Both cities have more than ten bicycle shops. Both have a sharp business dude importing European bikes and selling them for a huge markup. Portland has more framebuilders; and therefore has more out of work framebuilders – due to Portland’s proximity to Oregon. Seattle has nuances that keep it interesting, and so does Portland, but Portland goes way too far into the strato-hip, as in: “Jeez, do I have to have a well developed (yet stylishly presented) beard, tatoos of exceptionally unique nature, a handmade cycling cap, and wear brown and black to work at a bike shop? Fuck!”
I haven’t been to every city in these here United States. I’ve been to and spent some time in all of the bicycle friendly and somewhat friendly places that I’m aware of – unless there’s a secret bike city that I don’t know of. These include: (please feel free to chastise me if I missed your fine city) Tucson, Flagstaff, Davis, Arcata, Chico, Ashland, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Louisville, St. Louis, Eau Claire, Madison, Milwaukee, Burlington, VT. and Denver. Sorry, Austin. I am sure you’re a great place, but I’ve not been there. Seattle is a great bike city. It is catching up quickly in reputation to Portland and will soon surpass it… of this I have little doubt.
My 3 favorite bicycle cities are, in this order: Minneapolis, Seattle, Tucson.
Minneapolis has harsh winter weather, but the three good seasons are enough to make it America’s bicycle friendly gem. This shit rules. I daresay that drunkcyclist.com needs a Twin Cities correspondent. It might be me someday. I dream of going back to the city of babes and bikes. And Grain Belt.
The bar is raised there, in the art department. Bicycle related art is fine and flourishing in the twin cities.
Seattle and Portland haven’t caught on yet to the wonderful combination of cafe and bicycle shop. In Minneapolis, they are numerous. Conversations about bike tech are custom and occur with regularity. People notice your sweet rig and it is a great conversation starter. Big gangs of old ladies are out riding their bikes every weekend on the nations only ‘bicycle interstate’ and the numerous other trails, of which I did not see each mile.
The lakes within the city are ringed with one way bicycle paths that are filled each weekend with riders of all ages and types. Green Lake is nice… don’t get me wrong, only on a bicycle you want to take the boulevard if you don’t want to be mired in by walkers and runners.
Lovely, romantic Portland – fret not, on my list you are fourth.
But your arrogance as claiming to be the best bicycle city in the US is underscored by the reality that a sheer number of more bike riders does not a best bike city make, in my opinion.
I’m limiting my analysis to the US in my US-centric experience. Still, none of these are Montreal, or Vancouver. These are cities located in Canada where the priorities are slightly different and the culture a little more different.
And Tucson? 70 degrees and sunny in the winter. Empty wide streets. A health conscious population and great bicycle shops like Fair Wheel bikes and Ordinary Bicycle Shop. The GABA swap meet. El Tour. Tucson isn’t the most friendly bike city because too often a person gets run over by a sun-faded Ford LTD from the 70s, and way too often a motherfucker yells, throws bottles, or waves pistols at a bicyclist. Perhaps my top three list should include Portland, but Tucson has some kind of incredible bicycle culture and parade of freaks that is not to be found anywhere else, but again, Austin is uncharted for me and I’ve heard good things.
I’ll leave you with this picture of a little project I did between pounding nails and swapping carburetors:
This is my contribution to Seattle.
I put this post in and sacrificed a Suntour XC comp crank to protect the tree and put Iris plants in to participate in one of Seattle’s most endearing customs: Planting and creatively working with your neighbors to make these traffic circles unique and interesting. Get out there and dig. Drink good coffee. Talk to your next door folk. Drink good beer and great wine. These are only suggestions. This wine here – Bombing Range Red – is so fucking good I bought 6 of them.
Just as long as there’s a samurai sword hefted off the shelf involved.
I’m in.
Not really a city, more like a town, Whistler has plenty for the bikes, you better bring your wallet though!
Why? Do I need ID to get in?
LJ— yes, in fact you do need ID to get into Canada. Me, I’ll be heading to Whistler on Monday, can’t wait. I need to straighten the de hanger on my poor old MTB right away. We have free lodging at Creekside and our local hosts promise “provisions.” That said, Mr. boomerbaird is right— Whistler is viciously expensive.
Whoa, let me get this straight-You need ID to get into Canuckistan. And I understand (correct me if I’m wrong) you best not be caught in Meh-hee-co without papers. And everyone’s cool with that?
@Joe— minor correction, sir— you’re thinking of Arizona. Not sure about Mexico, haven’t been down there in twenty years.
Oh, you need papers in Mexico. Passport now, not just DL and birth certifiate. Plus a visa. Pretty much the same as Canadia, except they’ll let you in if you have an old arrest, which Canadia has been know to turn people around for…
Joe, You’ve always needed I.D. The new(ish) passport requirement for travel between U.S. and Canada has been a few year on route, with a few extensions and delays but it’s pretty old news.
