Originally Posted by
mprelaw
To take a contrary view, I've had a ton more near-misses on MUPs than on the roads. Sure, the chances of getting killed are higher in car/bike encounters, but people do get seriously injured in MUP accidents, and expensive bikes often have to be replaced, with no recourse against an insurance company.
You have people walking 3-4-5 abreast. You have kids who can barely stay upright on their bikes, let alone hold a line, with zero parental supervision. You have dogs---owners walking them on 20' leashes fully extended, or who think that leash laws don't apply to them. You have more careless bike riders per mile than on any stretch of the road---often wearing ear buds and unable to hear any passing warning. I've seen riders decide that they can't buck a headwind any longer, and start to turn around feet away from me without even looking. Tourists who haven't ridden a bike since college decide to rent a bike and cruise a MUP while on vacation, and know zero about riding safely. They'll be pedaling along abreast of their SO, head turned, talking, and they'll be weaving all over the path...
You’ve pointed out the same horrible conditions that exist on an MUP 11~12 miles from my house
. Making matters worse is its ridiculous posted speed limit of 10 MPH
. It would irritate me to no end to do the entire course at a mere 10 MPH
.
My friend was under the impression that it might be a good trail to ride safely with his children, so on one of our road rides I led him to the MUP one day (which he was excited about initially) via our mountain bikes just to show him how useless the trail was to ride via bicycle via all the negatives
. He was totally disappointed with it before we completed its short 4
.8 mile loop
.
There are off road trails which would be great via a mountain bike, but signs are posted “No Trail Riding Permitted”
. They may as well have posted signs saying “Absolutely No Fun Permitted!”
So in reality, that MUP isn’t even worth riding especially since it has a 10~11% grade (and several hundred vertical feet of elevation to lose) that you’d have to drag your brakes the entire way down just to keep speed limited to 10 MPH
. Who wants to climb a long steep hill only to be forced to creep down chicken-man style, dragging their smoking brakes at 10 MPH? Not me
. I’ve never found a good MUP and I suspect I never will around this population zone
.