Do you hand signal? Do you always avoid the shoulder?

I ride as far right as possible. I always signal if there is a car or another cyclist anywhere near where I am turning. 

I always signal - I don't want drivers to have any question of my intentions.  Even at that, I assume that they don't see me, even if we make eye contact at intersections.  I always defer to cars when the right-of-way is in question.

I try to pick routes that have bike lanes or shoulders, but that's not always possible. I try to be consistent and ride with the outside of my handle bars over the edge of the pavement, giving me a little margin for error in not running my wheels off the pavement. 

Even when riding on shoulders or bike lanes I will occasionaly move onto the road to avoid sand, gravel, or other debris.  My worst crash came a couple of years ago when I went down due to some sand the had been washed into the bike lane from recent heavy rain.

Mark

I try to signal if a car is waiting for me needlessly, and I try to gesture for someone to go if they are waiting to see if I'm going to stop or not at a stop sign.  If nobody is around, I rarely, if ever, signal.

As far as riding the white line, there are a couple reasons someone might do that.  First, debris on the shoulder.  Glass, gravel, etc.  The other is sometimes the rumble strips or whatever they are called that make tons of noise for automobiles and are impossible to ride on for a road bike.  Those are there to alert drivers that they have drifted out of the lane.  Last, if there are multiple lanes and not much traffic, I might ride side-by-side with a buddy with one of us on or over the white line.  Besides those instances, if there's a shoulder, I'm on it.  No sense riding in the lane if you don't have to.

Reasonable questions - not all is black and white.  Do I always use hand signals, no if conditions dictate that is is less safe to do so than not.  Sometimes the road is rough, sometimes it is unneccesary and the answer is obvious.  I do try to communicate, but if in doubt I always give the car the right of way.

Do I always avoid the shoulder?  Probably not, there are some very clear stretches of shoulders and if I am riding alone or with only a couple of guys I will ride the shoulder.  In large groups, I believe the shoulder is somewhat frowned upon because its width and duration is often unpredictable.  Also, that is where the debris collects and to ride there can cause accidents.  In groups you do not have the distance to see the objects ( shoes, bricks, rocks etc.) coming up so well.  

I hate to earn riders a worse reputation among the drivers than what they have. Everyone drives and understands the drivers position, but unfortunately few drivers ride and understand our position. 

I just wish impatient drivers understood that passing on a double yellow is illegal and that they may have to choose between a head on and taking out a group of riders.  I see that come close too often.  So far it has not had to happen, but am waiting to see it.

I always signal (by pointing or waving) and get as far over to the right on the shoulder as possible.  In Georgia, there sometimes is no pavement to the right of the white line but if there is pavement over there, I'm on it.  If there is debris on the shoulder (or a hole), I make sure the way is clear, signal and move left around it.

And, as a previous poster said, I wave cars around me when it is safe to do so.

If you can't take one hand off of the handlebars to signal a turn, you are either going too fast for conditions or need to work on your bike-handling skills.  Signaling is an important (and courteous) way to tell others on the road what you are doing.  If you don't tell them, they have to guess and that is never safer for anyone.