I no longer commute as I am retired. When I did commute I preferred surface streets, only using the MUP down by the beach if it was very early and I wanted a bit more ride for the day. Using the MUP was twice the distance.

Depending upon the time of year, of course, sometimes I would go home via the MUP...

http://wlth.com/news/wp-content/uplo...-and-bikes.jpg

Tom

So now you know how cars feel when cyclists are on the road?

I mean, seriously? Are you for real?

Considering I ride mostly on shoulders and lightly traveled roads where passing isn't an issue for the cars I fail to see where you're going with this.

Would you just look at these crowds:http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/429/192...6cb6a35b_z.jpghttp://c1.staticflickr.com/1/490/192...71906dc7_z.jpghttp://c1.staticflickr.com/1/389/192...ef0026f0_z.jpghttp://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3697/19...7f7d8224_z.jpghttp://c1.staticflickr.com/1/384/192...e09e2987_z.jpghttp://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3804/19...17fc1632_z.jpg

That is not a MUP, it is a sidewalk.

We've got a rails to trails MUP. As soon as it starts getting crosswalks every block, I generally bail on it. The city just put in a short gravel drive leading to the street, and with a little luck, I hit it just as the pulse of traffic from the previous stop light passes by.

However, there is also a great network of MUPS along freeways and both sides of the river through town that I hit regularly. There is no better way to bypass the worst biking streets in the city.

Why?
Because the MUPs in this area have an 8mph speed limit - because the walkers complained that we 'came up too fast'.
Because of gaggles of yakking femailiens oblivious to all but themselves.
Because said gaggles of yakking femailiens won't move to one side of the path even if you are approaching from the FRONT!
People walking dogs on leashes.
People walking dogs off leashes.
Toddlers wandering aimlessly.
Walking while texting.
Jogging with earphones in the middle of the path.
'Nature lovers' that forced closure of parts of the path because of nesting birds in the area.

Yeah. That didn't make any sense. Sounds like it came from precisely the sort of person you are hoping to avoid on an MUP.

I don't hate all MUPs; I've ridden in Minneapolis and agree, you have some very nice bike infrastructure there. But not every town has abandoned railroad right of way leading straight to downtown that can be re-purposed into a MUP.

There's really only one MUP I refuse to use here: it's basically a glorified sidewalk paralleling a busy road with lots of cross-streets. Cars on the cross streets routinely block the path's right of way in intersections by pulling past the "stop line" behind which they should wait until the light changes. And they seldom check to see if anyone is in the path before pulling across it. I've come close to being creamed there too many times to want to ride there any more.

Dang! That's a part of Philly I'm clearly not familiar with!

This is in SD right? I've ridden along portions of the Mickelson, but ultimately I opted for the road.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...60&oe=56C085CFhttps://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...2c&oe=56CE1FA9https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...a9&oe=56BE9C67https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...c2&oe=56862067https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...f7&oe=56B809E6https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...07&oe=56B380A9

I would travel to ride that path brother.

Nice pics RPK.

That's some ****ing scenery.

You can find a lot of this off the MUPs too. I think much of this is a question of... "is this a MUP or is this a sidewalk with a few bikes". I know the places in my city where the bike is the "odd-ball" and if it's a slow ride I stay on the MUP, if it's a fast ride I get on the road. It doesn't have to be either-or.

Dogs can be an issue when you're not on the MUP:

I must say I love the 8 mph limit... joggers are going faster than that. Minneapolis has some 10 mph areas, and has admitted that they have no plans to enforce it ... so odd. This 10 mph is limited to a handful recreation-focused trails (chain of lakes, Mississippi river trails, Minnehaha creek trail). On the bright side, every one of these trails has a parallel parkway with 25 mph limit for cars. So on a fast ride, jump on the road and slow down for the cars ('cause I ride faster than 25 mph).

You should come to MPLS and take a ride ... second thought, don't, you'll hate riding anywhere else.

Is that your golf club right there?

You're making a city boy jealous.

I'm spoiled, I guess. The north end of the SART is 8 miles from my house (less than 4 miles within a year if they manage to finish the next phase even close to on time) where I can ride on uninterrupted trail for almost 35 miles. The SGRT is also great, and the trails in and around SD/Oceanside/Laguna are all nice as well. I don't know if I've been on a MUP/MUT that I didn't care for. Oh, and as to speeds on the SART/SGRT, one could easily do 25mph all day without issue, if one had the legs for it.

I think you hit the nail on the head, I have really go infra in my town. I know about the hateful MUPs you talk about, I call them sidepaths (kinda sidewalk, kinda path, totally suck on a bike), we have them too. I guess most places around the US the sidepath is the only MUP people ever see. If the only MUPs in my town were sidepaths, I'd hate all MUPs.

