Something tells me you were the jogger.

All jokes aside, you're wrong. Legally and in your reasoning.

Steely, I'm glad to read that you, the jogger and your bike all came out without incident.

Joggers on MUPS are suppose to run against-the-flow of bicycle traffic.

For all those peeps that have made assumptions that all joggers should be run off a multi-use-path, you scare me.

Blasting me in the face with 200+ decibel horns? Are you really serious?

I run against the flow of bicycle traffic when I do my 10+ mile runs on the path. The one thing I've noticed around here consistently is cyclists going 18+ MPH balls out on the path with no regard for the other users of the path. As a bike commuter, cyclist and runner I can honestly say I've seen both sides of the equation making bad decisions.

Most runners use headphones on the trail because we've become a society accustom to being hit with white noise. I've done some 4:30 a.m. long runs without headphones and found myself scared to death on some of the more desolate areas. Dogs barking, not on a leash and getting aggressive, snakes, rabbits...all these things are seriously freaking scary when you're running in the dark with one single headlight on, much like an attack by an air horn...I'd probably fall down, slip or break something if that quiet was blasted from behind me.

You scare me, a lot. :twitchy:

I contend this is false. I've seen lots of printed information to the contrary and I can think of lots of reasons why it's a bad idea.

MUP rules are much less uniform than road rules, but did you actually see this someplace official?

No, I saw nothing official. I apply the same rules for running on a MUP as I do for running on roads. I take into account the fact that I don't actually trust other cyclists in this region for being a bit more gun-shy about turning my backside on a 200 lbs. + missile cruising a MUP at upwards of 20 MPH. My speed range is not empirical, or documented by devices clocking them specifically, but I can say that I've had sprints alongside the MUP with some of these cats where I was pushing a 20 MPH line on a side street and they passed me by a few dozen yards easily at the visible markers I'm using. They weren't racing me and I've seen a few of them consistently. Teeth gnashed, big ringging on the MUP.

I honestly wouldn't run "with the flow" of these peeps or the other slower traffic on the MUP I see that consists of bobbling people with helmets over their eyes on mountain bikes with their knees buckled out. There are obviously exceptions to this, where I see very considerate riders that even slow down to make eye contact with me before passing (hence reinforcing my theory that I'm better, safer and more visible running in the opposite direction of traffic. They see my headlight, and I see theirs (when they're not ninjas). Otherwise, the first thing I usually hear in the dark is "hey!" because I've killed their elite night vision with my beam of headlight.

WRONG.

Utterly and completely WRONG.

Why? Imagine trying to run against traffic on a crowded MUP.

If you can't figure that one, I'm cheering on the horns - they really do need to BLAST AWAY at you.

Yeah, well so do rabbits. R-A-B-B-I-T-S.

A you freaking kidding?!?!?! RABBITS?!?!?!

HTFU.

Seriously - HTFU.

Achoo,

You're probably one of those guys that thinks runners should stay single file, running on the white line praying people like you don't slam into them from behind. Furthermore, I never said crowded MUP. I suggest you read beyond the word rabbit and then slather the spittle from the sides of your mouth onto your monitor in the future.

Blast me, I double-dog dare you keyboard commando.

Every sound at 4:30 a.m. is a trip after a 10 mile run. Get out and find out before judging me.

I'm hard, you hard, interweb tuffguy?

good thing you had time to react. In my view, pedestrians and dogs and especially kids always have the right of way regardless and if you are riding a bike on an MUP you need to be going slow enough and paying enough attention to be able to react to anything, and you should always creep by little kids and dogs really slow because they could do anything.
I commute most of the way to work on a couple of MUPs, but if I am out walking, and some cyclist blows past me carelessly I am going to say something, and here in Northern California there are a lot of "entitled" cyclists.

MUPs were designed by idiots so it is no surprise people using them often behave like idiots. Pedestrians on MUPs are unpredictable so it is best to pass them very slowly even when you think you have their attention. It is sort of like car doors - when you get doored the person opening the car door is 100% at fault but you are still an idiot to ride in a door zone at speed because it is entirely predictable that sooner or later someone will open the door in front of you. MUP stands for Many Unpredictable People.

+1. :thumb:
Those are the rules on the bike paths around here. Walkers, runners, etc on the left, cyclists on the right. It works great when people actually follow the rules. When I'm riding, I always move over for the peds, and since they can see me there are no surprises. When I'm running on the path, I've noticed other cyclists doing the same for me.

The only close calls I've ever had were from those idiots that did not heed the signs on the path.

I'd have an open mind if you actually provided some of the reasons, but until then I'll have to rely on my actual experience.

