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Yes, biking saves you bus fare, lowers your carbon footprint, eliminates the need to find a parking place and helps your heart, but a main motivation for many who pedal their way to work or to the grocery store is just plain fun. Check out these best biking cities.
1. Portland
Who can doubt a city's bike-friendliness when almost 9,000 people show up to pedal nude in the World Naked Bike Ride? Portland -- "green" enough across the board to rival the Emerald City -- is on the vanguard of biking in America. The city boasts more cyclists per capita than any other. Coffee shops like Fresh Pot provide one bike-parking spot for every cafe chair. If you are just passing through or new to biking in the area, take a first ride along the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade, high above the banks of the Willamette River, with a gorgeous view of the city skyline.
The nation's largest city now has the nation's largest bike-sharing plan. New York's Citi Bike share system gave bikers a convenience boost that resulted in a doubling, over the past five years, of bike commuters. The city added 350 miles of bike lanes, making for safer, quicker cycling. For a beginning bike jaunt in the Big Apple, pedal around Central Park's six-mile loop, far from the maddening crowds. Or for a more urban experience, zip down the 13 paved miles of the West Side Highway Bike Path, leading you from Manhattan to Battery Park along the banks of the Hudson.
Forget little cable cars -- San Francisco cyclists prefer the daily workout. Cycling is popular in this hilly city; on Bike to Work Day, over three-quarters of Market Street commuters pedaled their way to the office. And Market Street's not the only major thoroughfare that is bike-friendly. You can ride safely down Folsom Street's bike lanes or, in a contra-flow bike lane (against traffic flow), on Polk Street. Large parts of urban Golden Gate Park close to motorized traffic on weekends, and the Golden Gate Bridge has a protected bikes-only lane. To get started, attend one of the SF Bicycle Coalition's free workshops on cycling in the City.
Seattle's the largest city in the Pacific Northwest, is home to the largest bike club in the country, the 14,000-member Cascade Bicycle Club. Despite the steep hills in this often-wet city, almost 4 percent of residents commute on bikes. And the excellent urban bike parks allow for mountain-biking too. A great introduction to the vibrant cycling scene is the Burke-Gilman Trail, a flat, 20-mile city spin, skimming Gasworks Park, the University of Washington, and the western shoreline of Lake Washington. For something more pastoral, ferry across Puget Sound to pedal Bainbridge Island's loop trail.
The nation's capital boasts hundreds of miles of bike trails and 2,500 bikes in its Capital Bikeshare program available at 300 locations around Washington D.C. This benefits resident commuters, but also tourists who can admire all the famous monuments without searching for parking places. Start pedaling at the National Mall, and the bike trails take you past the must-see monuments on your way from the U.S. Capitol Building to the Lincoln Memorial. Longer jaunts abound, like the classic ride along the Potomac to Cumberland, MD, a gorgeous trek or some 185 miles.
Any city with a public bicycle garden (think free air pumps and biker-lockers) is likely cycling-friendly, and Tucson certainly is. The dry, warm weather helps, as do the hundreds of miles of metro bike lanes that traverse the city grid. Folks who like groups can choose between dozens of biking associations. A fun way to get the hang of the city is to bike the McCain Loop, a 34-mile trek that starts at the University of Arizona campus, crosses Gates Pass and the stunning Saguaro National Park before zipping through downtown to the Tucson Mountain Park.
Minneapolis might not leap to mind as a great biking city if you don't live there, but the City of the Lakes boasts the second largest number of bike commuters in the country, just after Portland. Despite its freezing winter temperatures, Minneapolis bikers use the city's bike paths and bike bridges year-round, as well as the Cedar Lake Train, the first "bike-freeway" in the country. Cedar Lake Trail stretches almost 5 miles along the old rail lines of the Great Northern Railway, giving bikers living in the western suburbs a direct bike-route to downtown. The city celebrates January 3 as Winter Biking Day
Boulder's population only exceeds 100,000 by a handful, but 12 percent of them bike to work, the largest percentage in the nation for large cities. The 300 sunny days a year help, as do the 200 miles of hiking and biking lanes. The town continues to improve access by increasing the number of protected lanes downtown and doubling the number of its bike-share (Boulder B-Cycle) stations. Boulder sits at the base of the Rockies of course, so superb mountain biking is near at hand. Check out the mountain trails at Walker Ranch.
