Hogging the road

[JennK13]

I understand why people take the lane during a descent - and I typically stay out of the shoulder for descents for all the reasons mentioned.

However, this is not someone that's going down the hill and it takes her two minutes to do it and people should just be patient. This is someone that's repeatedly lapping a hill - so cars get to wait when she goes up the hill and cars get to wait when she goes down a hill.

These pullouts are for cars to use or trucks to let faster people pass them going up or down a hill - so we're not expecting her to do anything that a car driving that same stretch of road wouldn't do.

This is how I was looking at it, too. Is it safer to take the lane? Yes; but while the cyclist has a right to do so, you can also get a ticket for impeding traffic. Like Cataboo said, the road has pullouts, and they are there for slower moving traffic to use no matter what kind of vehicle they are in/on. There are places I dont ride because, even though I have a right to be there, it's not safe for me to ride there (sure, I can take the lane, but there are places I wouldn't drive a truck with a 5th-wheel trailer on, either). Some people have awesome skills and are fine on a descent at speed - there are many hills I ride where I am going as fast if not faster than vehicle traffic. Some people ride their brakes all the way down and impede traffic - and you can get ticketed for it. What's "safe" isn't always what's "right".

And I'll probably be even more likely to try to slow down and try to move over to the right to accommodate that person -- which, after all, is what the OP says I should be doing -- because, deep down, I still don't ever want to be in anyone's way. Even after all the crap I went through.

I see this as totally different. Almost everyone here has said that they would take the lane when needed to, because it IS safer to be there. But there is a difference in that you aren't doing hill repeats on a private, one lane road, or riding somewhere that may not be the best place in the world for cyclists.

I understand feeling guilty for being annoyed at a cyclist, too. But usually, I'm irritated at those jerks that give the rest of us a bad name like those who run red lights or ride on the wrong side of the path/street.