Originally Posted by
Kabuki12
Since the whole virus thing and being aware of social distancing , I decided that my self imposed 10 meter rule was not possible on a multi use path. I have quit using them and have found that it is much safer for me not dealing with pedestrians with headphones or ear buds walking right in the middle of the path or people walking 3 abreast and not wanting to move. The other hazard that I found was dog walkers with thin retractable leashes(usually dark colored) extended out across the width of the lane. These were just major frustrations on an otherwise enjoyable ride that I just don't need. Multi use paths are for everyone except a cyclist. Even though here in Ventura, on some, the city has gone to the trouble of painting lanes depicting pedestrian or cyclist, with signs. Very rare anyone pays attention.
I limit my MUP/trail usage, but I'll often jump on one when convenient and I'm not in a hurry. One thing that I've seen since the pandemic is peds spilling over to the bike paths (we typically have separate bike/ped paths in the Twin Cities) and, even worse, peds
social distance walking with each other on the bike path... IOW, two people will be walking, one on either side of the path, with 5-6' between them and no real room to the sides, forcing you to split them. Ugh.
