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I have always worked on the assumption that in the vehicular arena, bicycles have the right of way. This hearkens back to my sailing days when I learned that the smaller vessel has the right of way, ipso facto (of course, I may be the only person to sink an MIT dinghy, so maybe this is not a good example).
So I generally move on down the road all sweetness and light and expect everyone else to get out of my way, or at least not get in my way. Considering that the average Boston driver gets into a veritable frenzy if they are delayed 10 seconds, this may not be the most prudent philosophy. So, I basically adopt the bullfighter approach, flash my lycra defiantly at the beast but be ever prepared to move deftly aside if it decides to charge. The cyclist, like the bullfighter, has the inherent advantage of being more maneuverable. You can make evasive maneuvers with your featherweight steed much more easily than two ton of Detroit iron (I guess that’s probably Kobe steel these days). You can also stop faster if you have to, god forbid, use the brakes.
I always assume that the driver will do the dumbest thing possible and this has served me well over the years. Of course this doesn’t take into account me doing the dumbest thing possible, which though hard to believe has happened on occasion. So in any potential encounter of the vehicular kind, I always have an exit strategy. If a car is approaching and I think it may decide to turn in front of me, I aim straight at it. This tends to enforce the idea that I don’t intend to stop, nay slow down, but if nimrod motorist decides to go ahead anyway, I can move out to the other side of the offending vehicle. If not, I just resume normal lane position. This requires nerves of steel and a well designed bail out. You don’t want to do this, of course, if there are cars behind you bearing down, but then if there are, vehicle #1 is not going to cut them off anyway. I find this approach works better than slinking along the side of the road with the rubble and the car doors, though I must say I haven’t made that many friends with the motoring population.
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