I took the lane, but it scared people

[PamNY]

I was stopped at a traffic light today when a woman (I think a tourist) ran up to me and said "Watch out! There's a big bus right behind you!" The light changed, so we didn't chat, but I think she was quite sincere.

It really is an awful intersection, and one of the few places where I do take the lane for reasons too complicated to go into. I appreciated her concern, but I have been chuckling all afternoon. Maybe she's from a country where cycling is a bit more civilized than it is in NYC. Around here there's always a big bus behind me.

Pam

[Eden]

Personally I prefer having a big bus behind me over having one 2 inches off my right elbow...... (or breathing their fumes for that matter)

[OakLeaf]

It's supposed to scare people. Into not hitting you.

[Zen]

Oh, she's probably just somebody's mother

if they didn't run over this guy

they won't run over you either. as long as you're highly visible, anyway.

[Miranda]

She probably didn't realize that bikes could do that. This is something my new riding partner is very good at. Me, not so good at. In the country, it just scares the he$$ outta me. Like the car *still* trys to pass on the left with your arm stuck out turning left. Or some ya-hoo behind that one. Went to Chicago with a GF. Omg, the bike lane... what a beautiful thing! I'd take the lane in the big city with a bus behind me anyday versus in Mayberry with country road rage idiots. Ghee.

[msincredible]

Sounds much more civilized than the response I commonly hear, "Get on the f...ing sidewalk!"

[tctrek]

Sounds much more civilized than the response I commonly hear, "Get on the f...ing sidewalk!"

DH and I frequently take the lane at big intersections (as a means of survival!).. last weekend a pickup truck full of bubbas behind us screaming out the windows "That's what sidewalks are for!".

But I'm out there in my neon green jersey, with lights flashing on my seatpost, reflective tape everywhere.. if they hit me, they better have a really good story for why they didn't see me

[cylegoddess]

What scared me, is reclining bike in bus lane/cycle lane. The guy had two blinky lights and a small flag but was so low that any bus could have squashed him literally , flat.

[OakLeaf]

You know, I've been riding a lot lately with one or two people on recumbents, and they're not as low as they look. When I'm in my shallow drops, my head is pretty much at the exact same level as theirs.

[shootingstar]

Not totally convinced I could ever have the confidence to take up a lane in a recumbent in front of a bus/truck.

I have taken up the lane in front of a bus at different times..often I don't realize it above roar of traffic, until the bus is behind me and driver is bunny stopping along the way, to slow down for me.