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Do you ride on the right side of the road?

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62typhoon

Finally riding a big boys bike
Just wondering.....when I can I'm always on the sidewalk but if I'm on the street I tend to ride on the wrong side of the road( going towards traffic) I know that is not what we were as kids...but maybe cause I'm getting older but I find it very nerve racking when a car comes up behind me and I'm wondering if its some teenager checking his phone or a drunk loser that is going to take me out...at least on the wrong side I can see them coming!
I had a peace officer stop me and ask why I was on the wrong side of the road...I told him and he seemed to get it.

Does this piss you off if someone is on the wrong side when your driving in your car?...I really don't see the difference to the driver as we can then make eye contact.
 
One of my Doctors was run over and killed while walking his dog on a sidewalk in Scottsdale one evening. I've seen a few shaded benches at the bus stop that were destroyed when someone smashed into them. I've seen a mini van take out two control boxes and each were 3'x3'x3' and the van ended up on it's roof. I've seen a C5 Corvette hit the curb and fly thru a block fence on the other side of the sidewalk. I don't ride on main roads but when I have to I ride the sidewalk going against traffic. Two or three lanes each direction with idiots doing 55 mph on these streets is too nerve racking . lmao
 
I don't ride frequently but when I have lately out in the country I ride into "on coming traffic" or the wrong way so I can see them coming & hope any rear approaching traffic isn't being stupid. I will eventually end up doin' some kind of creative cool rear view mirror for my rat rod bicycle & others I intend to ride. North & South Carolina here & bein' 37 I'd like to maybe someday own a collection like you guys have; whether from the 30s-65 or even some closer to my generation+
 
Ever since a seasoned bicycle rider very well known to the spandex community got killed by a hit an run driver on the same intersection I used many times to cross, I began to ride on the sidewalk or take my bike in my truck to the bike trail.
Even being on the left side like you do, all it takes is a wink of an eye for the driver to go off course and hit someone.
On rare occasions I ride on the street but it’s either inside my gated community or a well hidden small community behind mine.
 
It's Really Not Safe Anymore but it's a Risk & Gamble; Even in cars/trucks & Especially on motorcycles etc. I have had close calls on motorcycles because idiots have pulled out in front of me doing 45-65 mph & if it hadn't been for other drivers in the fast lane either paying attention as well or free lanes + some quick thinking reactions I probably wouldn't be here or in the hobby. I can't live in fear though. I have done some crazy things some would consider reckless or stupid behind the wheel but Never without both hands on the wheel or shifter & wheel. I have avoided some potential wrecks this way due to others as well. Bicycle wise I hope Nobody runs me over & there's no more a'holes to ever throw somethin' at me from behind or scare me by swerving towards me
 
the reason you ride with traffic is because when a car comes to an intersection they look for oncoming traffic in the lane they will be merging into, which you are not in when on the wrong side. I saw a guy get hit doing that... driver pulls up to the stop sign, looks over his left shoulder for traffic, and goes because he knows there is no traffic in front of him. except for the guy on the bike. low speed collision and he did not get hurt other than maybe a bruise.

I ride quite a bit. always in the street, always on the correct and safe side of the road. always have and always will. back when I was young and handsome I'd ride at 15 -20 mph average, no way a person making a right turn at the corner would be able to react in time. if someone doing 35 comes at me I get hit at 55, there's another good reason.

no cycling publication in the history of cycling will tell you to ride against traffic. if you are afraid of getting hit wear bright yellow T shirts made for being seen, I bought some orange ones, but yellow is more visible.

my city of Fremont is very bike friendly. we have wide bike lanes, well marked especially at intersections. some wide roads even have plastic reflective cones mounted at the edge of the bike lane so when you drive off the road you will immediately know it. the city must have spent a fortune doing this.

there's my 2 cents.

EDIT: .."always in the street" as in not riding on the sidewalk. we have a great creek trail here, with a park where you can ride on one side, and another park at the end with trails. we have great bike lanes in my city. I'll have to take a photo, I do ride on the street more often than not though.
 
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Some areas here have the Alert Strips on the edge of the road (small little town) but it is different in the larger cities. I wouldn't ride against traffic there due to my luck of getting fined. I agree wear bright visible neon/fluorescent colors. I have almost ran over people walking in the damn roads at night in the country because I don't have those overly bright lights on my 2004 reliable plastic headlight hoopty
 
I try to ride with traffic as well. Here where I live most drivers are very observant and courteous to bike riders. Most of the roads I ride on are two lane residential streets so I don't really have to be on the lookout for speeding cars or trucks. I do sometimes ride on the sidewalk but mainly early in the day before most are up and about.
 
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