redlude97

Almost all of my rides contain a mix of MUP, road and gravel. I just count them all as miles, not going to go through the trouble of breaking them up into individual segments

Velo Vol 

The way they're constructed here it's not even practical/possible to ride that fast on them except for short stretches.

Shimagnolo

That sounds like Ned Brown Preserve (aka Busse Woods) in the NW suburbs of Chicago.
It was OK in the autumn, winter, and early spring, but could be so over-crowded on summer weekends, that it was nearly useless trying to ride it for exercise.

Shimagnolo

Here is a video someone made 2 years ago in early spring when the US36 Bike Path first opened.
Someone 'splain to me how this is not as good as road-cycling.

Kapusta

chainwhip

IMO, he did exactly what most ppl would do in framing a poll question: state the parameters and get out of the way.
Besides, Heisenberg says he already influenced the outcome by framing the question,non?

WhyFi

It's not hard to understand - I'm interested to hear opinions, not to sway them.

Velo Vol 

To wit: this guy might have gotten up to 15 m.p.h.

prathmann

Here's a typical view down the bike path I've recently been using the most. It stretches for over 80 miles across the middle of Michigan and connects to several other long paths. It does get busier when passing through more populated areas, but most of it is just going through rural farm land and is sparsely traveled as shown here. No bicycle speed limit but there are some 'trail etiquette' signs suggesting that one maintain a 'safe speed.'

Machka 

It depends.

If the MUP is a packed gravel trail, as some are in my area, and you do your entire ride on the packed gravel trail ... probably not.

But if the MUP is the Intercity Cycleway, which we've also got here, and is paved and laned similar to a road ... maybe.

And if you do, as we often do, part of your ride on the Cycleway and part of your ride on the road ... yes.

kbarch

If it's a binary choice - road vs mountain (or dirt), or paved vs unpaved, OK. But maybe we want to make a different kind of distinction. I don't know much about dirt/mountain biking, but I know there are different kinds, and there is certainly is a wide variety of paved situations. The little kindergarteners on the sidewalk aren't mountain bikers, but are they road cyclists? I don't think so. There's a continuum, and a mix of conditions that one might encounter on a ride, and it may be hard to draw the line sometimes, but it seems to me that if one purposefully avoids bona fide roads, then one isn't a bona fide road cyclist. It's not a value judgement, just an honest description.

I can see how some cyclists might just happen to have lots of nice, long paths that provide conditions that allow the same basic riding experience that one might get on local roads, just without the cars and trucks, and might make a habit of riding on them most of the time. I'd say that if such riders make their way to and from such courses via regular roads, or if they generally limit their rides on regular roads to large, organized or closed-course events, there's no reason not to call them road cyclists, but if they only ride on bike paths, they're path cyclists. I don't see how (or why) anyone who would drive himself to a MUP could call himself a road cyclist.

Machka 

GrainBrain

Would our rails to trails programs here in the Midwest be considered mups? They are multi-use, but as you say they stretch for a long ways. They can get congested when going through a town, but it's nothing to slow down for a whopping five minutes till you're past the walkers. Since they follow old rail beds there's great sight lines.

My longest day ride so far is 132 miles, 100 miles almost exclusively on various connecting trails. The fun part is hammering the fifteen miles to the trail head from my place on road.

rubiksoval

Indubitably.

bobwysiwyg

My wife and I just returned from two weeks in Michigan's western U.P. While up there we took some time to have a look at the recently completed last leg of The Iron Belle trail, only 7 miles or so. It runs from Bessemer to Ironwood and ends at the Wisconsin border. Here's a link to more info on the trail and various stages of completion.

https://midnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/w...e1b69d1d674d10

zacster

On the country's busiest MUP, the West Side Greenway, there are sections too crowded to ride fast with too many road crossings, and sections that are straight and less crowded. But this is NYC in general. And does the type of trail matter in how many miles you ride? In fact I do a large percentage of my miles in Prospect Park, which has 3 lanes all closed to traffic. Is this now a MUP because there are no cars? The speed limit is 25 but other than the small downhill you won't exceed that anyway. Nah, it doesn't matter where I'm riding. If I'm riding my road bike they are road miles. If I'm on my commuter they aren't road miles, but they are still miles. If I'm out with my wife and/or family, it is a slow meandering ride but they are still miles.

rubiksoval

Exactly. That's essentially a sidewalk. Even 15 mph would be sketchy in parts. That's how the majority of MUPs I've seen in three different countries are.

You're not "road riding" on those things, at least not in any sort of performance-oriented way.

Sy Reene

I don't think the discussion is about what is good or bad. Just that this kinda riding just isn't "Road Cycling", it's MUP Riding or Path Cycling or such.

OTOH, is a race like the Giro or Tour really road cycling, since the only cars provided are the teams own, and the course is closed to the general population of clueless drivers?

bobwysiwyg

I guess I could chime in on the question. My answer would be maybe. Despite being old and slow I'm not a fan of MUP's in settled areas, too many pedestrians, joggers, etc. who have as much right as cyclists to the trails. However, the rails-to-trails facilities rarely have difficult grades, even for me. 😉 There are good sections away from settled areas where combined with a good sight line would allow for greater speeds. The Kal-Haven Trail from Kalamazoo to South Haven (30+ miles) is mostly fairly well maintained gravel. Once you get a few miles out from either end the pedestrians, joggers and dog walkers are gone and you can ride as fast as you feel comfortable on loose gravel. Local MUP's have 10 mph limits that even I find restrictive.
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Kapusta

Sy Reene

FWIW, a large chunk of the Greenway is not a 'MUP' in its fullest sense -- it is labelled as for roller-skaters and bikes only. From recollection, this area extends from roughly the 60s/70s thru to downtown Manhattan. This is presumably because running parallel to the Greenway along this stretch, there are plenty of pedestrian paths or sidewalks only yards away that bikes are not allowed on. That said, this section is oft frequented by joggers, skateboarders and peds. Unfortunately, the parks dept is unwilling to monitor and police the situation.

Shimagnolo

A friend and I rode it 20+ years ago.
It was nice, but I found myself longing for some hills and or curves to make it more interesting.
I'm surprised it is still gravel; I expected it would likely be paved by now.

BillyD

I'm riding on the MUP for safety and peace of mind. And I'm using my road bike(s). Who cares what other people want to call it! I don't even care what "I" call it.

In brief, your poll needs a "Who cares?" category.

buffalo4life

I view road cycling as riding a road bike on a paved surface, thusly the MUP counts. Not all MUPS are created equal and some allow longer stretches of high speed opportunity for cyclists.

wphamilton

Sure they're the same, since most MUP's are a kind of road. Not for motorized traffic, but any wide path with a prepared surface used for travel is a road.