Originally Posted by
DreamRider85
I’m not sure if you’ve been down Sharp Park Rd. But anyways I’ve been studying certain road patterns. We typically ride in the bike lanes but some roads will either have intermittent bike lanes that come and go and some bike lanes are really narrow and it doesn’t even make sense to follow it exactly because it’s too narrow and close to the edge.
So in that case do you just ride in the middle of the street and let cars pass? Or do you follow the lane as close as you can and stay far to the right? Or do you stay more in the center but just a little bit more on the right to give cars room?
There are some situations where I’m just not sure. You don't want to go to slow either right? And then some lanes will have bushes or tree branches so you kinda have to ride more in the middle of the roads for those times.
If you could explain your strategy in simple terms that would be great.
Simple terms are inadequate. How you deal with traffic, including the situations you describe, depends on: your experience; your tolerance for risk; how local drivers act around cyclists (on average); how drivers act around cyclists (worst case); weather; time of day; condition of road surface; amount of traffic; speed of traffic; day of the week; etc.
In the situations you describe, where the shoulder disappears, your options are: (a) share the lane with cars, if the lanes are wide enough, if traffic is slow enough, sight lines are good and if you are comfortable doing so; (b) take the lane so that it is not possible for vehicles to pass you without going into the opposite lane, if sight lines are good, if traffic is slow enough, if drivers are not too aggressive, and if you're comfortable doing so; (c) find an alternate route.
No one strategy is correct in all situations, nor in all places. Practices that are safest in one situation, or that are safest in one part of the country, could get you run over in another situation or in a different locale. If you do not feel (reasonably) safe on a certain road or section of road, then there is no point in riding there. You'll get a number of good suggestions here, but you need to trust your own judgement when deciding what advice to follow.