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".

Ive only seen MUPs in DC and in the SF Bay area. I've lived a bunch of places, but mostly rural areas. Perhaps my opinions don't match up with many, but they are based just on the local rules for those two places I've lived. There, the general consensus is MUPs are for kids riding their bikes, families, etc. Commuters and roadies are generally regarded as belonging on the road if available, and to be very careful and courteous on the paths if they ride on them.
Where I live now in the SF area plenty of commuters and roadies ride on them, and we have hundreds of miles of them here, but the speed limit is 15 and it is well understood that everyone else has the right of way.

When you yell "on your left" most people that are not deaf will look over their shoulder or give some indication that they heard you with their body movement.

If they don't flinch when I yell left they get a burp of the Airzound to bring them back to life because I must assume they are a Zombie with head phones. Its my safety as well when passing people.

lol, next time I'm out running I'm taking my Airzound to toss a "burp" at the mindless drone cyclist who looks zombified to me:p Should be a hoot, or a crash. On second thought, I probably won't - I'm just not a dick like that.

actually, I think that not getting a flinch when you say "on your left" is what you want. Of course, it also is what you get when they are listening to their headphones.

Not in my experience. Often they move if they need to, but if they don't need to they'll just keep on in a straight line. I only visibly acknowledge an "on your left" some of the time when I'm running.

Naw, you're doing it wrong; you need to harass more vulnerable users than yourself. So, if you're running, you'd be "burp"ing your airhorn at stroller moms, senior citizens out for a walk, and children.

wow :lol: lots of internet lawyers up in this thread.
I bike and I run. I always expect runners to be unpredictable. Most of them are in la la land. Bikes on an MUP are like cars on the road.

I treat runners on the MUP like a treat bikers on the road....with caution because however stupid the person is I still do not want to be running someone over.

It is an MUP, it goes by groups of homes and people walk it. In one area it actually splits into three paths, one for cyclists, one for walkers (decomposed granite) and one for horses (shredded bark). It has signs on it that tell the cyclists to watch for walkers and horse riders. At the point where the picture was taken, this Path is quite distant from the areas of walkers and horse riders and pretty much the domain of cyclists. It is grade separated in a number of areas, and has long sight lines (cyclists can and do go fast here), but in other areas it is at grade and very much shared. The whole thing is about 15 miles long and parallels a freeway. There is no other continuous road in the area that goes where either the freeway or MUP goes.. so you either drive the freeway or bike/walk the MUP. The freeway was once a very busy local farm highway that cyclists and motorists shared... until Caltrans decided to improve the freeway. By making the road into a limited access freeway, they cut off cyclists from that corridor... Caltrans built the MUP to offer cyclists means to continue to access that corridor. The MUP and freeway connect a couple of distant communities... one being a somewhat commercial area, the other basically residential.

This Path to me represents a nearly ideal bike highway... I say nearly ideal as it is not fully grade separated and at each end it is poorly terminated. Along the way this Path connects to neighborhood roads with freeway like ramps, allowing cyclists easy ingress and egress. Bike traffic peaks twice a day, just like any freeway.

You can see this path in the map on this URL... look for the words "56 bike trail."
http://maps.google.com/maps?client=f...,0.009066&z=17

I suspected something like this.

+1. The MUP that I commute on has signs and even pictures for those that can't read or speak English. They all say stay to the right and pass on the left. They also mention that all dogs must be on a leash... it just irritates me when the dog walker has the leash stretched out all the way across the MUP. I slow down to about 5 mph when encountering any dog walker. I also slow down to about 10 mph when approaching any jogger/walker. If the MUP is not busy... I slow down and pass on the left without warning. I've learned that shouting "on your left" pretty much means the walker is going to turn around and move to the left and try to walk into your bike.

It's a commute... I'm not in an extreme hurry to get to work. I'm on the bike to enjoy the MUP (mine happens to be rather scenic most of the way), get some exercise, and get my mind ready for work or cleared for my evening at home.