Pacific Northwest - Willie Weir: Portland beats Seattle for cyclists

Willie Weir, noted bike tourist/Adventure Cycling columnist/author, leaves his Seattle home for a week of traveling around Portland by bike, and compares Portland vs. Seattle for cyclists. Portland wins.

Some text here:

http://www.yellowtentadventures.com/

Podcast of his appearance on Seattle public radio today:

http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=18898

Some good detail on the subtle differences that make Portland better for cyclists.

"As a pedestrian and a cyclist in Seattle, I feel tolerated. As a pedestrian and cyclist in Portland, I feel celebrated."

I'll agree that PDX has much better cycling infrastructure. Some accomodations, like the greenbox lanes and the separate light triggers for bicycles are just brilliant. Plus, there's the Ronde de van Ouest Portlandia. But of all the times I've visited, I'm still happy to come back to Seattle.

"As a pedestrian and a cyclist in Seattle, I feel tolerated. As a pedestrian and cyclist in Portland, I feel celebrated."

Funny, if the comments on Bike Portland (http://www.bikeportland.org) are any indication, the cyclists who live in Portland feel resented -- never satisfied, that bunch. ;)

Personally, I prefer the suburbs and rural areas.

New places always seem nicer, don't they... what's that saying, "the grass is always greener?"

Looks like he found some really green grass!

This isn't news. Seattle isn't bad for cycling but the pavement is awful (segmented roads can make 20 - 30 mm cracks very nicely), the infrastructure varies from decent to horrible and nonexistent (see the Missing Link in Ballard, Marginal Way or just about anywhere in South Seattle, and pretty much everything north of 85th), and even when the roads aren't segmented the pavement is often 30 - 40 years old so it's full of random cracks and potholes. I don't even care about or like bike boxes (I honestly think they're pointless; what's so hard about waiting integrating yourself into traffic at lights?), I just want roads that don't try and grab my front wheel.

All that said, I find a bicycle the best way to get around Seattle, except for times like now when I'm a big giant wimp about ice. Drivers in Seattle are generally pretty decent towards cyclists and the city is trying.

One of the major reasons I moved to Portland from the East Coast. In 2 years, I've had one "bad" experience. In 2 years on the East Coast, I had too many to count. Just wish there were better ways to secure your bicycle when you need to lock it up outside a business. Hate having to ride my beater when I go downtown.