Warren, I can't speak for others, but I ride on the streets with my street legal GEM because:
1. It is legal to do so, as long as the speed limit is 35 mph or less.
2. I pay for the privilege of doing so--license plates and insurance.
3. In many cases (although not in all cases) the streets provide a more direct route--Buena Vista is a good example--if you ride on the paths you must turn into several Villages, go behind the guard gates and then come back out to the main path.
4. I'm not a big fan of the tunnels--they are often scarier than the road because of other drivers.
5. If I go on the multi-modal paths I have to look out for joggers and often have to slow down to golf carts going 19 mph, while my cart goes 26 mph.
I will say that when I ride on roads such as El Camino Real and Buena Vista I stay in the right hand lane so that it is easy to pass me. When I go on Morse which is single lane in many places with a speed limit of 30 mph I tend to stay in the cart lane because if I'm going 26 mph and the speed limit is 30 mph I would be slowing down traffic and there isn't an extra lane for passing.
Just my $.02
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Captain Jon
"Growing older but not up." J. Buffett
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Coral Gables, FL, Bahamas, Belize, Wilmington, NC, Bocas del Toro, Panama and finally The Villages
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