When you are riding a bicycle along a public road you need to decide which side of the road that you are going to be on. The two major concerns that you need to worry about are which side of the road will be safer for you, and what are your legal obligations?
When riding your bicycle down the road, you should always ride with traffic (except where local laws state otherwise) because it is much safer for you. In most areas, you must follow all of the same laws as any other traffic and it is illegal for you to ride your bicycle on facing traffic. You are also obligated to follow posted speed limits and must obey all traffic signals and stop signs.
You should always use hand signals before you make a turn to let traffic or other cyclists know what you are going to do. Always ride in single file, and if there are vehicles parked on the side of the road then ride in a line to their left rather than weaving in and out of the road. Predictability is important.
Some specific reasons that you should ride with traffic are because...
...in the US it is illegal to ride opposing traffic.
...you are more likely to escape collisions without a serious injury.
...if everybody did this, then you would not have to worry about passing somebody going in the other direction while two cars are also vying for road real estate at the same time.
...drivers expect you to be riding along with them and predictability makes you safer.
...drivers would often not have enough time to react to your being on their side of the road if you were both going at each other with any sort of speed.
When you plan your routes in an area where traffic drives on the right side of the road, try to make them go in a (generally) clockwise direction so that you will be riding with traffic and will not have to cross traffic as often. If traffic moves along the left side of the road, then you should run in a (generally) counter-clockwise direction.
You should not ride your bike on a sidewalk because in most places it is illegal. If there are bicycle lanes between the road and the shoulder, you should stay within the bicycle lane but still be traveling in the same direction as traffic. If you are on a bicycle path or trail, then you should ride on the same side as traffic moves along the roads (right side in the United States, left side in the United Kingdom.) This will make it less confusing if you are passing runners, roller bladders, or other cyclists. Again, predictability will make you safer.
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