I’m in Ontario and ride on quite a few rural roads. Unfortunately, speed limits are pretty much ignored and nearly every vehicle that passes is a high-speed pickup truck, which sucks when there’s no shoulder. 😫
New Brunswick here, it’s much the same with the speeding and the huge pickups, but I’ve found drivers give me a lot more space when passing on a rural road than a busy city street. Like usually half a lane away from me at a minimum, if not an actual proper pass.
I’m assuming it helps that I don’t really “look like a cyclist”, at least in the eyes of motorists. I feel people might be more aggressive towards someone wearing lycra on a road bike, whereas my goofy ass riding a hybrid-cruiser-city bike and wearing a high-vis vest is novel enough on a rural road for them to take notice of me.
I do a similar trick as a shirtless fat guy wearing flip flops cycling in the middle of the road in my city. In my case it’s less that they’re not so aggressive but more that they end up being convinced that I’m a crazy person they should give space to. Which I am.
I’m in Ontario and ride on quite a few rural roads. Unfortunately, speed limits are pretty much ignored and nearly every vehicle that passes is a high-speed pickup truck, which sucks when there’s no shoulder. 😫
New Brunswick here, it’s much the same with the speeding and the huge pickups, but I’ve found drivers give me a lot more space when passing on a rural road than a busy city street. Like usually half a lane away from me at a minimum, if not an actual proper pass.
I’m assuming it helps that I don’t really “look like a cyclist”, at least in the eyes of motorists. I feel people might be more aggressive towards someone wearing lycra on a road bike, whereas my goofy ass riding a hybrid-cruiser-city bike and wearing a high-vis vest is novel enough on a rural road for them to take notice of me.
I do a similar trick as a shirtless fat guy wearing flip flops cycling in the middle of the road in my city. In my case it’s less that they’re not so aggressive but more that they end up being convinced that I’m a crazy person they should give space to. Which I am.