[pbsurf]

at the next stop sign he just cruised to the stop sign in the 2 foot space between the cars and the curb and blocked slowed down even more cars

If the cyclist passed you and even more cars already at the stop sign, that implies that if, instead of passing him, you simply followed him as you would have any other vehicle, you would have ended up in the same place in the queue of motor vehicles at the stop sign. Thus you saved zero time by passing the cyclist.

In city traffic, the average speed of a cyclist can easily be greater than the average speed of motor vehicle, yet many motorists, perhaps not understanding the difference between maximum speed and average speed, insist on rushing past cyclists at the first opportunity, safe or not, just to stop and wait at the next intersection.

[eridius]

I'm not the OP, but it sounds like the cyclist came up the edge of the lane, between the car and the curb, to get in front again. A car can't follow a bike into a 2-foot-wide gap.

[jschwartzi]

The point is that it did no good to pass the cyclist if they arrived at the intersection after you and then had enough time before the light changed to gingerly pedal to be in front of you. Even if your top speeds were wildly different, the fact that you both still ended up in the same place at the same time but further down the road, implies that there was no need to pass.

To belabor the point, you would be said to have the same mean velocity, but different peak velocities.

[eridius]

I'm guessing if they didn't have to wait patently to get past a slow bike, they would have gotten through the intersection long before the bike got there. The only reason the bike was able to get back in front was because it delayed them earlier.

[anon4]

No, no it can't. But as far as I'm aware, the bike is allowed to ride in the 2-foot-wide gap. And still, the bike isn't stopping you from going forward. In the case when there really isn't enough space to pass the bike - the road is just too thin, the guy on the bike is a dumb asshole and shouldn't ride on that road.