During my club ride last Saturday, about 5 of us were riding north on Skyline Blvd, enjoying the downhill near Castle Rock State Park. We heard a car behind and then the loud speaker say "Move to the right". Christine was up ahead riding next to another rider, so she moved over and we were all now nicely single-file, so we thought that was the end of that, as the guy then drove on ahead. He was a state park ranger.
But then we see that he has parked, gotten out, and is waving us in to stop where he is. We stop. He then begins to address me, so I guess that he just figured (correctly) that I was the ride leader.
But instead, he explains that he has a problem with my riding position. He said that the others weren't too bad but it was mine that he didn't like. He asked to see my license. I gave it to him. He asked if I knew the speed limit on that road. I told him "55". He asked if I knew how fast I was going. I said "about 30". He asked me where I was on the road, and I told him "I was in the line where the car tires go, about 2 to 3 feet into the roadway". This is where he had the problem with me.
The ranger then said "You should be riding no more than 6 inches from the edge of the white line. This way cars can pass without having to go over the double-yellow line."
He then also said that he could either give me a warning or give me a citation, and that if he gave me a citation and I went to court, that the judge would probably take the side of the officer over that of a citizen (me).
I figured that all I wanted was the warning, so I just politely listened to all of what he was telling me, and didn't try to argue my position. He then asked me if I heard what he was telling me, and if I was going to follow these instructions. I told him "I would try."
So, let this be a warning to you all. This guy didn't have a clue.
Now my position. Going downhill at 30 mph, I purposely put my wheels in the line where the car tires go. Any car that needs to pass can do it when it is safe to go a few feet over the double-yellow line. If it is on a curvey road and totally unsafe to pass, then I will even move out further into the road just to make sure that a car does not pass. I do this all the time on Metcalf, going to and from work. There are a few turns on Metcalf where I actually hug the yellow line, just to block any cars from thinking that they can pass at that time.
From experience, I have found that if you stay closer to the white line this does not give you any more room between you and the cars. All that happens is that the cars then think they can pass you without moving over, and so they might even pass you by closer. If a car does decide to pass me very close, then I will have a few feet of escape, instead of being squeezed right off the road.
Now, if it wasn't on a downhill, I would be closer to the white line, more like within 1 to 2 feet into the roadway. I have and use a mirror, so when I see a car approaching, I will move over for them as long as there is room for me.
If it is downhill and there is a car behind me, then I will start to look for good places for it to pass. When I get to a place with some good sight distance, then I will slow down and move to the right until they get the idea and pass me by. I prefer cars passing me when I am ready and not just when they are ready. Sometimes they will just have to wait.
If the road had a good shoulder/bike lane then of course I would be in it, and the proceeding paragraphs wouldn't apply. The law says to "ride as far to the right as practicable", so that is what I do.
As an aside, this State Park Ranger's name was "M. Standish". I remember, when I was a small kid going camping with my family in Big Basin, that there was a ranger of the name Miles Standish. So this guy was probably the son. My dad asked ranger Miles Standish if he was any relation, and he said yes he was. The original Miles Standish came over with the Mayflower in 1620 and was the leader of the Pilgrim Colony.
This event prompted an open letter to Mr.Roadshow, shown below.
To Gary Richards, Mr.Roadshow (mrroadshow@sjmercury.com)
In response to your article published 8/31/01.
I ride my bicycle about 10,000 miles per year, and also lead weekly club rides for the Almaden Cycle Touring Club. This is how I interpret the laws governing bicycles riding on the roadway.
The law does not say that bicyclists have to ride single file all of the time.
My optimum choice for bicycle riding position on the roadway is to ride side by side with someone else. This allows for chit-chatting, and basicly just having a nice social ride together. Back roads are therefore the best roads to ride, as the lack of cars makes riding side by side possible and safe.
However, cars do exist and have as much right to the use of the roadway as we bicyclists do. We both need to share the road.
We bicyclists do have a responsibility to ride single file when there are cars approaching. At least one person in the group needs to be paying attention as to what is coming up behind, and should announce "Car back", when he sees one approaching. Every rider in the group then has the responsibility to quickly fall into line, making everybody all nicely single file so that the car would have a chance to pass. The statement, "Car back", should be taken as a command meaning "quickly, stop your talking and get single file." If a person doesn't pay attention to what is coming up behind him, then he shouldn't be out in the middle of the road. I recommend having and using a mirror.
Once the group is all riding single file and they have a car approaching from behind, then how close to the side of the road do they need to be? The law (CVC 21202) says that bicyclists "shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway", but then gives a whole list of exceptions.
Practicable does not mean possible. It might be possible to ride on the very edge of the roadway, but since that is not safe, it isn't practicable. The faster a bike is moving, then the further away from the edge it needs to be to be safe. If you see a hazard (pothole, glass, etc) in front of you, then you would need more distance at higher speeds to be able to safely avoid it. Avoiding hazards is one of the allowed exceptions, so it is perfectly legal to move further out into the roadway to avoid some broken glass. Therefore, being 2 to 3 feet from the edge during a fast downhill might be "as far to the right as practicable", since that would be as close as you can get to the edge and still feel safe.
Another exception is for when there is a "substandard width lane." The CVC section then defines this as "a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane". To me, anything closer than 2 feet is unsafe for a car and bike to be traveling side by side. Therefore, if my downhill speed requires me to be about 2 feet inside the roadway, and I need another 2 feet to my left, then that means that a car would need to move over at least 5 or 6 feet from the edge of the roadway to be able to safely pass me by.
If I am going downhill and the road is curving, such that there is not enough sight distance, then I will move even further into the roadway, sometimes even hugging the double-yellow line, just to be sure that the car will not attempt to pass on the blind curve. This is a matter of safety, both for me, the car behind, and for any car that would be unlucky enough to be around the next corner. This is all perfectly legal. Once the road straightens out again, though, I will slow down, move to the right, and allow the car(s) to proceed when safe.
Legally, cars are not allowed to pass over the double-yellow line. But they are also not allowed to pass a bicycle unsafely. Since a car's only other choice is to remain behind the bike, most of them choose to pass by anyway. Since passing a bike and passing another car don't require anywhere near the same amount of time and distance over the double-yellow line, most cars prefer to do this instead of waiting. That is their decision. If I am driving a car, then my rule of thumb is to pass the bicycle by going over the double-yellow line about as far as the distance that the bike is riding out into the roadway. If I don't feel that this is safe, then I patiently wait until it is safe.
Legally, once the bicycle is "riding as far to the right as practicable" he is not required to pull over to let the car(s) go by until there are 5 or more cars waiting to pass. I don't press this point and I try to be courtious and allow the cars to pass without too much delay, but also they must realize that I have as much right to the use of the road as they do, and sometimes they just have to wait a few extra seconds.
Through experience, I have found no correlation between how close a bike is to the edge of the road and how much distance a car leaves between the car and the bike. Moving one foot closer to the edge does not mean that I will have one more foot of clearance between me and the cars. All it means is that the cars will not need to move over for you that extra foot. On the contrary, sometimes if a car thinks it can squeeze through between your bike and the double-yellow line, then it will, even though that means that it passes you closer than you would think safe. Even worse, if your bike is very close to the edge of the roadway, then the car might not even bother to move over at all, but just drive by like you weren't even there, even though it might be closer to you than you would prefer.
-Don Axtell