Originally Posted by Minerva
In addition, I'd like to add some more observations: My apartment terrace faces a bike path. As I use my computer, I can watch the cyclists go by. On my road, which is a major bike throughfare, I've never seen anyone on an expensive road bike using the bike path (it runs along the side of the road). Recreational riders seem to use it almost exclusively. Do recreational riders think that the road is off-limits if a bike path is available and is there a reason (besides pride) that the 'elite' use only the road? I get the sense that there is sort of a distain for bike paths in general.
When I had 700c23 road tires on my cyclocross bike, I never went on MUP at all. Not once. This is not because I disdain to do so, but because my tires cannot take the quantity of glass that is often on a MUP (at least round here.) The tires I have this year are more robust, and I don't care about that so much anymore. My reasons for not liking MUP are because they are too slow for the riding I usually like to do, and too crowded with off lead dogs, kids, and other odditites (my personal favourite was a bike dumped in the middle of the MUP blocking the path completely - I was tempted to bunny hop up on top of it and ride down the other side, but opted to just crash through the shrubbery and carry on...)