Originally Posted by Merriwether

It must have been the informal advice given to an earlier generation, and some people today, too. A lot of older people think that you should ride against traffic.

Runners, even young runners, who think about riding a bike often think the same thing. In that case, it's obviously the running practices being carried over.

There are some people who think of themselves as responsible, safety-conscious role models who bike on the wrong side of the road. I ran into a guy like this one (not literally "ran into").

It was a weekend morning. A whole family was out on their bikes, Dad, Mom, and the little 'uns, trailing like ducklings. Dad was hand signaling at all the intersections. Dad had a safety vest on. All of them had shiny new helmets. And, of course, the whole line of them was riding on the wrong side of the road.

I passed them on a narrow, empty street. (At least I had a lot of room to get around them on the right!) Dad looked at me, obviously sighing inside at my lack of a helmet, but he didn't say anything. I didn't say anything to him about his riding habits, but I probably ought to have. You hate to look like you're dissing a guy in front of his family, but perhaps if I'd approached him in the right way there wouldn't have been any problem.