Rules of the road??

[kfergos]

So I got my road bike a few months back and have been riding it to the gym, supermarket etc but I am not really sure of the rules of the road. Which side of the road do I ride on? Hand signals? How do I deal with honking? Sidewalks...yay or nay? Give some advice please!

Welcome to biking, and way to go using your bike as a tool! I highly recommend the MassBike safety classes. MassBike is our fabulous local bike advocacy group, and they offer League of American Bicyclist curriculum-based safety classes all summer: http://massbike.org/skills/classes.htm These classes are designed for beginning riders to help them learn the rules of the road. You'll have an evening in-classroom session and then a half-day on-bike session where you practice bike handling skills and then go on a guided group ride with the other people in your class. It's a really excellent way to boost your bicycling confidence so you can KNOW you're doing the right thing in various situations.

MassBike also has a helpful webpage for beginning cyclists: http://massbike.org/skills/index.htm -This page has lots of details and links to other pages that you'll probably find helpful.

If you don't choose to take one, or until you do, the basic rule of thumb is what other people said: Basically, act like a car. Ride predictably, signal like you would in a car, obey traffic laws like you would in a car. Drivers will appreciate your predictability and treat you like the vehicle you are when you act like one.

One more thing specifically about riding on the right: Here in MA you're required to ride 1 foot from the edge of good pavement, which means you don't have to ride in the gutter or through all those nasty potholes. Find a safe patch of road and stick with it, trying to ride in a straight line as much as possible.

Hope you have many happy bike miles!

PS - When honked at, I recommend smiling and waving. It gets 'em every time.