Kirksville Daily Express: Vehicular cycling vs bike paths?

Rachel Ruhlen, Kirksville Daily Express blogger, wrote:

When I started bicycling, motorists yelled “Use the sidewalk!” So I switched to the sidewalk. Then pedestrians yelled “Get off the sidewalk!” Confused by these conflicting messages, I turned to research, and promptly learned that bicyclists belong on the road and are at greater risk riding on the sidewalk.  

Rachel Ruhlen, Daily Express bicycle blogger

Vehicular Cycling, a philosophy proposed in the 1970’s by John Forester, is the safest way to bike with traffic: Ride on the road, obey traffic laws, know when to take the lane or share the lane, be visible and predictable.

After researching best bicycling practices and taking the bicycle education class through the League of American Bicyclists, I became a Vehicular Cycling proponent. Its practices are supported by statistics and my personal experience.

Now I’m reading City Cycling (2012), which reviews the latest research and advances in bicycling for transportation. Chapter 6, "Bicycling Infrastructure for Mass Cycling: A Transatlantic Comparison" by Peter Furth, was an eye-opener for me. I knew that Forester’s extreme views on the evils of bike paths were behind his break with the League. But Furth holds Forester--and Vehicular Cycling--accountable for holding back bicycle policy in the USA for decades. . . . 

Cities and states were happy to accept Forester’s anti-bike path agenda because bike lanes are a lot cheaper, and his ideas were adopted into official manuals and policy on bicycle infrastructure design recommendations and guidelines. But most adults are “traffic intolerant”, which means they’ll happily bike on bike paths but not on roads with traffic, even wide roads. Since there aren't a lot of bike paths, cyclists who are traffic intolerant tend not to be cyclists.

What do you think--bike paths, bicycling on the road, or both?  Read more about Ruhlen's thoughts about the issue here.