Fast Streets W/Bike Lane or Side Streets?

[westtexas]

It must be nice to even have bike lanes as an option. I don't think I've ever seen any in my town. I wonder if the town where I move to on Monday will have any? Luckily I have two weeks before I start work to figure out a good commuting route so I can make bike commuting a real possibility for me. Even if there aren't lanes though, traffic doesn't bother me. I cycled on busy streets in Berlin, Germany one summer (although admittedly they are a lot more bike friendly there than they are here in Texas) and didn't die, and since then... I just take the lane a lot, act predictably, signal, wear visible clothing and look like I mean business.

[Becky]

I just take the lane a lot, act predictably, signal, wear visible clothing and look like I mean business.

This.

[skhill]

As all my close calls with cars in the past year have come when I was using a bike lane, my tendency now is to avoid bike lanes and use side streets. The way they're laid out in my town is not very smart-- you're often in the door zone of a lot of parked cars. Also, there's no prohibition of parking in or otherwise blocking bike lanes here. So it's side streets a lot of the time, or taking a general traffic lane whenever I don't feel the bike lane is safe, which is most of the time.

But the conditions in every city are different, as are folks' risk tolerance...