ucfdad

I am a new rider. I know that I am entitled to ride in the lane of traffic just like a car and am encouraged to ride far enough to the left so the car knows that we both can'f fit in the lane. Even so, it is intimidating when I am doing say 12 MPH and the car is doing 45 MPH. I haven't been honked at or yelled at yet but I also have been passed a little to close for comfort.

In car drivers defense, most don't know the law. I was one of them. Until I started riding a couple weeks ago I was under the impression that bikes had to be riding at comparable speed in order to ride in the lane of traffic. When did you start to feel comfortable riding in the traffic lane instead of the bike lane?

thumpism

If there's a bike lane, use it. If no bike lane use your space in the travel lane and let the drivers pass as they can. I ride to the right as a courtesy to drivers but not so far right that I feel unsafe. I own several licensed motor vehicles so I pay my user fees for the roadway.

People acclimate differently to circumstances. Some riders will never feel at home in traffic and others take to it immediately. I was an early adopter.

A recent tour reminded me that many drivers are completely clueless about their vehicles' size and capabilities and about their own spatial awareness. While riding on two lane roads I eventually gave up on waving drivers to pass me. If they can't figure that out, they should go home and watch TV and we would all be much safer.

That said, you just never know what will happen. One of my barcon shifters has a nick in it from the mirror of a car that passed that close to me at about 40 MPH on a city street.

Near the screw. Yes, it's the right shifter. I was riding on the left side on a one-way street setting up for my turn at the next corner.

katsup

When there is no bike lane, I ride nearest to the side of the road. If I feel cars will / are passing too close I will take the lane. Most drivers are courteous and allow plenty of space, it is the rare few that make me take the lane.

I usually avoid roads without bike lanes unless absolutely necessary.

CliffordK

You will get some debate. There is a subforum: Advocacy & Safety dedicated to such discussions.

I also ride to the right most of the time. I just feel it is safer to ride where cars aren't driving. Plus, it takes less effort on their part to do collision avoidance if they don't properly anticipate the cyclist. Thus, it is safer for everyone including the vehicle driver, passengers, and other vehicles on the road.

It means that some do nothing, and whiz past at 50+ MPH, or try to squeeze past in a narrow lane. But, I also live another day.

My taking the lane occurs in a few situations.

• Zero traffic. I'll move over when cars come.
• Making left hand turns.
• Anticipating a left hand turn off of a 2 lane roundabout ahead.
• Keeping up with traffic, or even passing traffic.
• A few rare situations where the road doesn't accommodate bikes & cars well, generally low speed urban roads, often with parked cars along the side.

Otherwise, I'm on the right.

DanBraden

I'm never super comfortable when cars are whizzing by at 50 mph ESPECIALLY when just a little contact can kill me and they may not even stop (they might need to go home and sober up first)...

However, having a mirror does tend to give me piece of mind when I have to ride in the lane. For one thing, if I see a car back I get out of my aero position and increase my visibility by sitting up. I also move to the middle of the lane to discourage "sharing". Then, if a shoulder widens up enough to feel comfortable I'll slip back over out of traffic. I also plan my merges with the info the mirror gives me:

"hmm, looks like the shoulder is narrowing and those cars are about 10 seconds behind me, better take the lane now to give them time to react"

Maelochs

Some fanatics will tell you that you are begging to be hit if you do not actively block cars. Sane people disagree.

Like most here, I make room for cars. Like most here, I will unabashedly take the whole lane when A.) a car cannot safe ly pass me but might try (stupid drivers, twisty or hilly roads, oncoming traffic the driver is probably ignoring because s/he is fixated on the Freaking Bicycle blocking the lane)

Of it there are no cars. Or if there is debris, dirt, or puddles, … but be careful about moving left to avoid debris on the right. On another hand if I get a couple cars ior more stuck behind me and I know they won’t be able to pass safely for a mile or two, I will often let them by. I have yet to be hit by a car head of me traveling in the same direction.

What Jim from north of Brockton says is something … who knows what with all those nested quotes …. About cooperating. I think anyone who has survived a while in traffic should have learned this----we All have to get somewhere, and we all can cooperate and get there. Or, we can all impede one another and get pissed and have accidents and never get anywhere we would want to be.

Jim from near MIT is actually also know as the Pope of Boyleston Avenue … he makes a big deal of bestowing blessing on good drivers—and cursing bad ones.

But yes…. Cyclists have The Option of using as much of the roadway as travel Requires … but are generally required by law to be as far right as practicable. I find I get more harassment when I ride wide … but only by a tiny bit. Maybe because I try to let drivers know I am working with them.

