I was raised to obey the rules of the road whether on a bike or in a car so I don't have this expectation that I'll be riding abreast of other bikers and yakking any more than I'd expect to be driving alongside another car and yelling a conversation between cars. If I'm someplace where there's clearly not going to be auto traffic for a while, I may ride abreast but I'll go right back into single file as soon as there's traffic to share the road with. I'm fine with taking the lane when I need to do so for my own safety, but in general I think it's rude as a very slow vehicle (my riding speed averages at 10 mph these days) to take the lane when I don't have to. Back when I used to ride Critical Mass pretty regularly (in the first couple years of its existence), I found myself often endangered by cyclists riding alongside me because they didn't ride in any consistent way. I couldn't predict where they were going to go. They often criss-crossed and I saw a couple collisions as well as narrowly missed a few myself. This tends not to happen when one is riding single file. The only single file accidents I know of happen when a cyclist in front of one has to make a sudden stop.

Do I obey every single law there is for bikes? No. If I'm on a street with no traffic or pedestrian traffic, I won't stop for a stop sign. (I do stop for lights, however.) If I'm on the top of a T-intersection and no pedestrians are around, I'll often blow through because a cyclist riding along the shoulder can't possibly intersect badly with where the cars are going. But in general I believe there are good reasons for the laws we have and I believe that we could have a safer and more civil society if people obeyed them.

My drive towards civility in biking (or any transit) is nothing new. I value civility. And I've seen how scofflaws and hooligans give cyclists a real PR black eye. Will pure civility get cyclists the kind of change we want? No. But neither will pure hooliganism.

Yeah, I read this guy's blog, and I already replied. People are getting a Cliff Note's version of the idea behind my ride (it's about a hell of a lot more than merely stopping at lights). Also, this was the biggest ride I'd had, and the format is fluid. One reason I started a group was to get more rider input so that I can make the experience relevant and fun for all.

Besides, Moreau, haven't you ever heard the expression, "You can't please everyone all the time." It's entirely true, and the positive comments have outweighed the negative on a ratio of 20-1. Rides may well be sprouting up in Seattle & Minneapolis.