I don’t know the bike laws in all 50 states, but where I bike cyclists do have the right of road, and signs attest to that effect. That said, I’m not reckless. If that bike path you mention were in rideable condition, I would have used it. Which brings me to another issue: the bike paths in some locations are not maintained properly for bike tires. I suspect DOT thinks the paths can be maintained same as the roads, or that the paths are the roads’ waste receptacles, so when the roads are swept, all the broken glass and other schmutz ends up on the bike paths, where 7/8" tires are in peril because of it.
Oh, OK. See, I would never know if it was, for example, something Yalies used to say back then.