I keep a list of bike types I ride in my signature. Lately I have been riding my upright mountain bike the most, but I go through phases.
How do I ride?
I live in Santa Barbara. In my environment I ride almost all the time either on residential streets that may or may not have bike lanes, on 35 or 45 mph one, two or four lane roads (one or two in each direction, or one lane one-way) that do have bike lanes, or on Class I bike paths. Only rarely do I tread into the wealthier areas where the roads are narrow, usually have no shoulder or bike lane, and are very curvy and hilly. Too much effort. I do like to ride up the mountain sometimes, though. The mountain road has no lanes at all and is very steep.
I always ride in the bike lane when one is there. I ride in it all the time, all the way to the intersection. Only rarely do I leave the bike lane. I rarely find it necessary. I've got a set of tools for dealing with any problems that might arrise riding this way.
When there isn't a bike lane I ride as far to the right as practicable. If that means that I'm riding in the space where parked cars might otherwise be, I will do that if the gap between them is large. Otherwise I ride outside the door zone of even imaginary cars.
If the bike lane is too close to the door zone I will ride far enough way not to feel I am in it. Sometimes I have to ride my bike close to the door zone because streets can be narrow here. Not a big deal. There are tactics for dealing with door zone riding.
If there are bushes or other obstructions of the view of me by people on sidestreets I'll move left a bit at those places, but not very much left. Maybe out to the right tire track. Otherwise I stay to the right.
If I need to turn left I use the left turn lane. It's not very hard to merge over when most of your streets have only one lane in each direction. Sometimes congestion makes it hard to merge over, so I will employ adaptive techniques, such as the two-corner turn or using the crosswalk.
I enjoy riding on the bike paths. I ride on them at times of the day and days of the week when there is very little non-bike traffic. Some of the bike paths I ride on never have very much non-bike traffic no matter what time or day. I figure I have already lived at least half my life so I have nothing to prove and ought to spend what time remains enjoying myself rather than proving myself. I enjoy the hawks and ducks, the croaking of frogs, the fresh air and views of the bike path.
Currently my commute is 7 miles. That's about the right distance for someone like me. There have been long stretches of my life when I didn't ride much, usually because it wasn't practical, like it was too far or I had to drive around once I got to work. I feel pretty lucky these days.
I'm not some hard-core, super fast cyclist. About half the people pass me and the other half I pass. I'm overweight, my leg hurts, I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago (and it has taken 2 years to heal from it) so I'm not about to pretend I can ride like Lance.
I carry a lot of heavy crap with me. I may also stop to buy some groceries. I ride heavy bikes. Since I'm old and worn out and weighed down and I pass as many people as pass me, I'm pretty sure most people who boast about going 35-30 mph no problem are lying.
I wear my normal clothes most of the time when I ride to work or wherever, unless it is hot or I'm riding with a recumbent cycling club I sometimes ride with. Then I'll wear loose-fitting cycling clothes.
That's how I ride.