Originally Posted by jon c.

Roads existed before bicycles.

My dad was reading something recently at his local historical society (Rochester, NY) about the bike boom in the 1890s. There was great hue and cry over the large number of bicyclists zipping through the downtown area scaring horses and pedestrians alike. The end result was a move for speed limits to control the irresponsible bicyclists.

The wheelmen lobbied for Good Roads indeed, but also fought for their own separate path infrastructure

The same article discussed the recent construction of a 15 mile toll bikeway connecting Rochester with a neighboring town. It was described as gravel construction, so I don't know how smooth it was. But probably a lot better than the dirt roads they'd otherwise be riding.