Originally Posted by
Mitkraft
I guess part of the difference in the way I see it is that I don't the lane share with cars if I can at all help it. I pretty much avoid any non-residential roads where I actually share a lane with a car. I try to always ride where I either take a lane (when there are multiple lanes so cars can easily go around me) or ride on roads with a wide enough shoulder for me to ride on. I've had way to many instances of cars passing me too closely especially on roads with 2 lanes in a given directly with medians and curbs. If I leave any ambiguity and don't ride right in the middle of the lane then some car will try to pass me in the lane at the same time a car is occupying the left lane. And most of those roads in my area are not wide enough for two cars to simultaneously pass me with a safe distance between us.
I hear that - different traffic means different practices. All residential streets are isolated off of the through streets here so I never take one, commuting.
It's the bike boxes that finally switched me to "what's the point" in staying back in line. If there are boxes in front then it's standard, expected and even encouraged by the street plan to filter up. Even where there's no box, where there isn't room for one or enough bike traffic, the same considerations would apply. Keeping my position like a car is then the unexpected move, so I don't really worry about it any more. My commutes, when on the streets, is in high traffic suburban streets where a "bike lane" is 2-3 feet with a washed out line and multi-lane intersections.
I don't think OP's incident is due to filtering. I think it was his positioning in front of the truck. Even back in line with the cars, in the same place in front of the same truck he'd have had the same issue.