Aside from the crowds in some places they're too easy. Same reason people don't like ebikes. They think you should be out there dodging cars, going over cliffs in the woods or up and down hills to be a proper cyclist. I do feel lame on the Dutchess RT but I went to the Walden RT the other day and i liked its slightly rough surface and scenery. Both are fine trails connecting different towns. You gotta do you and it's all relative. Like if I wanted an ebike because i felt I was too weak and scared that would be lame but if I wanted an ebike because i think it would be fun to buzz around on then it would be a lot of fun. If one is on the MUP because they dont like the road thats ok enough but if they're on the mup just because or because they can cruise with no worries and have a big empty lane to themselves at 9am on a Tuesday thats better.

Yes, this is Cleveland's Metroparks MUPs. They are VERY crowded suburban trails. And of course if you ride on the streets through the Metroparks, the car drivers get angry with you (even though the posted speed limit is 30mph).

I haven't ridden many of the local rail-trails (even though I'm a Charter member of RTC!) simply because there are none within 10 miles of home. SO I street-ride. Thankfully, I live out in the more rural area, but then the downside is 45+mph speed limits on two-lane roads... and farm dogs... and...

This. I don't mind them, but at times they can be congested and it just becomes a pain. I'd just rather ride on a road with a bike lane.

We also have our fair share that are cement slabs so about every meter or so there's a crack in the pavement which gets old after awhile, like riding on a sidewalk.

They're fine, they serve their purpose, but I don't mind riding on the road...and a lot of people that are on the MUPs are just out for a lazy stroll and aren't the riders that like to ride on roads...different strokes.

Would rather deal with a rectocranially impacted cyclist than a rectocranially impacted dump truck driver.

Most of my cycling is on MUP's, the rural sections. Usually I am done with my ride before the masses get out of bed.

In Fort Worth the Trinity Trail near the parks area is a Meandering Unaware Pedestrian domain. It's pleasant and okay for puttering along. Otherwise, same problems other folks have described here: pedestrians, joggers, families with toddlers and baby strollers and some cyclists riding two or three abreast, dog walkers oblivious to surroundings. Occasionally cyclists just park in the middle of the path instead of pulling over.

MUPs inevitable belong to pedestrians near parks, residential areas and easy access areas. No way around that. No point in cyclists getting worked up over it either. I just veer off the pavement and go around 'em. Yay, all terrain tires.

Once you get at least half a mile from the parking lots, it's better suited to cyclists and serious joggers. The Trial extends out westward a bit closer to my area, but I haven't explored it yet. For commuting it would at least double my distance so it would need to be really fast - flat, paved and no pedestrians - to make it a useful alternative to the city streets where there are no designated bike lanes.

Generally I prefer the bike lanes in and around the downtown area. Drivers seem to respect them, so I mainly need to watch for parked car doors.

I've found that they're almost deserted around sunrise so that's not a problem.

I only want to ride MUTs at dawn or after dark...or in any kind of foul weather (cold/rain/etc). Too many f'ing self-absorbed clueless idiots who seem to think that on a designated divided bikepath/MUP KEEP RIGHT doesn't apply to them. The second the weather isn't sunny or dusk and 60-80F, they all hide in their caves.


City of Lincoln has made a decent network of trails to get around...problem the city keeps destroying trails in other construction work making the network very impractical for getting to Point B from Point A....As odds are you're going to have to take a detour through streets due to construction. Oh yea, and Railt-to-Trails crap that gets washed out in a heavy rain. One section of trail (just crushed limestone really) was severely damaged by flooding. If they had just f'ing paved it to start with, they wouldn't be needing to beg FEMA for $150,000 to redo that trail.

Streets around here are falling apart to in the city, only the country roads are decent.

Other reason to hate MUPs/trails...they make idiot drivers even less accustomed to yield law and handling their 4000lb rolling couch weapon.

Pros and cons.

There's one that cuts straight through the middle of the city, a rails-to-trails project, that is a more direct route to work than the roads.
It's a lot greener and more pleasant to ride - the last few blocks of my commute, when I'm out in the traffic and noise and billboards and neon signs, I can hardly believe that this city environment seems "normal."
In the morning on my way in to work, it's deserted. I see a handful of cyclists and a few runners, but that's it. Anyone up at that hour generally knows reasonable rules of the road.
Also, since it's a former railway, it goes over a lot of the main streets and a lot of streets were designed to avoid it, so it's about 25% the number of stops than going the same place on the streets.
In the afternoon, on my way home, there are more of the meanderers that other people here have complained about. Yes, somewhat annoying, but still better than driving my car or cycling on a bike-hostile road that is less of a direct route.

If the question is, I spend half a day on my bike, would I choose to ride a MUP? Then no, I'd prefer to take the MUP out of town and ride around on semi-deserted rural roads.
If the question is, am I grateful there is a MUP-greenway that runs straight from my house to a few blocks away from work, then yes. It aids my bike commuting enormously and in many ways is preferable to riding on city streets.