by christopherwk » Sun Sep 12, 2010 1:12 am
Stay in either tyre track - the wear in the road caused by the tyres a car makes, where the road surface is a lot smoother, and you don't have the oil, grease, stones, roughness etc by being in the middle of the lane.
Depending on circumstances, you'd usually stay in the right hand tyre track - imagine while riding on your bike, position where you would be sitting if you were driving a car. Ideally you should be able to be seen in two mirrors of the car in front of you - their rear view mirror, and the driver's side mirror.
Being in the right hand tyre track offers the advantage to being to see (and be seen), for possible overtakes, also when passing slower vehicles, such as lorries, you won't be affected as much by its' turbelence.
However, be aware of not being too far to one side of a tyre track, as there is a danger of a car undertaking/overtaking you on the same lane if it's wide enough. Keep an eye on your mirrors if this is likely to happen, if it is, then assert your position in your lane by moving over to the middle to prevent cars from doing so.