Originally Posted by Paul L
I have a question for you Serge. If you were forced to ride a section of Interstate for some reason (it is legal most places here in Arizona), would you ride to the left of the white line or the right of it (we will assume traffic is moving 75+)?
Both. There is a fairly long (5 miles?) section of an east/west freeway with the shoulder/BL open to cyclists in San Diego. On weekends when traffic is light (and drifting by motorists into the shoulder is more likely), I will (WITH MY MIRROR) move to the left of the stripe to enhance awareness of my presence to motorists coming from behind. Sight lines on freeways are great. Long before it's too late, I move into the shoulder to allow someone to pass, then, when it's clear again, I merge (with a check over my left shoulder - never rely on the mirror) back into the lane.
In busy/constant traffic with little danger of drifting motorists, I just stay in the shoulder.
For the record I ride highways with 55 mph speed limits with no shoulder fairly regularly and have been buzzed by angry dorks trying to prove a point, but mostly have not had problems. The key is bright clothes and making sure the road has enough visiblity for drivers to see you in time (curvy roads with those speed limits are a very bad idea imho).
On a shoulderless highway with lanes too narrow to be safely shared (at those speeds it would have to be at least 15 or 16 feet, which is very rare) I believe the other key is to ride far enough left to make it clear to passing motorists that they cannot and should not try to pass without at least partially moving into the adjacent lane. Yes, that may mean they have to slow down to my speed before they can pass. I'm not going to sacrifice my safety in order to avoid delaying a motorist by a few seconds.