Taking the full lane isn't your only option. Although it's counterintuitive, bicyclists are much safer riding a few feet to the left of the white line -- ON the road, not in the shoulder. I've experienced this first hand for years, and I'm always amazed to see how close motorized vehicle drivers will try to come to a cyclist riding in the shoulder or at the very edge of the road, while the same motorists will give significant and safe distance to a rider who is unmistakably taking up a few feet on the actual road. Last year when my sweetie and I were cycling on tiny little roads in Ireland where there was no shoulder to be had, we saw this dynamic at work over and over. If we tried to ride the edge, the motorists drove too fast and too close, but when we took up more space, they carefully and slowly passed us. As GuitarStv said more graphically, motorists don't want cyclist blood on their windshields. Take up your space on the road, relax and enjoy the ride.