Re: Let's hide the bicyclists behind parked cars. What could go wrong?

On 1/13/2025 12:41 AM, Roger Merriman wrote:

Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

On 1/12/2025 4:30 PM, Roger Merriman wrote:

>
I’m bit baffled personally that this is an issue? It’s even in the uk
Highway Code I’m not aware of it being changed ie the advice has always
been to ride in the center of the lane, moving left to allow other vehicles
to pass if safe to do so.

Well, like me, you've bothered to look into the actual legal aspects and
the advice given by legitimate cycling education programs.
>
We have several people here who have not bothered to do that minimal
research, because they already "know" everything.
>

 No I suspect I’m relatively low % of folks who have looked at it, but in
general it’s the advice other cyclists give and even non cyclists seem to
mostly do it, ie cultural for want of better word.

I mentioned this here maybe 5 years ago, but: One local guy who was pretty well known from his participation in some civic organizations lost his wife. He was just a path rider, but he decided to deal with his loss by bicycling down to visit his daughter in Florida. Someone told him to ask me for advice.
So he visited and we talked. He rode a very upright "comfort bike." I think my main piece of advice was that his path riding wasn't sufficient training, and that he should be doing some hills, because he couldn't reach Florida without climbing serious hills. I'm sure I said something about our rights to the road, about taking the lane, etc. but it wasn't the biggest part of our conversation.
Anyway, I decided to show up for his official departure from a local shopping plaza and ride a bit with him. I was shocked to see that his supporters had called in a TV crew. I greeted him, but did my best to stay out of the picture.
But we did ride off together, on the busy four lane highway I sometimes mention here - one that many bike club members would refuse to ride. He planted himself firmly in the middle of the right lane and sailed on with a smile on his face. As usual, motorists handled it perfectly with no aggression, no complaints. We rode together for maybe 10 or 15 miles, long after the road became a two lane with 55 mph speed limits. Then I turned back for home, and he rode on to Florida. He made the trip in fine shape.
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- Frank Krygowski