Started riding to work again now that traffic has returned to pre-covid levels. Also to conserve what little fuel I have in the car until 'this' all blows over.
I noticed that the way I drive to work is almost all accompanied by Shared use paths, usually empty, so I though I would give that a whirl on the bike.
In summary - They range from the depressing to down right dangerous.
Predictably, there are almost 3x the no. of yield points than If i rode on the road. Covered in glass and detritus. One classic stretch is just a raised pavement next to a relatively narrow NSL road, the hedge is so overgrown it snags at your handlebars while you try to squeeze past the oncoming lorries whose wing mirros overhang the pavement. That just ended when it came to a roundabout. Not even a 'Cyclists Dismount' sign. It just turned to grass/mud and left the rider to figure out where I was supposed to go next.
No revelations there. Just confirmed what I suspected. Unpleasant enough on a dry day. I don't want to imagine it is on a wet cold winter morning getting blined by headlights and doused in road spray from HGV's. Grim.