There are some pics of local bikes as well, but none of the super cool utility bikes that I have admiration for (the top-heavy loads they carry on those things!)

I also have one video up of an intersection I cross a couple times a day at least, more if I go grocery shopping or visit friends. Keep in mind it’s shot at 2 in the afternoon, a very quiet time on the roads. I’m going to edit together that vid and some others and add some commentary so that it’s a little easier to understand. That will have to wait until I move my furniture around today, though.

Raw vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOkS2Of8-yg

The pics and vids are all taken from the designated bike lanes to display exactly why I don’t like to use them.

The good. Separated from parked cars so you can’t get doored. Should make people feel safer since they are in traffic. Lots of space, looked to be wider than the bicycle lanes around here.

The bad. Intersections. Looked like in some places there were cars parked right up until the turn lane. This would make it hard to be seen, and hard to see, increasing the chances of getting hooked as some car turns in front of you. In some of the scenes it looks like you would be coming from unexpected directions compared to normal traffic, also making you harder to see. What Kim said about pedestrians would worry me. When you are coming at 15 or even 20 miles an hour if they don’t look and treat you like a car it could go badly. In what stats I have seen most bicycle accidents happen at intersections, and rarely do you get hit from behind.

Admittedly some of the intersections looked alright, but several had cars parked up until the turn lanes. It might work, but I’d have to see more video and probably ride on them. I would be very careful, and probably would have to bike slower than I normal due in these lanes.

I ride in the street where I can be seen. Even though the city spends money on the lanes, bicycles are legally vehicles, and should we hit a pedestrian on the sidewalk, it’s a big problem legally (not to mention it probably hurts).