Dumb noob question, I know.

It's an adult Muppet.




Actually it's Multi Use Path

Multi
User
Path

Well... multi-use path. It's got people walking dogs on it, and joggers, and kids playing hopscotch. It's a contrast to true bike paths where these activities wouldn't be possible.

It means a place where people on $3000 titanium road bikes fly past children on trikes, dogs on leashes, and babies in strollers doing 23 MPH with no warning and only about 6 inches passing distance.

Or multi-use path. just a different interpretation.

where are these "true bike paths"?

There's several here in the Twin Cities along the Mississippi River where one path is designated for walkers/ joggers and the other side is for bikes. Although reading comprehension is difficult for some...

In my observation it is usually the walkers/joggers that are functionally illiterate.

Aaron

Mutated Unicorn Pathology

sorry

(not really)

Manchurian Undertakers Parade



okay that was guilty pleasure

Moldy Undulating Petunias


I offer no excuses

A MUP is a walking path where soccer moms are allowed to fish for cyclists with poodles tethered to piano wire.

And more cities need them.

When compared with their selfish domineering spouses soccer moms are mistakenly identified as docile and harmless. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"Morons Using Path" It means getting stuck behind oblivious headphone-wearing rollerbladers who skate down the middle of the path and kick their skates all the way to both edges of the pavement, or mommies pushing their strollers 2 or 3 abreast, gossiping instead of paying attention to what's going on around them. (and don't forget the above-mentioned poodle-anchored trip wires) Not a place for bicycles. It is a hell to which most motorists and many safety nannies would like to see us banished.

I looked this up the other day, and this is the first result when you type "what does mup stand for?" into google: https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/MUP

First on the list: Major urinary protein. I had a little chuckle when I saw that`.

I like the characterisations, but around here, at 6pm, it's more like a highspeed expressway for athletes training for the Tour de France. Scary stuff.

Steve

By the tone of some of the posts in this thread a MUP is a place where certain competent and conscientious cyclists can go and mirror the attitude of belligerent motorists, but towards pedestrians.... like abused children that grow up to be abusive parents.

If you're fortunate enough to be in a place where your MUPs are able to provide access to the vicinity of your destination then they're a wonderful opportunity to rediscover the joy of the journey at a cyclist's pace, and a place to find solace from the noise, pollution, and danger of angry intolerant motorists.... and maybe even reconnect with your fellow human beings.

>By the tone of some of the posts in this thread a MUP is a place where certain competent and conscientious cyclists can go and mirror the attitude of belligerent motorists, but towards pedestrians

I've had the same thought. Motorists think they own the roads. Cyclists think they own the MUPs.

Steve

I saw MUP in another thread and I used context clues and I thought it meant "mainly uphill".
I fail.

I disagree about the tone of this thread. The point of most cyclists is that we don't own the MUPs but resent having to share yet another resource with others who are basically incompatable. Share the road and share the path. It's really nice when we have a bike path dedicated to bikers. Most college campuses (which really should be campi but no one uses that) have dedicated bike routes. UC Santa Barbara's bike paths are totally off limits to anything but bikes. Your corpse will be scraped off the pavement and your heirs will be fined if you ever try walking on one. Skateboarding is a capital offense.

The MUPs aren't even in the same catagory as the bikepaths. Many areas have dedicated bike paths as well as MUPs.

A step down from MUP is a sidewalk or pedestrian path. These shouldn't be used by cyclists at all, or if you use them you should walk your bike.

My universal path.

AKA as a path to practice obstacle avoidance while wondering why some fully kitted morons are training on them. As chipcom said....muppies.

I'm not sure how universally true it is, but around Minneapolis MUP's usually (always?) have a speed limit of something like 10 mph. So anybody that really wants to book it on their bike should really avoid the MUP's, partly so that people going at various speeds with various means of locomotion aren't risking life and limb.

I avoid them.

On the roadway.

It means irritating dog walkers and attractive young women in spandex.