Take That Portland!

[PscyclePath]

Like a lot of other things in Bicycling, that's strictly the staff's collective opinion... their ranking doesn't have much of anything to do with the LAB's Bicycle-Friendly America program, which has a lot more standards and performance measures.

Bicycling got most of their numbers from the Alliance for Biking & Walking's new 2010 Benchmarking Report, which looks at several other things.

[ummbnb]

Boulder ranked #3, Denver #12 and Colo Spgs #18 = Go Colorado!

[OakLeaf]

OTOH, the LAB ranks Florida fairly high, and anyone who's actually ridden a bicycle in Florida can tell you it's one of the most bike-UNfriendly places in the USA.

[PscyclePath]

OTOH, the LAB ranks Florida fairly high, and anyone who's actually ridden a bicycle in Florida can tell you it's one of the most bike-UNfriendly places in the USA.

Agreed... nearly one out of every four cyclists killed in the United States meets his or her fate in Florida. And Texas and California aren't too far behind them.

[tulip]

Agreed... nearly one out of every four cyclists killed in the United States meets his or her fate in Florida. And Texas and California aren't too far behind them.

Not sure that this means much...those are some of the states with the highest overall population, so it would make sense that the most cyclists killed would be from those states. California, at least, also likely has a higher percentage of cyclists compared to other states.

Wouldn't a more useful statistic would be the number of cyclists killed per capita?

However, I will not ride my bike in Florida. Too bad because the weather is great and it's not too far away from where I live.

[MommyBird]

I am with Tulip.
Nebulous statistics drive me crazy.

[shootingstar]

Agreed... nearly one out of every four cyclists killed in the United States meets his or her fate in Florida. And Texas and California aren't too far behind them.

I didn't know about this. But like everyone else is saying how many cyclists per capita in each state for a more clearer comparison.

[GLC1968]

Part of the reason for more cycling deaths in those states could be because there are more cyclists out year-round than there might be in other areas, too.

That said, I lived in FL for 7 years. I only mountain biked or biked on campus pathways. You couldn't pay me to ride on the roads with those drivers.

[OakLeaf]

And when they do kill a cyclist, there's rarely even a traffic ticket, let alone a criminal prosecution. An experienced cyclist was rear-ended in broad daylight not four miles from my house. According to the authorities, it was his own fault.

So the other drivers are reinforced in their idea that cyclists don't belong on the road and that they can buzz us, cut us off and even kill us with impunity.

That's what I mean by cyclist-unfriendly.