Roadie knows no boundary...is this legal?

The worse one for me is 101 in Big Sur. Retirees driving rental motorhomes and they have no idea of the width of these things. I once stopped to take a break as the cars were coming to close. There was a narrow stretch ahead with only a guard rail and barely enough room for a white outside line in the lane. Well, as I get going I decided to let one more RV go by and this guy hit the guardrail. Had I decided to go when I first originally had planned I'd have been knocked over the side or squished against the guardrail or even both but I just had a feeling about that last RV. It was a straight down cliff all the way to the ocean below. A good 500' down. I walked my tour bike from that point until I made it pass that narrow section but that close call stayed with me for a long time.

 

After too many close calls, I developed a technique for highways like Big Sur named "Lane Control." I simply take the lane whenever there isn't room for a vehicle to pass safely. That takes away the choice for marginal drivers. Once there's enough room, I move to the shoulder and wave profusely to thank them for their patience. (I also ride on near the center line on narrow, twisty climbs so drivers can see me from farther back, esp. on right-hand turns.) I've found that if the rider doesn't control the situation, then no one does.

Obviously, these techniques aren't going to work on freeways, but most times they have wide shoulders that let you put some distance between yourself and the slow lane. An exception to this is a highway like 395, with semis doing 70 mph only inches from your left elbow. I came up with a technique there, too, on a bike tour from Mammoth Lakes to the Canadian border.

If I was riding into a headwind, cars and trucks would come flying past me with no warning and threaten to blow me off the road. I bought a helmet mirror in Carson City and kept my eye out for overtaking vehicles. When a vehicle was a mile or so back, I'd start meandering around in the lane like I wasn't paying any attention. They'd get about a half mile back and start slowing down; eyeballing their passing options in the opposing lane. Meanwhile, I was looking at bail-out options on the shoulder. Never needed to leave the pavement though. They'd move left and I'd move right, and there'd be 10 feet of clearance between us.

 

Yeah, I use similar tactics. It's the ones that aren't paying attention that bother me. (Stay off the dam cell phone, you know who you are!)