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Question about roads with small, intermittent shoulders

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Question about roads with small, intermittent shoulders

Old 07-25-20, 07:58 PM
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DreamRider85
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Question about roads with small, intermittent shoulders

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.
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Old 07-25-20, 09:08 PM
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There are two NGOs that provide some bicycle training that I am aware. The league of American Bicyclist has a series of basic videos that will provide guidance. These are free. Cycle Savvy is the other. They have a set of 3 that cover beginner to advance. Right now, if they still have their deal going, it is $50 to join their organization and get the training.

They both offer live classes. I know people who have taken the LAB class and thought it was helpful. I do not know anyone that has taken the Cycle Savvy course.

I would suggest you start at the online LAB smart cycling videos to get a handle on your question.
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Old 07-25-20, 09:11 PM
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Sharp Park Road, Paifica, CA?

I looked at it on Google Maps and (at least eastbound first portion) the shoulder looks like my daily commute, except I have very flat and mostly straight. I'm doing 15-18 mph on 40 mph posted (so they're doing 50-60 mph).

I have some points where the shoulder pinches out, and at those locations I take the center of the right hand lane. I have a mirror which I'm monitoring constantly. If there is a pack of motor vehicles that will arrive when I need to take the lane, I'll pull over and let them by. My experience is that packs of vehicles are potentially dangerous.
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Old 07-25-20, 09:19 PM
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Originally Posted by flangehead
Sharp Park Road, Paifica, CA?

I looked at it on Google Maps and (at least eastbound first portion) the shoulder looks like my daily commute, except I have very flat and mostly straight. I'm doing 15-18 mph on 40 mph posted (so they're doing 50-60 mph).

I have some points where the shoulder pinches out, and at those locations I take the center of the right hand lane. I have a mirror which I'm monitoring constantly. If there is a pack of motor vehicles that will arrive when I need to take the lane, I'll pull over and let them by. My experience is that packs of vehicles are potentially dangerous.

Awesome. Where is your mirror located? Right now I have a bell and headlights in the front so not much room for anything else.
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Old 07-25-20, 09:30 PM
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Originally Posted by DreamRider85
... Where is your mirror located? ....
I use a Take-A-Look mounted on my helmet. I have it on the right because I have left-mounted bar-end mirrors on some bikes. Probably better to put it on the left.

It takes a week or so to get used to it. Stay with it; you’re brain will program eventually.






One other practice is that I turn on the red rear LED on my helmet when I take the lane during daylight. That is in addition to rear LED mounted on bike. I’m hoping that a change in the visual field high up will catch the attention of some motorists.

Last edited by flangehead; 07-25-20 at 09:46 PM.
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Old 07-25-20, 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by flangehead
My experience is that packs of vehicles are potentially dangerous.
I think this is an important point. When cars are packed together at high speed, the drivers are not controlling their cars, but are controlled by the cars around them. This is a situation that I try to avoid
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Old 07-25-20, 11:20 PM
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One other thought, have you checked out other routes? Just playing around on Google maps, starting at Sisters Blvd and traveling to Pacifica there are 3 routes. The other 2 are 10 minutes longer. If they work, perhaps worth checking out. If you are not aware, Google maps provides bike routes.
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Old 07-26-20, 02:10 AM
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Originally Posted by debade
One other thought, have you checked out other routes? Just playing around on Google maps, starting at Sisters Blvd and traveling to Pacifica there are 3 routes. The other 2 are 10 minutes longer. If they work, perhaps worth checking out. If you are not aware, Google maps provides bike routes.
No, I'm going by what someone posted on Strava. What are the other routes that you see?
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Old 07-26-20, 05:21 AM
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Originally Posted by DreamRider85
No, I'm going by what someone posted on Strava. What are the other routes that you see?
just go to Google maps and put in your starting and ending point for the whole route or a section, if available, more than one route will be displayed.
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Old 07-26-20, 09:31 AM
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I was riding Route 84 East last week from Half Moon Bay. There are lots of narrow parts but luckily the traffic was not too bad. The part I worry about the most are where I am on a blind curve with no shoulder. Then the cars coming around cannot see me until the last second. Luckily, there was not much traffic and I could hear the cars coming. So in that case like flangehead I pulled over and let them pass. Sometimes I sat there for 20 seconds waiting for the cars I could hear coming up from behind me to pass. Other-times I would sprint to get from a no shoulder section to a place with a shoulder.

Odd note, someone was driving a white Ferrari like a madman - but I could hear him coming from a long way away.
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Old 07-26-20, 10:12 AM
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From the variety responses to social distancing and use of face masks throughout the USA, there is a similar varied response to cyclists on the road. You sort of need to know the people in your area. Here, people are courteous but I help things as best I can by being predicable and visable. You will notice that that a dark jersey going from sunlight to shade suddenly becomes invisable. As you have noticed yourself, a narrow winding road with no shoulder is a death trap and is to be avoided.
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Old 07-27-20, 07:39 AM
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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.
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