I had recently read in Bicycling Magazine about the best cities to ride your bike in. It also had listed the worst, most improved, future, and best in the world. Not very surprising to me two of the best cities in the United States are very close to where I live in the northwest. Even though it rains a lot here in the winter and spring. The summer and fall are great for riding your bike in Oregon or Washington. According to Bicycling here are the 5 best bike friendly cities in the U.S.

1. Portland, OR
2. Seattle, WA
3. Chicago, IL
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Boulder, CO

Here is another interesting fact.

Think about this: A street must be 12 lanes wide to accommodate 40,000 car commuters per hour, but only 1 lane wide to handle the same number of cyclists. (Bicycling Magazine June 2008)

The other list of cities that Bicycling list in its June 2008 issue is as follows.

The Worst

1. Dallas, TX
2. Memphis, TX
3. Miami, FL

Most Improved

1. Washington DC
2. Louisville, KY
3. New York City
4. Minneapolis, MN
5. San Jose, CA

Future

1. Boston, MA
2. Los Angeles, CA
3. Salt Lake City, UT
4. Columbus, OH
5. Fargo-Moorhead, ND

And if you are ever traveling abroad and you like to ride bikes here are the 8 best bike friendly cities according to Bicycling Magazine.

1. Amsterdam, Netherland
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Montreal, Canada
5. Bogota, Columbia
6. Paris, France
7. Barcelona, Spain
8. Berlin, Germany

I remember when I was a kid. It was not uncommon to hop on your bike and ride it over to a friends house. Then ride down to the market or all around town. But now it is so easy to hop in the car to go to the store. I think this summer I am going to ride my bike for more of these little short trips for milk and stuff like that. Not only will it give me good exercise but I will save money and gas. With the way gas prices are now days. But it will also be good for the environment. We have become a society that relies to much on the vehicles. Just remember the most important thing to ride your bike you helmet and lights for safety and always follow the rules of the road to get along with the people in their cars.