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Old 02-21-13 | 12:34 AM
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loneviking61
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 378
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From: Carson City, NV

Bikes: Schwinn Trailwise, Surly Pugsley

Originally Posted by jyl
Do you split lanes?

I almost never do. I mostly practice "vehicular cycling", a term I just heard, meaning that I try to ride as if I'm a car or motorcycle, the main exception being that when safe I hug the right to let cars pass.

But I realized that there is one place where I routinely split lanes. It is here

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=google...gl=us&t=h&z=20

See that back up of seven vehicles driving west (left) and trying to make the left turn from W/B NE Halsey onto S/B NE 39th? That is a slight uphill.

I can line up behind the 9th or 10th car, stop and go up the grade, clipping and unclipping, then try to keep up with the cars as they accelerate through the intersection and turn left.

Or, I can split the lane, arrive at the intersection sitting on the line between the left turning lane and the two right turning lanes, then when the light turns I can go straight, out of the way of the left-turning cars, and make a wide left turn as the cars stream by on the inside. That is what I do, all the time.

Does that make sense to you? What would you do? Are there times when you split lanes?
That's the way I do it. I think the lane splitting rule has to pretty much be ignored at intersections. After all, if you have an intersection where there are three lanes with one turning left, one going straight and one turning right with proper bike striping the bike lane is going to be between the right turn lane and the lane going straight. That's a lane split!
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