BillStohler

Multi use path, now how hard was that?

DrPete 

...At which point I'd most likely chase them down and have a friendly little chat.

skinnyone

The minuteman is filled with spaced out little kids, teenagers, walkers, runners you name it. I hate and avoid the MUPs.

1955

I'm just reading what's been written and "a time and a place" hasn't been used once, just the typical rantings of ignorant (lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact) people who don't know any better.

Go ahead and rant about the particular trail you use, but until you have ridden all (not just many) of the MUP's in North America, you are just showing your ignorance.

vw addict

Sorry didn't realize that you had ridden all the MUP's in North America, guess that means you are just as ignorant eh?

DrPete 

So that means I can juggle flaming swords while I walk too, right?

Legal/allowed and considerate/right/polite are often mutually exclusive.

1955

Can you even read? Show me where I said that I had ridden every trail in NA.

R e a d i t o n e m o r e t i m e a n d g e t b a c k t o m e.

dcbikeguy

Dude, why do you sh*t on so many threads?

BillStohler

No, I had to look up MUP. Lots of acronyms on the web. I am in agreement on keeping roadies on the road and off the path. Many of ours have 15 mph speed limits.

vw addict

So can you see far, ya know, up on your pedestal and all?

DrPete 

Especially funny coming from someone with a "Share the Road" av.

You want to have your cake and eat it too--there's no other vehicle that is entitled to use ALL roads/paths, yet it would seem that you believe the MUPs in your area should be fair game for cyclists. That would seem to shoot the whole "we need to be on the road too" argument in the foot.

JohnDThompson 

The last time we had decent weather around here and I wasn't working -- about a week and a half ago -- I decided to return from my ride along the MUP near my house. Bad decision. The path was built adjacent to a busy 4-lane highway, sometimes with less than 10' of buffer space between the path and the road. There was still plenty of snow on the ground, but the path appeared to be clear -- at first. As I rode along I encountered lots of gravel and other debris tossed up from the highway by the snowplows and left behind when the snow/ice melted, and more than a few places where the plow tailings were still a frozen mass of gravel, litter, and ice over a foot deep. I was riding my fixed gear bike with 18mm slick tires, so this wasn't easy to traverse.

Up to that point I had been riding on rural roads for about 25 miles and they were, without exception, great. Clear of debris and obstructions, delightful to ride.

I'm staying off the MUP at least until we've had a few heavy rains to rinse the crap off.

2manybikes

If you can walk down an MUP juggling flaming swords, I will gladly ride behind you with Bailey in his trike, enough blinking lights, and him barking enough to wake the dead. It should be a fun day !

2manybikes

Really ? Bear?

whiplashsmile

Rollerbladers are a good enough reason to stay off the MUPs for me.

1955

Again doc, you're speaking from ignorance.

Have you ridden all the MUP's in NA?

DrPete 

No, and that has exactly zero to do with the statement you quoted.

I believe it was "R e a d i t o n e m o r e t i m e a n d g e t b a c k t o m e."

milnerpt

Major Seattle MUP, the Burke-Gilman trail has a speed limit... forget if its 12 or 15.... but they HAVE had cops handing out tickets on the trail.... mostly for blowing stop signs, but speeding as well.

1955

This is the stupid statement I was commenting on.

I'll try to be more clear for you this time.

You can comment on the paths that you have ridden all you want and I'll believe you, since you say that you've been there. But when you say "keep it off the effing MUP", then I have to assume that you're referring to ALL MUP's.

You can comment on anything you want, but it's out of ignorance, unless you've been there.

DrPete 

You. Point. Missed. Goodbye.

Barese Rider

Whats even worse is to see some a holes doing 20 mph+ on the board walk. Ocean Ave looks half a mile wide yet some dopes want a better look at the ocean and insist on turning it into their own speedway.

I use a portion of the local bike path to get from point a to b a little easier, go slow and talk to everyone that will say hello back,today I even challenged two older ladies that were walking their dogs to a race, they got a big kick out of it.

1955

No answer, huh?

DataJunkie

Not this again.
Ride how and where you like, provided you adjust to the conditions on said road or trail.
Meh..

DScott

So if someone is jogging, rollerblading, or pushing their baby stroller on the bike path clearly marked "Bikes Only", is it ok to ride your bike at/near ludicrous speed? At what density level of human beings is it considered OK to use the path for it's intended purpose? BTW, there are no speed limits on these paths.




Disclaimer: It is never appropriate to consider human beings on the "bikes only" path as "meat pylons", and one must resolutely resist the urge to slalom among them.

roadCruiser76

The only MUP I've ever really ridden on is the W&OD trail in Northern VA. DrPete - perhaps you've ridden there as well? There are numerous cyclists out there, as well as some walkers and joggers, but I don't recall seeing any incidents. I just think people should use their common sense about speed and riding. There are some sections of the W&OD out towards Purcellville and Hamilton that are pretty straight and empty. I don't see a problem with cruising on those sections at a fairly high rate of speed. However, there are other portions farther East where one would have to use more caution. I simply can't agree with the statement that one shouldn't ride a road bike on a MUP at all though. Two of the centuries I typically do every year - the Tour de Cure out of Reston, and the Reston Century, have significant portions of the ride on the W&OD. Further, the Tour de Cure has a group start, so you're talking about a significant number of road cyclists out there at the same time. As far as I can tell though, this works out fine. The Tour usually starts at around 7 AM, so the trail is fairly empty.

Sometimes, I think we can be quick to make emotional judgements based on a fairly small number of incidents Most of the time, I think cyclists and others are able to coexist peacefully on a MUP. To say that cyclists shouldn't ride there because you've witnessed a few close calls just seems to be a statement made more out of emotion than reason. After all, a lot of us have had close calls with cars out riding on the road. Does it therefore follow that cyclists shouldn't ride on the road either?