(Brent P)
You're waiting in a lane behind five cars - or 4 motor vehicles and a minvan. I can't even imagine such a thing. What's a gutter? You mean the area where bikes pull up to the red light to wait? I should wait in a lane so that when the light turns green they run me over?
I think I bike in a different environment than you do. Manhattan. Sometimes I'm in a bike lane. Sometimes there are so many cars and ped-cabs and pedestrians in the bike lanes that I end up in the middle of the road with cars all around.
I can't even conceive of just waiting in line with cars. I pull up to the intersection as best I can, and usually don't bother waiting for the light to turn green.
The secret, as far as I can tell, is to be considerate. I don't cut off cars, bikes, or pedestrians. Or even those stupid ped-cabs. I leave the bike lanes and get into traffic to avoid the unpleasantness of cars turning across the bike lane. I even try not to startle pedestrians by doing things that they don't expect. But I'm sure not waiting in line with cars. That's half the fun of biking in the big city.
