aggiegrads

I use my position in the lane to help communicate how I want the driver to act. I normally ride somewhere near the right side of the right tire track, comfortably out of the door zone, but obviously in the right-hand side of the lane. When I hear a car approaching, I adjust my lane position accordingly. If I do not want the car to pass, I move over to the left about a foot or so that I am clearly taking the lane. As soon as it is safe for them to pass, I move to the right (but still stay out of the door zone) and give a wave. This new position and a wave tells the driver that it is safe to pass.

I ride about 2-3 thousand miles per year and I have been honked at twice. Granted, I do not ride in “the city” (Portland) that much, but I have found people pretty friendly when I communicate my intention.

I find that the best lane position when I “allow” a driver to pass is to move over just enough to make the car’s left tires touch the yellow center line. Once they do this, they are essentially committed to driving in the other lane and will give plenty of room. If I move over into the door zone, drivers decide that they can squeeze past in the lane without crossing the center line and make it exponentially more dangerous for me. They often do this even when there is no traffic coming from the other direction.

noglider 

It might be well-intended, as in, "Hey I'm here, just want you to know." Or it may be nasty, as in, "Get the fark out of my way, dammit." There's no way to tell.

I do not show my finger, ever. Nothing good can come of it.

A third possibility is that someone is thinking, "Jeez, I don't want to do the wrong thing, what should I do?"

I swing my head back a lot, and I don't even need to. (I don't need to because I have an eyeglass mirror.) It's just a signal to say, "I know you're there, and I want you to know that I know." By swinging my head back and maintaining my path, I show that I intend to be where I am, and I'm not taking the lane obliviously.