• i didn't know there were any bus lanes we weren't allowed in

    Yes, there are some, usually bus contraflows in which a bus can't pass a cyclist. There are usually fairly obscure technical reasons for it, too. Even the contraflow bus lane on Pentonville Road was 'no cycling' until about eight or nine years ago. The level of non-compliance was much too high for that policy to be upheld. (Sometimes, traffic orders are effectively led ad absurdum in this way.)

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