I try to practice vehicular cycling when feasible. If it doesn't look like it's safe for me to get into the left lane and make a turn, I will get off the bike and walk it across the crosswalk like a pedestrian. This morning, while I was riding, I felt it was safe to stay in the street. Although the streets were busy, there was a gap in the cars behind me, and few cars getting into the turn lane. So I signaled and got into the left lane. While waiting for the light to change, I stayed in the right side of the lane, and a cop car pulled up next to me.

The cop said that what I was doing was "very dangerous" and I should be riding in the sidewalk. I said, politely, that I had always heard one should bike in the street with the cars so that they can see you. He countered that because this was rush hour, the cars wouldn't be expecting me and I was more likely to get hit. I replied that I used to ride in the sidewalk, and I had twice almost gotten hit by cars turning onto crosswalks or driveways that didn't see me. He again said that this was dangerous during rush hour and I said nothing, and was glad when the light changed.

Thoughts? Do any of you avoid making left turns, or stay off the street entirely, when there is more traffic? Or did the cop just not know what he was talking about? I also wonder if I were a man, and wearing full Lance Armstrong gear (jersey, bicycling shorts, etc.) if he would have said anything. I wonder if because I'm a woman, and was just wearing regular clothes, he assumed that I couldn't possibly know what I was doing by being in the street with cars.