2) Ahwatukee is blessed with many sections of road with designated bike lanes. However, I often see two and sometimes three bicyclists riding abreast of one another and outside of the bike lane. I understand the need to provide bicyclists adequate room when passing in a car, but do they have the right to occupy a lane of traffic when a bike lane is available to them simply so that they can carry on a conversation with a buddy? I have witnessed and myself have been forced to change lanes to avoid colliding with a bicyclist in the roadway when they have decided not to use an adjacent bike lane to chat with a fellow cyclist.
There were only 2 letters and this was the only comment about 'staying in the bike lanes'. It really does not seem unreasonable to me if the facts are 3 riders abreast. Now if it is a group of 20 that would be different, but that is not the image that comes to mind from the letter.