The negative side I have to get over is the polarization/friction it causes with the drivers.
if you attend a cm of a decent size, try this:
early in the ride when things are slow and compact downtown, cut to the front, get up on a newspaper box or something and count the number of cyclists who pass through a given intersection and how long it takes them. then, stick around and count how many cars get through - in all directions - in the same amount of time
i tried this a few years ago and, esp. considering how slow and clumsy a large mass seems to proceed, its staggering how many more people (on bikes) you can run through an intersection when you are ":censored: ing up" the flow of traffic vs. how many people (in cars) get through under normal circumstances
but "normal circumstances" is key to understanding the agony cm causes drivers, i think. there's a high level of unthinking entitlement that informs our understanding and expectations of driving, and cm :censored:s this all up. so, anger
but as a means of moving people (i mean traffic ) cm is an extraordinarily effective paradigm, and thus an admittedly kaleidoscopic lens that offers a view of a better world (i mean road)
"Nobody really gives a shit that you don't like the thing that you have no firsthand experience with." Dave