On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 15:26:19 +0000, loki wrote:

Some motorcyclist acquaintances of mine claim similar experiences
especially wrt to cars passing them without moving fully into the other
lane. They say eventually they get crowded right off the roadway.
Consequently they ride near to the centre line to force autos to fully take
the other lane to pass.

The motorcyclist way of treating the lane as being three--the middle being
"verboten" because of the oil drippage--works great around here in
Nashville, where folks often refuse to acknowledge a bike as a vehicle
[vs. a toy] I occupy the right side of the lane in the city here and have
have much better interaction with traffic because of it. I also make sure
to smile at folks and wink at the cute ladies... Sometimes I'll ride far
far right when I know somebody really has to pass and the going's tight,
but for the most part "occupying" the lane when I'm going withing 5-10mph
of traffic calms people that feel this burning desire to pass
otherwise--even if it's not going to really be in anybody's best
interest--since they simply can't.

The classic "pass" around here is the guy that MUST get past you because
you are a cyclist (!), then slows down and cuts you off making a right
turn. [slaps forehead and says duh...] I get a couple of these per day
even with my "assertive" style.

Oh well.