You did not answer my question. Are you familiar with the negotiation techniques that vehicular cyclists use to merge left across multiple lanes of fast and busy traffic?
However, given your lack of a direct answer, plus the implied attitude that views the need to negotiate with faster traffic as "competing" with cars, I'm going to have to assume the answer is "no".
FYI, the negotiation techniques that vehicular cyclists use to merge left across multiple lanes of fast and busy traffic are based on cooperative concepts, not competition. In particular, vehicular cyclists recognize and respect that faster traffic has the ROW in the lanes they wish to cross, and, in order to get across, they must coax them to yield the ROW to the cyclist.
As with many complex problems, a useful approach is often to break it down into smaller more manageable problems. In this case, we break down the problem of merging across multiple lanes of fast/busy traffic into N individual problems, where N is the number of lanes we must cross.
For each lane we must cross, starting with the rightmost lane of which we are presumably initially traveling along the right edge, we:
- issue a request for someone to yield the ROW to us within that lane.
- wait for someone to yield the ROW to us.
- claim the ROW within that lane by merging into it and establishing a position near the left edge of the lane.
We repeat those three steps, one lane at a time, until we are in the left turn lane.
Many cyclists are hesitant to try this technique because they envision themselves "stuck" out in the middle of the road with traffic passing them on both sides and no one yielding the right of way to them to get out of there. This is an understable fear, which can only be overcome by working on this technique on smaller roads and building up to fast/busy multilane roads.
Experienced vehicular cyclists know that the most difficult merge is the first one, because motorists are most hesitant to yield to a cyclist who is where he is "supposed to be"... at the right side. Once you're out of that position, motorists are surprisingly accomodating to help you get across.
So, the first step, issue a request for someone to yield the ROW to us further left in the rightmost lane, is perhaps the trickiest. Turns out that this is pretty easy too. Simply looking back over your left shoulder, while maintaining a straight course (practice this somewhere where there is NO traffic!), is about all it takes. Sometimes, particularly to get out of that right side of the rightmost lane, you have to do a bit more, like extend your left arm out. Inevitably, someone will slow for you to let you in. I rarely have to wait for more than one or two cars, especially once I'm out of that right edge.
The beauty of the technique is that you are never riding in front of anyone who has not explicitly slowed down for you and let you in. At that point they typically behave as if they feel an obligation to see it through, and stay behind you traveling at your speed, blocking for you so to speak, until you successfully execute your merge into the next lane (now covered by someone else who has volunteered to slow down, let you in, and block for you).
So for all this to work, you must have the right attitude (see the "attitude" thread for more on this topic). In particular, if you view it as
competing with cars, it's not going to work. You must view it as
cooperating with motorists, as one vehicle driver working with other vehicle drivers.
Serge