That's pretty much where I road most of the time when I was racing but never underestimate how much road rage that causes. It was fine when I was training in Bend, OR. Those drivers were very polite and in fact would always move into the other lane to pass. I honestly can't say enough good things about the people of Bend back in the early 90's. Beyond polite. Boise, ID on the other hand is a completely different world. I've had drivers call the police on me for doing this and the police take this stuff seriously in that if you do this, you are the problem. Oh, how they love to lecture about how you MUST ride as far to the right as safe & if that's in the wheel track of a vehicle, that's not safe. On one stop I had an office try to take me to the station for not having a drivers license to 'prove' my identity to him. He decided not to only after I explained to him how much my bike cost and that if he scratched the carbon fiber frame I'd be filing a claim with the departments insurance.

You're right in terms of one's experience being highly dependent on where they ride.

> Oh, how they love to lecture about how you MUST ride as far to the right as safe

Fortunately, my state (Virginia) has an exception (based on the Uniform Vehicle Code wording) to the keep as far right as practical rule that states that it doesn't apply if the lane is too narrow for a bicycle and other vehicle to safely travel side by side within the lane. If you take the width of a cyclist (2 ft), the distance between the end of the handlebar and edge of the road (minimum 2 ft), and the distance between the edge of the handlebar and the passing vehicle (at least 3 ft in most states), then you can argue that the cyclist needs a minimum of 7 feet. A typical passenger vehicle is about 6 ft wide. At typical lane is anywhere from 10 ft to 12 ft wide.

So for most lanes, you don't have to keep right at all. I haven't checked to see whether that's the case in Oregon or Idaho though.