Thanks for the novel, Pat. I appreciate it.

The thing is, you have to ask exactly those types of specific questions like you said: "Would a bike lane be of net benefit to cyclists on ...."

Thinking about my little ride in the Valley yesterday, we rode on some roads that were basically the same as far as traffic goes (for a Saturday morning) and had outside lanes pretty much the same size, with parking allowed.

The problem with just having a wide curb lane without a bike lane is you have to stake a claim to a certain place on the huge football field of asphalt and try to hold it. If the parked cars are far apart, you have to claim a spot way out there. You want to be polite--after all, there is room to share, but you don't want to be forced too close to the next parked car way down there in front of you. Many people will not understand why you are not closer to the curb. And many times the width of the road seems to fluctuate slightly. So you are stuck trying to stake a claim and hold it with a small, slow and easily maneuvered vehicle. It makes no sense from the motorist's point of view why you don't just get out of the way. After all, even in a lane-sharing situation, they want to pass you as far away from you as they can.

On the roads with the bike lanes, the amount of pavement was the same, but with the bike lane there you did not need to stake a claim and be prepared to defend it. You only had to concern yourself with whether or not the bike lane was adequate at any given time, which it was most of the time. It just makes things easier.

So, would a bike lane smooth the way for cyclists on these roads? On the one that allowed parking on the weekend, I don't see how it could help. That's a busy, nasty road and you probably would avoid it as much as possible except for the weekends. But the other road where we took the lane, it would probably help make things clearer.