-1 :rolleyes:
I suspect there's nothing I could write to enlighten someone so clearly married to their opinions. ;)

Too bad there are so many of you. That's probably why there are so many mups with these unsafe rules.

Every MUP around here that I've seen has signs for everyone, walkers, joggers, skaters, cyclists, and all the rest to stay on the right.

Glad you and the jogger are ok.

I've seen joggers with headphones on Kelly Drive get whacked because they tried to pass walkers, then get collide with a bicycle behind them because they cannot hear and rarely look behind them. At the same time, I see people on road bikes ride on Kelly drive all the time in packs going ridiculously fast. It sucks to see or be in collisions because people are reckless or oblivious to their surroundings.

Also, I frequently see joggers jog on the city bike lanes, taking the whole lane up and wearing headphones. AGH! This is very annoying.

Hopefully that Jogger won't make the same mistake again, and use proper caution when using a shared trail.

I was the cyclist in a similar instance except I hadn't given warning and I went over. I assume the jogger was fine since she left before I got up.

Are you absolutely sure about that? Because everywhere I've seen posted rules, everyone stays to the right. Maybe the pedestrians you see walking on the right are from somewhere else.

He is correct for Rhode Island. The state considers bike paths roadways and applies the roadway rules for pedestrians (same rules used in every other states that I know of for pedestrians on roadways without sidewalks). But I do not know of any other state that applies these rules for MUPs (formally called Bike Paths). The surrounding states to RI apply the standard MUP rules and will create conflicts with inter-state MUPs.

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/...s/pdf/9_75.pdf

One more point for you RI Bike Road walkers and runners; under the law as a pedestrian, when a bicycle approaches in which there may be a conflict, the pedestrian is required to step off the Bike Road to clear the way for the cyclist. The same laws are in effect for every other state roadway I am aware of.

bicycles belong on roads, not MUPs. When on MUPs, they need to take utmost caution to cater to the other user's needs. If you want to go fast, if you want to have it your way, if you want to not have problems with pedestrians, you need to ride on the road.

If you read the thread, you'd see why the OP rides on the mup. And I think it's ridiculous to say that cyclists should stay off of bike paths/mups. If I had one that took me anywhere close to my work, I would use it daily. Pedestrians should entertain the notion that there are vehicles going significantly faster than they are on the same path.

The same thing happened in the Dallas incident, and the jogger who was killed was found to be legally at fault, with no fault on the cyclist. A runner can reasonably be assumed to hold his line.

You just need a good bell: http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?...F&WT.mc_id=gb1

So if bikes are supposed to stay off bike paths, tell me again why joggers should bother being on the left side? Is it to make room for the horses or the jogging stroller moms?

And which side of the sidewalk am I supposed to ride on? Does all this go back to sane again if I put my instant coffee back in the microwave oven?

Sorry, but BS. Were it not for a MUP my commute wouldn't even be possible.

Damn you slcbob, you owe me a keyboard since I snorted coffee on my old one :P

... or this one: http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=195139F

Southbound, '80's, on a beach MUP thru LA, I followed Gidget in a bikini on rollerblades with her headphones,

un aware of the guy on a touring bike , tempted to use his front wheel to get her attention,

since she took up most of the path width, skating. .... off the path was loose dry sand..

but not bold enough to see what would happen if I introduced myself that way ..

no introductory collision.

Flyer for MUP/trail guidelines and usage for Illinois - the OP's state.

http://bikelib.org/wp-content/upload...rifold4web.pdf

So what part of the road parallel to this MUP would you use? BTW that is a full on freeway next to that MUP.

There are no other choices... either freeway or MUP.

I'd use the MUP for commuting AND/OR running with the understanding that it's not Tour De' MUP in both forms of locomotion.

Genec
That does not look like an MUP to me, it looks like a bike path that pedestrians should not be using much. MUP's are intended for a multitude of users, cyclist of whom are the ones with the highest risk of hurting someone, and should be the ones to shoulder the majority of the caution.
I am not saying you shouldn't ride on an MUP. What I am saying is that if you want to act like you have priority, you should think again. You need to be the one to yield. If you don't want to yield, you should be on the road.

There seems to be a lack of understanding around the difference between a bike path and an MUP, and who has preference on each.

Then let me clear it up. Back in the 70s, they began building bike paths (mostly to get cyclist off the roads). Then in the late 80s and early 90s, joggers decided they liked running on bike paths and so politicians began calling them MUPs. Then in the late 90s, many started saying cyclist did not belong on MUPs. In the early 2010s, with some serious collisions from pedestrians walking in front of cyclist and getting themsleves hurt, politicians began putting up 10 mph speed limit signs; and soon after these paths became known as "Off Road Sidewalks".