In my city I often ride on the roads because: * the bike lanes, while nice in though, are poorly planned out: * they’re only on one side of the road * they s

In my city I often ride on the roads because: * the bike lanes, while nice in though, are poorly planned out: * they’re only on one side of the road * they start and stop in weird locations and either foist you back into the main road, or onto a busy footpath. Getting from “where you are” to “where the bike lane is” is a multi-minute exercise in walking and crossing lights for 100m of lane. * People - including cops, park in them frequently * the city makes no attempt at cleaning them, so they’re filled with the detritus from the road and the footpath: gravel, wet leaves, broken glass, sand, tire-shreddings, these are a hazard to ride through. * because they pack both directions onto one area, each lane is super narrow, and you end up stuck behind casual commuters (I love to see people riding, don’t get me wrong) and there are few chances to cleanly overtake * in the city speed limits are pretty low, and between traffic lights at intersections and slow moving traffic (due to volume) it’s shockingly easy to outpace cars. Combine that with lane slipping, and you can often clear whole blocks at pace.