Originally Posted by ShardPhoenix
Paul, I wasn't in a cage.. Was riding my motorcycle, which happens to me my daily commute-mobile.
From what I saw of the shoulder, because I looked to see if there was a reason the cyclists were opting to not move over for a short bit to help ease the slight cluster fuck that was going on, I didn't see anything that would have made their mountain bikes spontaneously burst into flames or shred their tires. Not hard to do when you're only going 10mph and you're wondering why a couple of cyclists weren't doing their part to help maintain harmony on the roadway.
I understand the point you're trying to make, but please don't question a scenario when you weren't there to see what was going on. Bottom line was, there was little to prevent the two cyclists from, at the very least, switching into single file in order to create more breathing room for everyone. It's what I would have done if I had been riding a bicycle in that scenario, because I wouldn't want to get run over or be the catalyst that caused some impatient fuckwit to do something that ended up in a head on collision with another car.
There are no shortage of militant asshole vehicular cyclists out there. When people mention, as you did, something that looks like douchy behavior, I like to enumerate the legitimate reasons that may
explain their behavior.
I would like to mention another reason cyclists might avoid shoulders. The shoulder may be generally good, but every half mile or so there may be glass, nails or other threats. It can be more dangerous to move in and out of the lane than just to stay in it. If I am on the shoulder and come up on a broken bottle, how should I reenter the right of way. Wait for it to clear? Move out into the lane other traffic be damned?
In the scenario you described, had the shoulder been littered with debris, I may have been as far out into the lane as the outermost of the two riders riding side by side, in effect taking up as much space as they did. In areas with bad sight lines and narrow lanes, I assert the lane as mine to discourage someone from trying to pass too closely. I have found that if I try to hug the fog line people will pass me much more closely than they will if I move well out into the lane. Often dangerously close. I can understand why riders might ride side by side on narrow roadways with poor sight lines. It actually makes it easier for cagers to pass them than if they were riding a safe distance one behind the other while "taking the lane."
It doesn't sound like the case where you were though. If you want to throw up a google satellite image of the area in question, I might be able to shed more informed light on the situation.