Well, I wasn't a member of the "choir" when I first joined BF. I came here to learn all I could about riding bikes and to share the experience but I didn't know anything about vehicular cycling. I knew a little about cycling that I learned a long time ago and what I've observed other cyclists do around town (which means both right and wrong!) I learn a lot from these discussions, especially those where members manage to treat each other with respect even when they disagree. It's impossible to take it in all at once but each day I ride, I try to practice something I've read about here.

In fact, on my commute next week, I'm going to go ahead and take a left into the center turning lane of a four-lane major highway, then make an unprotected left 0.2 of a mile later. Up to now, I've been riding in the narrow shoulder against traffic between the two roads. I knew it was wrong but I didn't think I had the courage to go out on the highway. However, I also have realized that getting to that shoulder from the right lane of the road I'm turning off of and then getting off the shoulder to the right side of the road I'm turning onto, especially when there are cars at the intersections, is more problematic. Also, the oncoming cars don't give me nearly as much clearance as I thought they would, especially when they can see me way down the road and have plenty of time and space to move over!

A choir can always get better -- preaching to the choir works for me!