Take the Lane: Sometimes, we could give up the lane

Baltimore Sun article:

October 18, 2010 at 6:00 am (Commuting, Cycling Rights, advocacy, safety)

Driving your bike is a dance.

For the most part drivers are courteous. Courtesy demands thinking of one another. And it works both ways. We’ve all seen rude cyclists riding two and three abreast and refusing to give way.

That’s illegal but what about taking the lane? Usually the problem is the cyclist is too convinced of his own inferiority and tries to give way too much. It takes some courage to fill up a lane to prevent a motorist from passing on a blind corner.

On the other wheel, cyclists need to adjust to the road conditions even if it means giving way when you strictly speaking do not need to. For example, I often coast a bit to give that passing vehicle more room to pull back in before reaching that blind curve ahead. I can also speed up to get into the corner sooner controlling the lane so the passing motorist isn’t tempted to make that pass that might push me off the road should he enoucnter oncoming traffic.

In this way, I make a dance of my ride alternately leading and following but always remaining predictable.

Be sure to click through to the original newspaper story below.–Corrie



This column by Michael Dresser of the Baltimore Sun addresses an issue that a lot of cyclists and cycling advocates dance around but don’t directly address: pulling over to let motor vehicles pass.

I think we get so caught up in the mantra of “share the road” that we automatically think that sharing means “me first.”

via Take the Lane: Sometimes, we could give up the lane.