Originally Posted by
chipcom
Glad you're ok...now get out of the gutter and ride the road the same way that you drive it. If you squeeze yourself into the margins, not only do you have to deal with all the crap that lives there, you also limit your maneuverability options and give drivers an invitation to try to squeeze past rather than using the other lane to pass, as they would another vehicle.
+10000
I've learned long ago that if I'm going to get honked at, it doesn't matter if I'm in the gutter or "taking the lane", the morans will still honk. My personal favorite is a stretch of 25mph road that cars are *constantly* trying to pass me on.. even though I generally go about 27-28mph. I think the boys at the local police substation have caught on, as the past several days on my way down this road I've seen a cruiser!
The best thing in the world is when you have a hothead pass two inches by you - when you are doing 30 in a 25 on a bicycle - only to get pulled over by the officer sitting below the crest of the hill (down
). I've been waving and smiling at the officers, which is a change for me
.
Anyway, what chip said. If I'm on the road, I *always* give myself at least half the lane. I also purposely travel on low/mild traffic roads, so I can avoid any possible problems. Generally I find that maybe two or three times a week I have a "honker", but the same number of times I get smiles, waves, and even compliments! Just tuesday I had a pickup with a man and his son pull up next to me at a light to compliment me. "I know I couldn't have ridden up that hill at 10mph, much less the 20-ish you were doing!"
YMMV, quite literally, but take that lane. Make sure you have a taillight and helmet to keep your "vehicle" legal, but you have the same rights as those cars.