Hey its good to see another SC rider on this board :-). "Bike Friendliness" in the upstate of SC (Greenville) has gotten MUCH better in the last 5 years or so. Our downtown has put down a LOT of Bike lanes in the last few years and the Swamp Rabbit Trail (our MUP) is getting larger every year. Unfortunately I cant use it to get to work. I have to go on some very busy two lane roads with very little to no shoulder but I am getting used to riding in traffic and its only 6 miles each way so its not a horible commute. I do wish I had a choice to ride a MUP to work though. Would rather go at a slower pace and dodge a few people than ride on the roads that I do, but as it stands right now its not too bad.

On my 20 mile ride to work, I think about 5.5 miles are on the MUP and I only saw about 12 people on it. I count tonight, but I don't think there will be too many more.

not for me. I just into a different mind set and I try to ride when the trt5affic is light - such as between 8:00 am and Noon. what I dont like are the weirdos that start appear around dusk.

they dont make me nervous they make me angry nobody seems to know how to use them, all you have to do is stay right whats so hard to figure out i stay away from them now as much as possible, and that sucks because boise has alot of miles of mups we call it the green belt because the main one follows the boise river

Aiken, here.

Its said that the Aiken area has more PhD's per capita than anywhere else in the country, thanks to the DOE's Savannah River Facility. But for all those white collar types, cycling is still just a minor pimple on the landscape. There is a clique of road warriors who ride the state in season, but few of those are riding for more than sport. Almost no one 'commutes', per se.

Therefore, bike lanes insofar as this duscussion is concerned, are unheard of. Like you, we have a few MUP's, but as I said earlier, they dont really go anywhere. One goes across town, but I dont work there - I still have to go 8.5 miles out of town on the same sort of roads you have... narrow, fast and not really "bike friendly."

+1 on having an MUP to use for at least part of the trip.

Every time I see one of these threads, I think "Nervous/scared on the MUP? What kind of crack are you on? Just slow down a little and stop being balls-to-the-wall lance armstrong wannabe 100% of the time and you'll be fine - I can still be that way 80% of the time and be safe."

THEN I found out why I was wrong (lol) - see, this is my MUP -


THIS is someone else's MUP:




(from "The MUTs were a tad crowded today." - https://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...d.php?t=162054)

Big difference. :-D :-D :-D

Apparently Fort Worth has some of the best MUPs because I rarely have issues like a lot of people mention. First of all, the busiest MUP and the section closest to me goes through a very populated and mid- to upscale area, so security is pretty good. The MUP is fairly busy in that part of town also, which also helps security. Too crowded? Rarely. We are lucky in that when they built the MUP along the river, they started with service roads along the banks (the entire river was rechanneled after flooding in the 1940s, so the Army Corps of Engineers built stone service roads as part of the project). So every part of the MUP is at least crushed limestone that is easily wide enough for heavy vehicles. In many areas though a dedicated, paved path was added alongside the original service road. This creates a two-tiered system, with slower bicycle traffic, pedestrians, joggers, dog walkers, etc., sticking to the stone path (which at this point is fine and compacted) and faster traffic (i.e., bicycles) on the paved portion. There are a lot of criss-crosses between the two paths, so there are places to get around knots. It's not perfect and a lot of pedestrians can be found on the paved portion, but there's still generally plenty of room, so I'm rarely nervous about collisions. Sometimes I do have to slow down for traffic, but in general it is a safe, effective transportation route for bikes. Also the MUP follows the river under bridges, so there are no actual road crossings.

Here you can see the paved and stone sections running alongside each other


Here the stone path is off to the right of the paved path

You are somewhat "hemmed in" and your escape options are limited. Just go slow, there's nothing else you can do about it. It does not make me nervous, but I have to be super alert and know what's around at all times. Some people would use the word nervous for that.
When some idiot is trying to draft the trike with the dog in it I do actually get nervous.
1) I can not go fast enough to drop anyone on the trike, and I worry about the dog being hurt by some idiot drafting us.
2) I'm nervous about going to jail after killing some idiot that rides into the trike and hurts the dog.

I think the problem with MUPs in some cities is that the planners think it is a good idea to locate them in scenic areas, around parks, along rivers, and other enticing places that make the MUPs into recreational destinations.

Where I live the MUPs go through industrial parks, warehouse districts and along utterly shadeless marginal areas along highways and water diversion channels. In some places they go through neighborhood alleys and here you see the occasional dogwalker or fitness walker, but they are mainly used by commuter and fitness cyclists (and homeless guys and little gangbanger wannabes. Ah, there's the rub).

i totally agree with you on this

No.

