Originally Posted by
63rickert
The only safe and frequently the only possible speed in bike lanes is the speed of the slowest user. You report doing 21mph in a bike lane. I will have to assume you were in splendid isolation in some venue with no other bikes, no peds, really no nothing but you and pavement. I don't know urban settings like that. Entire discussion of bike lanes universally assumes ideal circumstances that never happen.
Absurd assertions abound. Bike lanes have sections where there are riders ahead of you and when there are not. I'm perfectly capable of slowing from 21 to a speed at which I can safely pass or evade others in the lane, then resume speed. And as I said, I was doing this on Mass. Ave., not some low traffic section of the cities I was riding in, you're the one assuming things are either splendid isolation or completely blind circumstances. Seriously, do you ever ride on urban bike lanes? If you did, you'd probably realize that some of them are actually pretty good, and useful for much faster safe travel than trying to ride in the lane.