidal. ( Which, granted, some appear to be... )
Yes, there are plenty of reasons to move left situationally, including before entering right beds in roads, especially if there are no secant sight lines. I don't have a problem at all with that, nor with riding in the middle of the lane for better visibility as cars approach.
I'm talking about the notion of taking and
keeping the lane, and trying to manage traffic behind you that way. All that achieves is having more cars piled up behind you rather than in front and pulling away. After over 50 years riding on shared roads, I find the attitude of many of today's cyclists and advocate hard to understand.