I ride wide

One of the more obvious signs of an inexperienced or nervous cyclist is their road positioning.  Even for those who are way too young to have experienced it, there appears to be some kind of race memory of the old cycling proficiency test where riders were told that they should keep out of the road and ride no more than a foot from the kerb.  I’ve even heard tell of instructors failing their pupils for just this!

Although I can understand why cyclists sometimes feel bullied out of the road, I still find it very frustrating to see riders who don’t understand that despite what instructors might have told you years ago, you’re actually far safer giving yourself more of the carriageway.  Apparently, the consensus of opinion amongst today’s Bikeability instructors is that you should never ride less than a metre from the kerb and that if you’re approaching a hazard of any kind, you should consider moving out to the “primary” position in the middle of your lane.

There are a lot of good reasons for this.  Firstly, you need to be seen.  If you’re approaching a junction, assuming a more prominent road position gives other road users a better chance to see you – it also gives you more room to react if they don’t.  Occasionally taking the whole lane may seem like a difficult thing to do, but I can assure you that if you behave like traffic, you’ll get treated like traffic by other road users.  When a following vehicle wants to overtake you, they’re forced to move right out of the lane and do so properly and not squeeze past in the same lane putting everyone at risk.

Being well out from the kerb gives you some survival space, too.  If you do find yourself needing to move away from a vehicle to your immediate right, you’ve got more room to move to the left in a hurry if it becomes necessary.

Taking in a more prominent position means riding more assertively.  You’ll find yourself being more aware of what’s ahead and what’s behind you.  You’ll be more aware of where you’re moving to from moment to moment and you’ll be better placed to judge what other road users might do and how you’ll react to that.  I find that when I ride assertively, my signals are early and conspicuous.  I make eye contact with people and I anticipate where the threats and hazards might be.

Nonetheless, if you’re going to ride wide, you’ll have to be prepared for people to try to bully you.  I once heard an experienced cyclist saying that he really didn’t mind car drivers honking their horn at him for taking a lane on the basis that at least that meant they’d actually seen him.  He said that it was the ones who either didn’t want to sit behind him until it was safe to overtake that he was concerned about.

But all this is pretty extreme stuff.  Most drivers are quite competent and the vast majority will treat cyclists and other more vulnerable road users with respect.  I’m aware that for every time I get honked at or passed a bit to close (which really doesn’t happen as often as you’d think) there are thousands of drivers who take their time and overtake safely.  Why not give ‘em a smile or a wave?

Despite the unlikely event of his ever reading Bicycleslut, this post is dedicated to the driver of the huge, articulated British Gypsum lorry this morning on the West End Road coming up to the Polish war memorial, who waited for at least half a dozen traffic islands to overtake me.  You Sir, are a gentleman and a knight of the road.