Originally Posted by Machka
And the ability to ride predictably.
The phrase "ride predictably" has been commonly used without any definition of what "being predictable" actually means. After all, the cyclist has no control over the mental processes of the outside observer who is doing the predicting. This outside observer might be a person who believes that cyclists should never leave bike lanes, so that seeing a cyclist, on a bike-laned street, who is not in the bike lane would be an unpredictable event. However, the cyclist needs to consider not the unusual observer, but those who are in the great majority. Riding in accordance with the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles provides the set of expected movements with which motorists are familiar, and hence which they can expect to occur in the prescribed manner. Those of us who have cycled vehicularly for years have found that this is a very useful way of informing other drivers how we will operate.