I would hardly call this a problem...

I guess it depends on whether your are using the MUP to simply get from point A to point B or whether you are out for a recreational ride. I go 10-30 miles out of my way on the way home from work each night because of the beautiful MUPs in my area. I def wouldn't do that if my local MUP shadowed a highway.

Just like cyclists have a right to be in the road roller bladers, joggers, dog walkers etc. have a right to use the MUP. It is designed for everyone. Share the road, share the MUP .

I WISH our planners would do more than make bike lanes a recreational destination, as you put it..
The very few that exist here are just that - of little use but to toddle along and look at the scenery.

This is fine for those so inclined, but it does little for those who actually want to get somewhere - like to work, to stores, etc.

Personally I would happily ride through industrial areas, warehouse districts and other marginal areas like highways... since I must traverse such areas to get to work and more than a few other places I might want to go.

Ive been wondering about this all day, actually, i.e. :

Where lies the difference in thinking between bicycles as mere toys/recreation and as serious
transportation.

What does it take to have planners provide for them as the latter (if that is even possible)?

I don't think it's a problem that they think it's a good idea to locate them in scenic areas. I think it's a problem if they only locate them in scenic areas. There's a need for both transportation and recreational infrastructure, and there has to be balance between them.

And honestly, when they accomodate my route, I'd rather be on a scenic MUP than a functional MUP for two reasons:
1 - I like scenery. And they tend to be fairly quiet, which makes me happy.
2 - Running beside a river means few road crossings. I'd rather ride a slower but steady pace than a stop and start pace as required by regular intersections.

My city has both, and the current push is for more of the functional category. Most of the functional ones now are rail trails, which are, IMHO the best middle ground.

I understand completely what your saying but I also understand why they are putting the MUPS in the most scenic places they can and not the most functional. First of all the expense of the MUPs in our area are very expensive and to get buy in from the donors you have to put the MUP's in the most scenic places first so that the most people can enjoy them.
Also being in the south presents another challenge in trying to get public to see us bike commuters as less of a nuisance and more of an alternative transportation. I guess what I am trying to say is that unfortunately its just going to take take time before we see the changes in our roads and drivers attitudes that are more friendly toward bike commuters that we crave right now. Although I think my area has come a long way in a short time, I only see better things ahead in terms of improvements in MUP's and bike lanes in SC

As they say, anything is better than nuttin'

You're right, of course. MUPS are most often placed so that they can add benefit to the recreational user, and in no small part add to regions ability to entice new residents. That is especially so here. Creating a network of bike lanes for the mass of people to use for day-to-day transport takes a back seat to simply getting roads put in.

All told, bicycle commuting as serious transport is for college kids, those with no "real" responsibilities and the tie dye crowd out in California. Real people aint got time or money for all that stuff. So it goes in the Dirty South.

yeah the placement in boise wasnt thought out, seeming though this is the city of trees they happened to place our mup along the river which happens to have the most trees, and over the years the roots of said trees have pretty much had their way with the pavement its a little bit of bumpy ride more so than if it was simply gravel but oh well i no longer even ride it id rather stick to the streets

In the summer time MUPs are way too popular, even at night. More room to maneuver around on the street than the narrow MUP.

I don't think I feel "hemmed in." There's definitely more dodging around people, especially on a nice day. I don't mind that. I tend to be a pretty slow biker anyway, so the slower pace of riding on the MUPs does not bother me. What does bother me, or has in the past, is using the MUPs in urban areas after dark. Because our MUPs are technically part of the park system, they are also technically off limits after dark, but they are also very convenient for avoiding some high traffic, high speed roadways that would otherwise be required to get me where I'm going. It used to concern me that I might run into someone with ill intentions, but I eventually reasoned that I didn't know of any random incidents of violence on our MUPs, but was I was arware of a few bicycle-car collisions, so statistically it seems like it'd be safer on the MUPs than on the streets. Now the part of MUP riding that makes me nervous is the bats that dip into my headlight beam. I am relatively comfortable on most streets, and my daily commute doesn't use the MUPs at all, but when they're going my way, I generally opt for them rather than riding on the roads.

I find MUPs to be more dangerous than riding on a reasonable street. Dogs with invisible leashes, kids, strollers, rollerbladers, etc... Give me a wide road or a bike lane on a road anytime!