Honestly, no one stops for a stop sign. I roll stop signs all the time and no I'm not going to be sorry about it; I even had a police officer wave me through an intersection. Point is this, making your bicycle come to a complete stop is pointless unless it's absolutly nesseccary and most of the time, it isn't. You have to down shift, unclip, put your foot down, apply the brakes, it's more trouble than it's worth.

When I'm driving, I follow the rules of the road. When I'm biking, I ignore the rules of the road entirely. Drivers have yelled at me so many times on the road that I really don't care what they think of me anymore. Most of them think bicycles are toys, and cyclists should not even be allowed on the road. With an attitude like that, obeying the rules of the road will not prevent them from yelling at you. Actaually, pulling up behind you and laying on the horn is a lot worse than yelling. Nothing unnerves you or makes you angrier than some moron coming up behind you and laying on the horn when you are just riding along.

I think a lot of people here are confusing a 'rolling stop' with 'blowing a stop sign'.

The former you slow down significantly and check both directions (generally a 4 way stop sign). If you can see that no other car is going to get there before you, you would have the right of way anyway. So instead of coming to a complete stop then starting again you roll through the sign.

I feel I have to explain this since everyone has imprinted the image of a cyclist ignoring traffic and blowing through streets in there head.

I agree. I took a road course this weekend and the instructor said we are to "stop forward progress" but that doesn't mean we have to come to a stop such that we have to put a foot down. I always stop completely if there are cars around but otherwise, I slow as much as I can and still balance and then start up again if it's clear.

I commute 10 miles each way in Boise-Meridian, Idaho. To tell you the truth, I hardly ever stop at a stop sign but I almost always stop and wait for the Red lights. I do this even though I tend to be an aggressive, every man for himself rider. This is because the common driver here does not appear to even know that we have a legal right to be on the road, let alone to treat the red lights as stop-signs. I have no interest in making it appear as if cyclists have no respect for the law. I am not sure how other riders do it here but I know at least my club does the same on our group rides. Moreover, the traffic is usually so busy that I don't have the opportunity to run a light except right before it turns green anyway or when taking a right hand turn.

now, you're talking about lights at four-way intersections. i thought we were talking about stop signs.

i'm much more careful at four-way intersections with lights.

sam... i admit that i am a lawbreaker. i have, in my life, smoked pot, drunk beer in a public place... and had sex in a public place. once, i shoplifted a couple of cans of tuna and some pasta when i had no money, and i roll stop signs and occasionally burn a red light.

are you telling me that you have never broken the law, and that you respect every law?

I stop at all red lights even at 3am when nobody is on the road. I do this because I would do the same if I was in a car.

I also go through yellows sometimes...same as in a car.

indeed, all of the above!

but,

I'm a changed man in regard to traffic law. For several years I've obeyed every one of them, even with no one around. It's not so much for my safety, my first 3-4 years messengering in some unfriendly-to-cyclist places taught me all I'll need to survive and prosper on any road rules be damned. The rest have shown me I can get there as fast with 2-wheels while obeying the traffic codes. So I do that now for the sake of riding fast, bragging rights and cycling advocacy. If I can smoke off one of my own mates while they do the ol' derring'do as I stick to the rules myself I think that sez more for 2-wheeled transportation than anything else I could do while getting the job done. It's also an excellent tool for building a mental discipline that will make you fairly well immune to any form of road rage no matter what you encounter or witness.

Want a great trick for building slow-twitch muscles while getting from point A to point B? Stop for the lights, the stop signs, yield to the foolish peds, wait while the old lady finishes crossing, pass the dumb ass commuter running signals for the third time in 3 blocks, and do it with beating your best time in mind while getting rid of a whole whack of reasons for road rage.
If you gotta ride in the city anyway (smog sucks your cardio no matter how you ride in town) it'll give you a warm fuzzy to find yourself beating the cars at their own game whether they play right or not.