Ok, if you're a keen cyclist this isn't an invitation for an argument or pious monologue but a genuine query ... How does mixing cyclists and buses in bus lanes work?
My only experience of cycling in a bus lane has been in London, when I used to use a pushbike for the trip from Paddington down into Victoria/Westminster. From that I can say that an overweight middle-aged chap on a folding Brompton has absolutely no problem at all riding faster than a London Bus as they have to stop so often. On a Pedelec, it's the buses that get in the way of the cyclists rather than the other way round.
I used to rather like cycling around London. In the rush hour you are part of a massive phalanx of bikes going down the main bits so you felt very safe indeed with hundreds of other riders around you, and it's extraordinarily easy to duck off down little-used lanes and side roads to avoid the really dangerous bits. And the bliss of whizzing across Hyde Park or wherever on a summer's morning with the churds burping and the squirrels scuttling about is a splendid way to set oneself up for a day in the office.
