Originally Posted by
Daniel4
The only thing you can do is to move into the car lane. Just make sure you're taking the lane so you won't be squeezed with close passes. Impatient drivers behind you will just have to wait until you find a clear spot in the bike lane in which to return.
No, that isn't the only thing you can do. You can move into the car lane and stay to the right in it, even if it means possibly being close passed. Would you rather the impatient driver behind you pull over into oncoming traffic and have a head on collision? Do you know what happens to a cyclist when they are struck by a car or part of a car that has just been involved in a high speed collision with another car? The other morning our tandem was passing another bike in the bike lane so we pulled out in the vehicle lane to pass it. I am already heading back into the bike lane only to find it full of CAR! Very fast moving car! In just a fraction of a second he had decided that the fastest way around us was to use the bike lane to pass us on the right! We were well on our way to slamming right into him and he into us because he didn't have the patience of an atomic particle, but more than that, he was triggered by our leaving the bike lane in the first place. So, no, impatient drivers don't "have to wait" until you relinquish the car lane in your own time. He was thrown by the size and shape of the tandem. I had left him plenty of room to pass properly on the left without leaving his lane but he didn't realize that. I firmly believe in sharing the road, even after this latest example of motorist forbearance.