The Bread and Butter of an Urban Cyclist

Dealing with Obstacles on the shoulder…

Being able to weave in and out of the shoulder lane and into traffic is one of the most basic and important skills you need to learn in order to ride in the city. New York City is full of double parked cars, trucks loading and unloading, construction workers, people trying to hail a taxi, etc. This is the bread and butter of any urban rider’s skill-set.
There will be many times when you are riding in the shoulder when there’s going to be a double parked car that’s going to push you further into car traffic. Of course try to look back to see what’s going on in traffic behind you, not just for yourself, but so that traffic behind see you looking back at them. When they see you that they will (hopefully) realize that you are about to move into their lane. The question is , do you let the car behind you pass by the double parked car first and wait or do you take their lane before they pass that parked car? Indecision here can cause you to get hurt, hit from behind, or being squeezed between a moving and a parked car. If you see that you will reach the parked car at your present speed first, then by all means take the lane (try to signal if you have the time), pass the obstacle and go on your merry riding. If on the other hand, the car at its present speed will get there first, do yourself and the car behind you a favor and let it pass the parked car first. Wait for it to pass and as soon as it does go right behind it to pass the parked car. If you go first , the car behind you has to either slow down and pump the brakes. Some drivers will just get pissed off and keep going. You don’t want to engender any ill-will from other drivers, remember they are stronger than you and can kill you.
Do it with no fuss and you'll get home safe and fast. Try to get too greedy and you’ll come home with many close encounters, and sooner or later you’ll get caught and get fucked up.
One of my rules is to let the traffic flow, you don’t want to slow down car traffic unless you have to.