Riding Narrow Roads

Life in the Bike Lane

By Tom Frady

I was reminded recently during one of our usual morning rides, what a beautiful area this is.  Recent rains have greened-up everything, there is wildlife running across the road (some skunks didn’t make it) and plenty of interesting domestic animals to see, including the free-range cattle we were able to stampede.  Even the rocks and trees seemed extra vibrant.

If you ride in this part of Placer County for much more than 10 miles, you will find yourself on some narrow country roads, many with nothing more than a double yellow line down the middle or, no line at all.  While most of the suburban streets have good bike lanes, and the main thoroughfares (think Auburn-Folsom, Sierra College, Pacific/Taylor) have good shoulders, it is easy to find yourself on a thread bare, pothole infested, bendy and hilly surface that passes for asphalt, just wide enough for two cars to pass.

The favorite road of the avid cyclist.

Let’s review the pertinent laws here.

First, the 3-foot buffer drivers must, by law, give cyclists.  We recognize this is a good law that is hard for drivers to follow.  The math just doesn’t work.  If a rider is 3 feet from the broken edge of the pavement, the driver must give 3 feet of room, the car is 7 feet wide and the total distance from the edge to the double yellow line is 11 feet, the driver has three options: 1) pass over the double yellow line, 2) wait until there is a safe and legal place to pass, or 3) run the rider off the road.  I’ve seen all three happen.

Like drivers, cyclists should pull over when there are five cars waiting to pass.  While the responsible and respectful rider will pull out (even with just one or two cars following), this is a difficult maneuver to pull off safely with a larger group.  And inherent in this type of scenario is that the driver in the second car may not realize the front driver is being careful with a group of riders and will give Mr. Patient a blast on the horn.

Cyclists are not required to ride on the shoulder at any time.  Cyclists must ride as far to the right of the roadway as safe and the shoulder is not part of the roadway.  However, if the shoulder is free of debris and paved, it is usually the best place for the rider to be.

Note:  if there is a bike lane that is part of the road way, riders must ride there, with some exceptions.

Motorists in this area have no doubt come across cyclists riding two abreast, making it impossible to pass safely, if at all.  While we are guessing it’s usually a case of riders not paying attention, in some cases riders will pull toward the center of the lane to a) prevent cars from making an unsafe pass, especially if the rider knows there is an on-coming car around the bend, or b) make themselves more visible to motorists coming from behind.  The DMV’s own pamphlet advises riders to “take the lane” in certain situations.  The advisability of this action is often dependent on the speed of traffic.  It can be risky.

Drivers don’t want to hit cyclists and cyclists don’t want to get hit.   Narrow roads make it necessary for both the cyclist and driver to make some decisions.  Cyclists appreciate the patient driver and will do their best to get out of the way.  Drivers are usually courteous toward cyclists and appreciate the rider who follows the rules and is considerate.

We hope each is making decisions with safety in mind.