Frustration

Okay time to rant...

Bike lanes are just that... BIKE lanes!  They are not parking lots. They are not loading/unloading zones. They are not sidewalks for pedestrians. THEY ARE NOT TURN LANES FOR CARS!

I ride more than 200 miles a month for my commute to and from work, and it frustrates me to no end to see the above misuses of bike lanes!  Those are put there for the CYCLIST's protection, giving us a "safe" place to ride on a busy road.  When they are misused like this, we are forced to join into the flow of traffic, increasing our chance of an incident with a car, and generally making both the cyclist (me, in this case) and the drivers of the cars who - mistakenly - believe bikes don't belong on the road, frustrated.

A frustrated driver and a cyclist are a bad combination.

The other side of this rant is aimed at those idiots on bikes who seem to think that laws don't apply to them.  If we, as cyclists, want other drivers to accept our presence, and give us the rights and respect we deserve, WE HAVE TO FOLLOW THE RULES TOO!

Every single time a cyclist blows through a red light, it makes us ALL look bad.

Come on, people.  Let's all work together to make cycling a SAFE, ENJOYABLE way to commute!