Cycling in Waterloo Region

[Pheidippides]

I would never, ever ride in the traffic lane here - there's no reason to.

But there is reason. If you were ever involved in a crash you would likely be charged with an improper entry to the roadway, passing on the shoulder (right), or unsafe lane change. Plus, the lane is narrow enough that, except for really small cars, vehicles can't actually move over enough to give you the 1m they are required to when passing you.

The problem is, as you say, just before Union.  I just look over my shoulder, signal and give a friendly "Thank you" wave and people are generally reasonable and it all works out.

That works about 50% of the time for me. The other half of the time, even if I start signalling well before I need to (i.e. John St), I end up having to come to a full stop and wait for the stream of traffic to pass because no one is willing to let me over.