am I allowed my lane on the bike path?

[OakLeaf]

I just resign myself to going maybe 15mph on a moderately crowded section of a wide 2-lane path, with frequent braking and yelling of "on your left!"

Ha! 15 when it's moderately crowded? Forget about it. I'm constantly braking for oblivious people when I'm trying to go 12 mph on the hybrid. You ring the bell, they ignore you; you honk the very loud horn, they still ignore you; you holler "On your left!" at the top of your voice, and either they ignore you or they move to their left.