[SDCBC] Pet peeve: cyclists have "no choice" but to be unsafe/crazy

[Trevor Bourget]

>If you're ignoring the bike lane stripe in the first place, and 
>riding just as you would if the stripe were not there, then you're 
>not relying on it for anything, so it doesn't matter if it suddenly 
>ends or not.  What matters is the total width of the outside lane, 
>and how much it varies.  I've never felt like I needed advanced 
>warning of that.  Have you?  Thinking about a bike lane as being a 
>lane, and treating it as such, is what gets you in trouble.  Don't do that.

Agreeing with Serge, I should clarify my own interpretation of 
"riding a bicycle as if there were no bike lane". Curbs, gutters, 
sidewalks, parked vehicles and other things on the right aren't 
linear. Right-of-way doesn't come in so regular a shape, yet must all 
be used up somehow or it will be encroached upon. Highway designers 
could plant vegetation on the outside edges to fill up the gap, 
leaving perfectly straight sidewalks and everything between. But they 
don't do that. The last straight line you're likely to find on any 
roadway is the lane stripe to the left of the outside lane. The next 
closest thing approaching is a straight line is that most motorists 
tend to follow the bumper in front of them.

This is one of the reasons that I position myself in traffic relative 
only to the location of overtaking vehicles on my left, never to 
anything on the right. I only have to judge whether the space 
remaining to avoid any possible hazard on the right is still 
sufficient for the speed I am traveling. If I don't know whether 
there is a hazard I must assume I need more room or I must lower my 
speed. The advantage of using familiar roads is that you can go 
faster with less risk, since you know what and where the probable 
hazards may be.

The other reason that you should travel as close to the overtaking 
traffic as practicable is for the very issue that we're discussing. 
Being closer to the flow will make it easier to get right into it. 
Just moving left a few inches will cause the nearest overtaking 
motorists to slow down as they pass you, which will disrupt the flow 
so that you can start working your way into the stream.

-- Trevor