I can understand using flashing lights on the road, due to the increased light pollution from car headlights, taillights, and street lamps...you want to draw attention to the fact that there's a bike on the road, and flashing lights do a pretty good job of catching someone's attention.

But on the MUTs/MUPs, I find flashing lights to be very annoying and complete overkill. I can see solid lights just fine. For the sake of other MUT users, please switch to solid mode on the MUTs!

It's all about "me, me, me" isn't it??

actually, i commute along chicago's lakefront path everyday and because so much of it runs adjacent to lake shore drive (an expressway), i find that a blinkie helps me distinguish a bicycle up ahead better because it stands out from all the other visual headlight "noise" of the cars on LSD.

what really annoys me about lights on the lakefront path are the yahoos using their 8 billion candlepower search lights on a trail that is already illuminated with over head lights.

There's your answer. People on MUPs aren't always that attentive.

I'm as self-centered as any other cyclist out there.

You missed the second paragraph.

Edit:
Huh, did you edit your post? I could swear that second sentence wasn't there when I read it initially.

If you find it annoying, you'll find the super bright HID even more annoying. I'll continue to leave the blinkies on blink to conserve power unless it's super dark, then I bust out the retina searing HID.

Yes, I probably would. What point is there in blinding oncoming traffic?

No edit.

Maybe you weren't being very attentive.

I'll still run them. Mainly because I have to cross public streets also. Don't like them? Take the bus

I'm not stopping and starting so I can turn the light on/off because someone's getting butthurt over a bright light. Drop back, or pass me.

I was thinking the same.
As annoyed as you may get over people using lights on the MUP/MUT, be thankful the lights are on. Just speed up and pass them so that you don't feel the need to get worked up over nothing. To me, it is more annoying to see cyclist riding without any lights on at all.

Dang! Maybe you're right!

It's actually not the tail lights that bother me so much as those super bright flashing headlamps that give me the sensation of walking straight into the paparazzi. I encounter many cyclists going the opposite way as me, not so many going in the same direction.

wear sunglasses after dark

Sorry, leaving mine on. But look on the bright side [ba-dump-TSH!] since it's highly unlikely you'll manage to stay on my wheel, you won't have to look at it for very long.

I'll agree with the OP. I started using the strobes on paved trails but soon found out how annoying it was to people and how annoyed I was by how many people were telling me it was on as if I didn't know it was on. now I only use the light when I need to see such as when I'm late getting off the trail and it is dusk

The flashing headlights are probably a bit annoying, but as another poster said its even more annoying when they don't have anything because you can't see them. Many of the paths here end or flow into a neighborhood streets for a few blocks before a new trail starts or at the very least you cross actual roads where you want to be visible as possible. On poster was joking about sunglasses at night, but maybe glasses with the right tint would be just the ticket for you.

My regular dark route goes something like road-MUP-road-MUP-road-MUP-road. In six miles.

I am not about to go fumbling around under my butt to change blinky modes that often.

It's about putting enough candlepower out there to identify and avoid the walkers, runners, and other cyclists out there with no light, no reflectors, and dressed out in solid black (or sometimes camouflage, this being the Deep South). I call it "ninja-detection mode." Our trails aren't consistently lighted, and in addition to the ninjas, there's quite a bit of wildlife, ranging from deer to possums, armadillos, and skunks to watch out for. Hit one of those latter critters in the dark, and you'll be a believer in bright lights, too.

State law requires me to run head and tail lights when I'm out riding around in the hours of darkness. In the lighted sections of road and/or trail I'll usually run in flashing mode in order to save battery power. When it gets into the dark (and wooded, twisty) sections, I switch to steady beam for better visibility.

My 600+ lumens easily overcomes even the brightest strobes. The only time I use a strobe is when I'm approaching a dangerous intersection and I want cars to notice me. Otherwise, riding with a strobe actually diminishes my ability to see. Those bright taillights (e.g. Dinottes) should be shut off on MUPs (unless, of course, you are so slow you are worried about being run down by faster bike riders).

I've had enough encounters to satisfy myself that erring on the side of too visible is better than the other way.

You worried about putting a blinkie on the Dog?

Amen! I'll palm my headlight for an approaching rider, but I need to see the jogger dressed in black or the amimal that blends in with it's surroundings.

I will agree though, strobe in the front is annoying on a MUP and I reserve that for the street.

I say....no other lights than MINE.. !!
Who want's to be annoyed by other riders' lights?

Modern automobile headlamps are incredibly bright, but in low-beam mode, have a nice horizontal cutoff so that the ground and few vertical feet are well lit, but don't blind oncoming traffic. I am all in favour of being well lit, and having enough light to illuminate your path, but blinding other MUT users isn't cool. It would be nice if bicycle headlamps could implement the same type of horizontal cutoff that automotive headlamps do (and maybe some do?)