In some states, cyclists legally get the entire lane. And when you're going up to a low visibility intersection, you want to be in the middle of the road to maximize the angles that you're visible

There is no shoulder on the roads or bike lanes, just two lane roads (one each direction) with high speed limits and heavy truck traffic and commuters. Often they're going 80kmh around blind curves. There are essentially never bikes but when there are they either die or they create huge backups.