If you think of the drivers as maybe raging idiots with no eyesight, probably drunk and high and both smoking and drinking and texting and turning around to talk to friends in the back seat … but also realize they might be You, when you are driving … you can have the proper balance of caution and care.

95 percent of drivers are smart and sensible, and even if some of them don’t quite know how wide their cars are … Very few will really try to scare you with a close approach—if you no other reason than that they don’t want to risk a scratch or dent.

Maelochs

I notice your handle is ucfdad. Does this mean you have sacrificed your young to the Florida "college" industry ... or that you actually live and ride in Central Florida?

superpletch

I always ride to the right and I try and help motorists get around me. I use my mirror and look behind me often and claim my space in a lane when there is no shoulder after making sure it is safe. I recommend never trying to direct traffic because you are asking for trouble, traffic patterns are designed for a reason and when you try and be nice and change those patterns by, say waving someone on at a stop sign, you sometimes create more danger. I always try to make myself as visible as possible. I highly recommend reading the linked article, you can increase your visibility quite a bit:

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/abcs_of_awareness/

If the motorists can see you it is more likely they will not hit you. I purchased a rear light with the highest lumens I could find and I can tell motorists can see it because they tend to give me a wide birth when passing.

jbucky1

I take the lane if I need to do it for my safety - It's a judgement call.
Otherwise I try be courteous to staying the side of the road.

I find a lot nowadays that if I am on a rural road, it is better for me to ride almost close to the middle of the lane , then when I hear a car that is quite a bit back I move to the side. The drivers see me doing this move ahead of time and interpret it as courteous and generally leave me enough room. This applies to rural roads only where I live

james

www.buckyrides.com

Colnago Mixte

It tells the motorist, "Hey, I see you, I'm moving over". Besides, what else are you gonna do, block the road?

Maelochs

This is actually a good thing anywhere .... rider judgment applied first of course.

As you note, ti tells drivers, "I know you are there and am making things easy on everyone." Looking back (even a fake look) can be helpful for the same reason.

One a couple particularly twisty roads, I will take the lane through corners and then pull over as soon as the e road straightens ... a lot of time I know the driver won't pass because s/he would have to really nail it to get by before the next corner ... but it shows I am trying if I don't hear a roaring engine, i move back to the middle for the next curve.

cb400bill

Thread moved from General Cycling to Advocacy and Safety.

BobbyG

When I started using a glasses mounted Take-A-Look mirror. Helmet mounted mirrors share the same advantage of providing a large rearview and being able to see everything behind you by slightly moving your head.
[QUOTE=thumpism;20554325]If there's a bike lane, use it. If no bike lane use your space in the travel lane and let the drivers pass as they can. I ride to the right as a courtesy to drivers but not so far right that I feel unsafe.[QUOTE]
+100
[QUOTE=thumpism;20554325] One of my barcon shifters has a nick in it from the mirror of a car that passed that close to me at about 40 MPH on a city street. Near the screw.[QUOTE]
Yikes!

@CliffordK...master of understatement.

+1 ...also it allows me to use hand signals (also 'debated'). Like "slow down", "stay back" and "okay, c'mon, pass me",

I have a short route that cuts 2 miles from my other 9 mile commute routes. It's not as pleasant, and I can't use it due to a narrow 4-lane bridge on a steep hill. On the way home uphill, it took me a minute-and-a-half-to two minutes to pedal up the bridge in heavy traffic. And for the last two years the narrow shoulder is occupied by barriers to supplement the rusted, aging guardrail. So up-hill is a no-go for me.

But downhill in the morning to work I cross the bridge at ~35mph, so I am without a shoulder only 15-20 seconds. I have the ability to check traffic a good ways behind me, and I will wait for it to clear before taking the bridge. I ride the middle of the right lane. However, there is an on-ramp a little back, and sometimes a vehicle or two will manage to come up behind me. I will wave them around me, and they usually do it.

I take this bridge maybe once or twice a month. And in the two years since the shoulder dissapeared, I have had one car get uncomfortably close. I pointed to my helmet cam, which only points forward, but it seemed to back him off.

Maelochs

What a horrible fate.

Maelochs

Very much so on both points.

CliffordK

About 45 years ago when I was about 6 years old.

It is a lot easier when one is a fearless kid.

I'm trying to remember when I found my first bike lane. Probably by age 12 I started hitting a few off street bike paths. But, it may well have been a couple of decades later when I started using on-street bike paths.

