There have been at least a couple of efforts by graduate students using GIS mapping data to try to figure out whether Seattle can ever be as bike-friendly as Portland.

The short answer (as I understand it) is "no." The problems is that there are too many natural barriers (mainly steep hills) running across too many important neighborhoods. Therefore, even if bike infrastructure is improved, it's still going to be difficult to get casual riders interested in bike commuting because too many routes are too difficult.

http://seattletransitblog.com/2010/0...ycle-analysis/

So: we are not Portland. We are tougher.