I've ridden this path MANY times before without incident, so I don't want to vilify MUP's or the people that ride them.
However, awareness and a helmet isn't going prevent an incident, if you ask me. It may slightly diminish the probability of an accident and severity of injury if it occurs. But, when someone at the last minute decides they are going to swerve directly into you, there isn't going to be a whole lot you can do about it but hold on and hope for the best.
I think the saying is, plan for the worst, hope for the best? As it turned out this day, luck was on my side; I didn't plan for the worst, but didn't end up needing a helmet anyways. The other guy did wear a helmet and ended up on his back (I don't know if he hit his head, but don't think so...).
Anyways, the point of this thread was mainly to vent at the person I encountered. I doubt he'll ever read this, but on the off-chance: if you ride no-handed at times, all I would suggest is consider not doing it on a path with other people nearby. Add to the fact that you decided to not look at what was ahead of you, and you are really lucky that my bike was the only casualty (found my front derailleur is borked as well) - can you imagine if the same thing had happened with someone riding with their infant on the back?
To others riding on paths and the road, stay safe and best of luck to you