As mentioned, I ride to the right, try to keep out of the way of traffic, both for safety, as well as "Sharing the road" and minimizing my impact on others.

I can't say... my current style of riding to the right most of the time, and taking the lane as appropriate, or when nobody is around likely evolved over time.

livedarklions

I got a lot more comfortable about 5 months ago after getting hit by a car taking an unsignalled right turn. I wasn't seriously injured, but that really hurts. I've been much more aggressive about staying out of blind spots at intersections ever since. I usually go over to the right almost immediately after clearing a busy intersection, road conditions/potholes permitting.

jbucky1

I have had a lot of luck when cycling and I am thankful. I put a lot of it down to trying to be hyper-aware of my situation and environment. Always looking, always listening, ensuring that I am seen when i can be and trying to understand drivers, predicting their moves, watching cars, not trying to win speed battles with cars etc.

- james

www.buckyrides.com

Troul 

When i obtained a bicycle that i feel confident that it will not self destruct on it's own.

Don't hug an edge of a road. When you need to make a sudden maneuver, you will wish you were not on the cuff of the road's edge.

Bahnzo

This is IMO the answer right here. It's exactly what I do, and it's exactly what I feel is right.

I have ZERO problem taking the lane if I'm otherwise going to be put into a situation where I cannot be passed safely. In my experience, too many drivers have no problem risking your life/safety by whizzing right by you if they think they can squeeze by. And so the only option is to make sure there is no option for them other than to slow down and wait until that opportunity for a safe pass exists.

You WILL get honked at, and you WILL get yelled at, and you WILL still get people who WILL pass you with inches to spare to prove a point. Don't let that stop you.

The only time I don't feel comfortable taking the lane, is on a road where it's a blind corner. I have one road I ride on that has a very limited view of the corner due to trees and bushes on the right. And too often people refuse to slow down there and that's an instance where I don't like being out in the lane. I've had some hairy situations there where a car in the oncoming lane is approaching and I can hear another coming from behind. It's one of those situations where I just have to hope the driver behind me doesn't have their head in the phone or their ass, because mine is clenched tight.

Bahnzo

Many years ago, when I was kid (14?), I had a friend who would put down his head and blow through red lights. While I'm sure he picked and chose those times when I was with him and he did that, I still to this day can't believe he's still alive.

I agree here also tho. I'm now in my 8th year of riding (since taking it back up of course, I rode all over as a kid as well) and how I ride has evolved also. I do my best to minimize my impact on drivers, but I won't hesitate to, nor apologize for taking the lane when it's the safest course of action. And nobody else should either IMO>

NameTaken

I avoid busy roads if at all possible and do most of my actual road riding in the early morning on the weekends. We have a lot of bike friendly trails around here so it's pretty easy to do. When I am on the road I don't care that I have the right of way, if there's cars and there is room then I'll move over to give them as much room as possible to pass. I want to live and I generally assume all people on the road in cars are bad drivers and could very easily hit me just because they can't tell how big their own vehicle is.

Jim from Boston

Riding in the lane

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maelochs

Some fanatics will tell you that you are begging to be hit if you do not actively block cars. Sane people disagree…

What Jim from north of Brockton says is something … who knows what with all those nested quotes …. About cooperating. I think anyone who has survived a while in traffic should have learned this----we All have to get somewhere, and we all can cooperate and get there. Or, we can all impede one another and get pissed and have accidents and never get anywhere we would want to be.

Jim from near MIT is actually also know as the Pope of Boyleston Avenue … he makes a big deal of bestowing blessing on good drivers—and cursing bad ones…

95 percent of drivers are smart and sensible, and even if some of them don’t quite know how wide their cars are … Very few will really try to scare you with a close approach—if you no other reason than that they don’t want to risk a scratch or dent.

Bless you @Maelochs, and thanks for that reference, I have posted my dogma on several threads, most recently to this current one, also in A&S, “Why I Wave.” .

mr_bill

(Boylston St., but that's not important.)

Pope of Columbus Ave. (They are now Columbia Bikes.)




-mr. bill

MMACH 5

It depends on the street. On multi-lane roads, I take the lane. On single lane roads that are wide enough to easily share, I ride to the right. On single lane roads that are too narrow to share, I use a catch and release method—I take the lane and if there is a place that has room for me to move over and let them pass without crossing over, I do. If there are more than two cars behind me, I'll even pull into a driveway or parking lot to let them by, before continuing on my way.