My understanding is it was largely spearheaded by your dept homeland security post 911.
Personally, I don’t see the big deal tho. Bring yer passport and unless you’re belligerent at the border it’s a formality same as always. (same either direction) As to old arrests and such, it’s again, the same each way. Dept. of Customs & Intimidation get to make the call, do what they want, when they want and it’s pointless to argue.
(the snap of a rubber glove wins any argument)
But God help us if we ask anyone for THEIR “papers”. Just sayin’…
Portland’s all handmade cycling cap, no cattle.
John + 1.
…john + 1 also…
John +2, that’s funny as fuck.
I hereby downgrade Seattle because of the fucked up fucking fucked lights that fucking don’t fucking change when you come up to them in the fucking middle of the god-damn night. You’re FORCED to break the law by riding through them. FUCK YOU, Seattle for this little bit of bike unfriendliness, but thanks after all for none of the cops fucking with me for breaking the law every fucking time I ride.
I don’t even see what banning dogs has to do some place not being great for bicycles. Frankly, there are a couple of dogs on one of my favorite routes that I wish were banned… or at least fenced.
If they wanted to do something about the owners, even better.
Dear Marvin –
I am a cyclist who believes and practices that the bicycle is a form of transportation first and foremost, as well as a wonderful way to ‘recreate’ – so for me, the fire roads and singletrack take third burner behind what the cities have to offer in terms of rideability and bicycle culture, and what the highways have in terms of shoulder and the ability to ride across the state.
When I ride in a city, I go everywhere. I do not stay on the bike routes; I poke into every little section of the city I need to go to or care to see. I find the activity and kinetic energy of a city to be more interesting than nature. Yet, I do respect the desire to go out and be in remote places or ride along trails that other people have worn and made good with their shovels and saws. Colorado sucks for the same reason California does – you take some of the most beautiful places and put the richest people there and they make it into a haven of self-gratification and very inequitable local economies. Even Aspen has a ghetto mart supermarket where cheap rich people bring their fucking clipped coupons, and shop alongside the working class of the area that have to drive 30 miles to go to work because they sure as hell can’t afford a place in Aspen. Same shit in Stowe, VT and hundreds of other towns. It is depressing and creates a hopeless feeling to be wintered in places like this if you are not one of those spending thousands per week on ‘fun’.
I hate people that have a lot and are so cheap, and they collect in the places where property is most valued. This is always true.
It is the people that ruin it, not the setting. A perceptive person cannot ignore the trends and truths around them.
My take on dogs is that if one attacks you or your dog without warning and causes severe harm that you should pull a pistol out and shoot it, if you have one. This, to me, is fair. Call me old fashioned, but this is far far more reasonable than some agent of the state coming to your door to take your dog away because it is of a certain breed. That, to me, is nazi-esqe and very sick.
@LJ – “Call me old fashioned, but this is far far more reasonable than some agent of the state coming to your door to take your dog away because it is of a certain breed. That, to me, is nazi-esqe and very sick.”
werd. if someone comes for one of my dogs, i guess im going too. i’d die before i let them take my dogs from me. and that is exactly what they did in denver and surrounding area neighborhoods. fucking sick shit. fuck ALL of colorado.
“Call me old fashioned, but this is far far more reasonable than some agent of the state coming to your door to take your dog away because it is of a certain breed. That, to me, is nazi-esqe and very sick.”
Totally agree. Banning entire breeds is wrong.
And a hat tip to lj for proving Godwin’s law.
In this same state there exists the largest feed lot in the world – tens of thousands of cattle herded together in misery. They don’t have any rights. They are property. So, they won’t let you have a pit bull but you’re allowed to contaminate a county by owning 15,000 shitting cows in one place. Talk about sick. I’m aware that CO is very big business friendly and the developers have created some of the most vast and character-less suburbs in existence there.
My dog is my sweetie and my best friend. He is a part of my family… but the law doesn’t recognize this at all. A dog is considered property and can be taken away. As far as I’m concerned, we have only advanced a fraction toward humanity’s potential for greatness since the days of slave trading.
Damn.
First Nazi’s.
Now slave traders.
What’s next ?
I vote pedophiles.
Is there a law for that ?
We’ll call it “Big Kitchen’s Law”.
BJ mentioned UT. I live in SLC, been here for 16 yrs. I was a roadie when I got here then spent 3 yrs in a good shop that showed me the light.
MTB’ng is king… There’s about 100 miles of awesome singletrack, all SS’able, surrounding that little hamlet called Park City a mere 15 mins from the valley (if you drive fast).
SLC is clean, safe, cheap AND you can beer here. If not, there’s always Evanston, WY and you bootleg the shit in. Winter is good. Skiing is awesome. Riding in the valley is doable year round.
All you have to do is turn a blind eye to the religion thing and you’ve got it dialed.