What ever happened to "on your left"

[TsPoet]

I have to agree. I use 'em for commuting, when I'm riding slowly by myself. But when I'm riding fast, or in a group, or both, multi-use trails aren't the place to be. They're dangerous for the bicyclist and the other users. Give me the road, where I can predict the other users' behavior.

This reminded me of something I hate about them - I can't tell you how many arguments I've been in from people at work telling me I don't belong on the road because there's a MUT 0.5 mile away - get off the road!
I've tried to explain to them that I don't belong there, I belong on the road.
We can't win. I love the MUT, but it isn't always the right place to be.

[Owlie]

Our MUP/bike trail is long, straight line, and mostly in the middle of nowhere. Now that school's out, trail access points (esp. the one with restaurants and cafes nearby) are insanely busy any time other than early in the morning, but once you're outside of those (maybe a mile), you and other cyclists mostly have it to yourselves.

For the most part, people are pretty good about keeping out of each other's way and corralling the kids and/or dogs when necessary. Our trail has a 20mph speed limit, and it's referred to as "the bike trail", so I guess people assume cyclists are its primary users. (It also helps that this is a pretty polite city.)