Originally Posted by SweetLou
This idea of "if there is enough room I don't announce" is just wrong. You are startling people for no reason other than you don't want to be polite. Yes, I do stay to the right and expect others to do also. I will even say something to people that don't. But I also use this path when I walk my dog to the dog park and do expect others to pass me. I am staying right but a biker zipping pass me with no warning is startling.
Sounds to me like you're judging based on your local experience. Not announcing isn't "just wrong"; it might --
might -- be wrong on your local path at the times when you ride, but it's not categorically so.
I'm of the radical opinion that every single user on a
Multi Use Path must take into account all other types of users who might be there. That means that, just as cyclists must expect slower-moving users, other users -- pedestrians, skaters, dog-walkers -- must expect that there are bicycles on the path that will be traveling quite a bit faster than them. All users need to be aware of their surroundings and on the lookout for other users. If that means that you, a (dog-)walker, have to turn your head to look behind you every once in a while, well, that's just part of your responsibility as a path-user, as I see it.