Originally Posted by
Ninety5rpm
When volume is high and traffic speed is high, you have to negotitate for right of way to obtain it safely.
About 200 feet before the intersection, while still on the shoulder, stick out your left arm and look back. Someone will slow down to let you in. If your arm signal is assertive it should be the first or second car. Once they do slow, you move into the lane and they are "running interference" for you behind you. After you pass the diverge point, move back to the shoulder to allow traffic to pass.
I haven't had to stop to allow traffic to pass as you describe since I learned to reliably negotiate for right of way more than 15 years ago.
It is not about negotiating into the flow of traffic and obtaining the lane safely - it is about maintaining it safely, i.e not getting hit from the rear because the line of cars behind you change out of your lane at the last second, meaning the cars following them don't have time to react to a cyclist in their lane. When the speed differential is too great, taking the lane can be very dangerous, which was the point I was trying to articulate.