^ Yeah on MUPs, cyclists are the sharks. On the road, cyclists are guppies.

OP, you ought to try both and go with whatever that you feel works for you. I am fortunate that our metro area are cycling focus and most of our major roads have clearly defined bike lines and are well traveled. Meaning motorists are used to seeing cyclists traveling along with them.
When the weather turns nice, MUPs are full of people, dogs and cyclists. Alot of these people are just as engaged with:
- Media devices ipod, iphone, i-whatever (damn you Apple!)
- busy yakking away with friends
- strolling aimlessly
- erratic dog behaviours and their clueless slaves
- moms and their wide-berth strollers that think any one going faster than walking pace is a menace
- jogging buddies that yak with one another...
- the list goes on.
I have personally witnessed multiple times of pedestrians walking into one another due to either Twittering or replying to Facebook. It's ridiculous.

So in that sense, you have a smorgasbord of variables that will have your fingers on the brake levers at all times.