Originally Posted by
mandovoodoo
A strikingly easy way to make it all work is to gradually replace roads with 14' lanes. I like that even better than shoulders.
I'm actually struggling to comprehend some of the figures being thrown about in this thread. If the figures used here are accurate indications of the roads which are prevalent in your country then I'd think that the road system there us urgently in need of upgrading. 10 feet is a 'wide lane'? Wow! I sure am glad that I live in Oz!
I earlier ducked out the front an, during a break in traffic, measured the width of lane out front. I live on a road which is kinda typical of secondary roads around here which actually carry regular traffic, and the lanes are about 12 feet in width. Theres an extra 2 to 3 feet of shoulder outside that, for the most part. Tertiary paved roads around here are kinda similar, but without the shoulder. The kind of roads I'm hearing described in this thread I'd be expecting to see only as little used ones which serve and predominately only carry traffic for farming communities.
What I'm seeing described here I'd think would be rather dangerous for cars, let alone bikes! Gotta leave room for margin of error, or the unavoidable lateral movement created by unexpected gusts of wind etc etc.
But hey! Even given all that it's still not justification for pig-headedly plodding along taking the lane up that hill, oblivious and uncaring toward the vehicle behind which is reduced to a crawl.
If there are two traffic lanes heading up that hill then fine. Hell, over here we try as far as possible and practicable to have 'overtaking lanes' on hills for even secondary roads. If the edge of the paved roadway is a sheer cliff or a morass or some other such impedent to leaving the paved lane then fine too. The bloke in the car behind needs to suck it up and suffer. But wherever possible and practicable the good old 'common courtesy' maxim of slower vehicles making provision/allowance for faster vehicles to overtake should apply to cyclists just as much as it does to motorists.
I think Louis stated it best. 'Take the lane' when it's necessary for safety purposes. I think that "entitlement mode" can just as well be applied as a critical term for cyclist who hog the road as it can be for motorists who are inconsiderate in the way they pass. And I don't think it universally applies to any and all motorists who feel that faster traffic shouldn't be unnecessarily delayed by much slower traffic. Some motorists certainly do take that principle way too far. But that doesn't negate the common courtesy principle inherent to the concept.