The rural highways around here are too narrow for bike riding, aren they?
Not really. They are too narrow for the preferred method of riding, where you can confidently take up the right side of the lane and still have enough room for vehicles to easily pass you. On the other hand, you can’t usually ride on the shoulder of a road that has enough room anyway. This is where gravel, dust, and debris collects. It is not even legal, since NC law says you must ride in the lane, but as far to the right as conditions allow. The real problem with having no shoulders on our two lane rural highways is that there’s no way to conveniently make room for vehicles that absolutely must pass you immediately, which is most of them. I don’t recommend causing such drivers to wait, either; particularly the large number of industrial trucks we have on Triangle roads. I use my helmet mirror to spot when such vehicles are approaching from behind, and make sure they have enough room to pass by checking the oncoming traffic. If it looks like there’s going to be a squeeze I can’t avoid,
