National Geographic Traveler recently released its 2010 list of Bike Friendly Cities.
Congratulations to Portland (no surprise), New York (real surprise), Chicago (surprise for some people), San Diego, San Francisco, Montreal, Washington D.C. (I couldn’t agree more), and Tucson (sorry, but I have to disagree unless their only criteria for inclusion is road-biking).
I am glad to see a rating system for bike-friendly cities. I love riding bike in urban, suburban, and rural settings. But If I’m going to ride my bike in a city (or anywhere for that matter) I want it to be on a trail. I do not trust drivers. Heck, when I’m driving, I don’t trust bicyclists. Let’s face it; the two modes of transportation don’t mix well. And for bicyclists, it just takes one split-second of misjudgment to end it all.
But I digress. I’m happy for the cities that make biking a pleasure and hope that other metropolises follow in their footsteps. It’s good for our health, economy, society, and life in general.
Unfortunately, of those cities that won the award, the only bike trail on trailsnet is the Washington D.C. trail to Mount Vernon.
