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Portland, Ore., is best cycling city

Bicycling magazine once again has named Portland, Ore., the best cyclingcity in America and the best city with a population between 500,000 and 1million.

San Diego leads cities of 1 million or more, followed byChicago and New York. Madison, Wis., leads cities of 200,000 to 500,000,Boulder, Colo., leads cities of 75,000 to 200,000, and Davis, Calif., isthe best small town.

The good news is that St. Louis didn't make thelist of the worst three cycling cities in America. That dubious distinctionbelongs to Atlanta, Houston and Boston.

You can see Bicycling's press release at Business Wire.

Davis long has been considered America's best small cycling town because of itsextensive network of bicycle lanes and bicycle trails. For 2007, I thinkit's time for Bicycling to consider Edwardsville, Ill., for that honor.

While Edwardsville doesn't have designed bicycle lanes, many of the Madison County Transit trails do go through Edwardsville and link Edwardsville with other Madison Countycommunities or with rural roads that provide plenty of safe cycling. My experiencealso has been that motorists in Edwardsville are friendlier toward cycliststhan in other communities in the St. Louis area.

I realize Edwardsville may fall short in some of the other criteria like bike culture (number ofbike commuters, popular clubs, cool cycling events, renowned bike shops), but I still think you could make a good case for the city.

Roger 1 comments 2:05 PM

Comments:

I like this site. I have to say though Edwardsville has some work to do if it wants to make the top ten of best cycling cities. I agree motorists are pretty decent to bikers, and those transit trails are both beautiful and extensive. However, there is NO where to park and lock a bike when you ride in town, there are few bike shops and I don't find the Edwardsville shop anywhere near as professional, informed and helpful as say the Richardson Texas bike shop where organized rides are offered at various levels, bike safety and rules are taught, bike care classes are offered, and you can trust them to look after bikers ethically, at all levels. Riding on the streets of this area, there is little room at the side, lots of trash and glass, and most bikers don't use hand signals. I get a ton of cars who make a right turn directly in front of me. We have a LOT of work to do if we want to be considered a fantastic place to bike.

# posted by  Anonymous : 3:07 PM

 

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