Originally Posted by John Forester
I should not need to remind many of those participating in this discussion that you, as bicycle advocates, are strenuously advocating this policy of incompetent cycling on bikeways and are therefore a considerable portion of the opposition to useful cyclist training.
Oh, I know that some of you want to have your cake and eat it, too, in that you want to continue advocating according to the policy of incompetent cycling on bikeways while recognizing that vehicular cycling is necessary. Well, that won't work, because it will not turn around public opinion in the way that is required for social recognition that cyclists should be operating according to the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles.
Actually my view is quite different, albeit perhaps just as schizophrenic as you say. I like on road cycling facilities primarily because they, if nothing else, indicate to motorists that indeed I should be cycling on the street and no where else. Where said facilities do not exist, the expressed opinion is often that cyclists should be on the sidewalk. Frankly, if motorists fully understood our rights and how they, the motorists, should interact with cyclists, then all the extra lines on the road could just go away. But until then, the "slot car minded" American driver is best served with lines. Motorists understand "stay between the lines," and that too is a lot of "culture" to try to remove.