*Every* time I ride on Hennepin downtown, I see cars going straight for several blocks in the "Bikes, Buses, and Right Turns" lane. I'd come to DT bars and shops more often if the streets were safer for cyclists.

I promised in the blog that I'd be listening to learn how to drive my four wheels by your two, so here I am. I hope some will leave tips for my well intentioned, but bike-clueless suburban self. For instance, I can't tell when bike is trying to be in traffic or on the side. Some drive just off my front passenger edge of my Jeep and I don't know how to read where they're trying to be.

Try following here.

I bike like vehicle drivers are homicidal and driver like cyclists are suicidal.

It's worked out well as both a cyclist and a driver.

Bikers cannot be fundamentalists about their rights.

As a daily bike commuter, I see bicyclists break the laws throughout my ride from NE Mpls to Uptown. They are generally small things though, and drivers do the same small things. The difference is that a rolling stop by a car will potentially kill me. It's up to a biker to know this an be diligent and very aware. You're not going to care that you had the right of way if you're dead.

Jose, if it's a triggered light that you've been sitting at for an "excessive" amount of time, you can go thru if safe. But no, you can't just treat it as a stop sign.

Why to some cyclists insist on biking on the road when there is a bike trail running parallel to the road? Are there any laws covering this?

Ed note: Joey has an answer for you from our blog:

"Cyclists ride on the road because it is the safest place to ride. Riding on a trail adjacent to a major road results in about twice as many accidents per mile traveled. That may seem strange, since it feels like there aren't cars on the trail, but most of those trails actually cross a lot of roads, and when they get to the intersection cars aren't expecting cyclists to come darting out. "

Norsk, a bike is a vehicle that has a right to the road. But if there's a bike path, or a street a block over that has a bike lane, I'd rather ride there.

I still find the amount of obnoxious bikers scary - they're a danger to pedestrians riding on sidewalks, and a danger to drivers disregarding all traffic rules.

I bike and am shocked at how many bad ones we almost hit regularly.

I commute via bike year round.

I have been hit by a car when I had the right of way but was more aggressive that I should have been. I wear very bright clothing and though I was very visible until I was driving my motorized vehicle one day and did not see someone wearing the same clothing.

We are hard to see and need to assume no one has seen us.

I bike to & from work nearly every day through downtown Minneapolis. I see far too many cyclists ignore traffic laws.

Yes, it may be safe for you at that time, but you represent all cyclists when you're on the road. It says to drivers that you (and by extension all cyclists) are above the law.

Want to be respected on the road?

Follow the same laws as your fellow vehicles.

What the percentage of women bikers in Minneapolis?

I would believe the percent of women bikers would be an indicator of bike safety. For instance, I have read in other countries (i.e., The Netherlands) 55% of bikers are women.

I firmly believe in giving the bigger, larger, faster motor traffic benefit of the doubt. If we collide, no matter who is at fault, I lose.

Hear, hear, conigs!

To the caller: River road limit is 25mph. Serious cyclists can go about that fast. Motorists don't have the right to speed.

I've seen some ugly confrontations between racing bikes and people just "taking up space" on the Stone Arch Bridge - an especially dangerous place to bike fast, given its attractiveness to tourists, peds, etc.

I have noticed, as I commute more, that it is faster to ride on the street with traffic, than on a sidewalk or trail. And often, the road is a bit smoother than the trail.

I use the trails quite a bit, but will creep out in traffic if it is light.

re: w. river rd. The bike paths along the Grand Rounds are difficult to navigate due to the high volume of pedestrians that expand into the bike path. That occasionally gets combined with slower riders that ride across both bike lanes which blocks passing and a kills the natural flow of traffic on the bike paths.

Many paths, especially around the lakes have conflicting messages, and pedestrians get confused.

Serious bikers should give pedestrians the benefit of the doubt.

As a biker, on a daily basis, I am nearly struck by fellow bicyclists who pass me on either the right or left and never announce themselves.

I expect this from kids and amateurs, but serious bikers should know better.

Please announce yourself when passing. A simple "On your left" will suffice.

I am a biker myself but I get so frustrated by the lycra clad speed racers who bike around the lakes ON THE PATH going 20 miles an hour who swear and even swerve towards walkers.

They should be ticketed for this behavior. There are young bikers and people with strollers on this path. These guys need to bike on the road at this speed.