Originally Posted by
genec
And how, pray tell, would you ride in a lane too narrow to share... such as the typical older (thus narrow) urban street lined with parked cars. Bear in mind that the illustration shows an empty lane running parallel that any other traffic could use. No sidewalks are shown, no shoulder is shown... so these alternatives may not be available. Alternative streets may also not be available (a situation that readily exists in my 1950s neighborhood, which is surrounded by canyons)
Please tell us your magic sir. How do you ride such streets?
And no other traffic is shown, nor any parked cars. In fact such an idealized street as in the the diagram doesn't look like any of the urban streets that I commuted on daily in Philadelphia for five years. Those streets had constant traffic in all lanes, including passing (of both cars and cyclists) from the right parking/bus lane if the motorists thought they could squeeze in and beat the
slowpoke across the intersection.
My point is that urban cycling is hardly as simple as spouting "take the lane" or "stay off sidewalks" or "never ever ride in a door zone" or "be assertive" mantras, and drawing over simplified schematics.