1 old fart

Just got back from ride on Walnut Creek trail in Raleigh,NC wildlife cop tells me to STOP. Tells me I'am speeding and he could give me ticket but he didn't. "Warning" Maximum Bike Speed Limit 10MPH(I run faster then that).The Capital Area Greenway system that has over 100 miles of trails at 10MPH.

ArmChairRider

Yikes!
How does he know you were speeding?

1 old fart

Probably stops every cyclist Ha-Ha

ArmChairRider

:0)
He's got his own Barney Fife'dom there.
Even if he couldn't technically get you for speeding he probably could get you for something subjectional, like display of power or recklessness.
Oh well.
Citizen on Patrol.

1 old fart

"HOWDEEEE"

RonH

10 mph max speed? I think you need to find another place to ride.
No speed limit signs where I ride.

Juan Foote

Actually, the PATH locations and Beltline all have a speed limit as well. I have only noticed it blatantly marked at Panola Mountain where you can really get going much faster. Actually got asked to slow down by a group of bicycle (riding) poice officers there. I wish they would enforce it everywhere to keep the CAT1 MUP racers on the roads where they belong.

ArmChairRider

lol

Moe Zhoost

I've seen those signs on the Neuse River Trail. I reckon the intent was to control bad behaviour, but the language is absolute (and probably citable). Personally, I think signs advising trail users to be courteous to other users are far more effective than compliance based signs with unrealistic requirements. Even a qualified requirement, like "10 mph when pedestrians are present" is more appropriate.

You can't fault the officer for doing his duty. He was likely motivated by complaints of bad behaviour (or maybe it was you who were behaving badly).

GlennR

The MUP in my area have a 15mph speed limit.

I don't ride them. They're not for us, they're for strollers, kids, runners and people on "cruisers".

bigbenaugust 

Seems to me the American Tobacco Trail also has a 10mph speed limit. But I have never ever seen anyone enforcing it there.

OldTryGuy

Better than a 6mpm pace!!! That's pretty good so just how long have you been farting????

ArmChairRider

Just turn your cruise control on.
You might be able to get by with 11 mph.
:0)

Deal4Fuji

The last time I was on the Neuse River Trail quite a few roadies (some in in groups of 4-6) were going way too fast for a greenway...someone probably complained. The 10 MPH signs have always been up but seldom enforced -- that's what probably brought Barney out.

prathmann

Our local MUP has a 15 mph speed limit. Normally not enforced, but one morning I was coasting down an overpass when I spotted a motor cycle cop partly hidden behind a bush with his radar gun. Apparently I hit the brakes in time. I presume he was there in response to complaints since there was a school nearby and lots of kids use the trail.

1 old fart

My pet Peeve is that Raleigh is a big promoter of "bike friendly city" and hopes to achieve silver level status". City offers bennies to cyclists.
Bicycle Benefits Program | raleighnc.gov
Not easy to commute to work at 10MPH.

wphamilton

Our's (Alpharetta/Roswell GA) I think is 15 although I saw 10 mph on a photo of some trailhead. Whichever, it is generally ignored and fortunately un-crowded when I'm on it. If I really had to go 10 mph, or even 15, I would literally never take it for my commutes. It's an absurdly low speed suitable only for low effort recreation of a few miles or less. (lest anyone upbraid me on that, I do slow to those speeds or lower whenever I approach pedestrians)

If a Greenway is justified and funded in part for commuter and utility cycling, it should not be rendered unusable for those purposes, and other users should accept that they'll be sharing it with that type of cycling. In my opinion.

1 old fart

Watch out coming south down ATT hill by Southpoint mall I hit 35MPH+ on my road bike

bigbenaugust 

Oh yeah, last time I was on the ATT a buddy and I did a little sprint to catch the rest of our group... easily busted through 20mph.

Back in the Bay Area, there were some MTB trails where the rangers enforced 15mph speed limits with battery-powered radar guns on MTBs. I had a buddy get a warning once.

wrldtraveller

10 mph, well thats a bit better than whats posted in my city's MUP. however this section makes sense as it is extremely crowded on a beautiful day. The speed limit is 6 mph. Pretty much walking speed. but I have to obey this because there was one incident when a cyclist was going too reckless and actually hit a child and hospitalized this child. however, I've noticed when I go further out of this section either west or south, or north, the speed limit increases to 12 Mph. When this increase, I typically go up to 20 or higher mph.Police rarely roam this higher speed zone.

Oh well. I guess thats life in Urban areas.

on another note, a friend of mine who loved road biking, so he had a road bike and cycled on roads with cars. One day a police car pulled him over and gave him a ticket for exceeding the posted road speed of 40 mph. He tried to fight the ticket by saying that he is on a bicycle, not a car, but the police didn't care because a bicycle is still classified as a vehicle. so he decided to switch to a mountain bike because on this type of bike, he cannot go faster.

W

NYMXer

I doubt anyone is very interested in policing a MUP trail unless public safety is threatened. So maybe they have been getting too many complaints and are now forced to do something about it. This happened here by us and the police actually wrote many tickets, To some, the ticket was a badge of honor but you can't discount public safety. In our area, too many cyclist were trying to beat Strava times and IMHO, they should not allow that on a MUP trail. Road segments, sure... no problem but not on the MUP trails.

KD5NRH

15 I can do on the typical urban, well used MUP. 12-14 is sort of a gentle lope, as long as I'm not having to waste a nice downhill on it. 10 is just pathetic, and any MUP limited to 10MPH should be legally restricted to only recreation funds, with the governing body required to pay back any transportation funds used in its construction upon posting of a limit too low for effective transportation use.

Something like a rail-trail running through rural areas without a lot of foot traffic should be 20mph, if it's limited at all.

CreamyPete

Lame, why can the rules be a simple: "Don't be a dick. If you cause damage, or terrorize your fellow citizens you'll be held liable?" Seems like a good rule for trails, and cops.

Moe Zhoost

Because that would be bad for the economy. Think about how many people would be put out of work: Lawmakers, regulation writers, compliance officers, lawyers, judges, newspersons who interpret/report, counselors who ease the trauma, etc.

Of course, productivity would go up because folks won't spend their workday chatting and posting about the 'dick' they encountered the day before.

CreamyPete

And I thought I was a cynic Moe.
Even great folks will break my rule (myself included) at least a couple of times in their lives, leaving plenty of work for all those folks.