Biking State Rankings Best/Worst
 

http://www.bikeleague.org/news/090508bfs.php


So if yer from one of the less friendly States, stay on your toes and don't go all indignant 'cos sumbody yells at u from his pickup.

Interesting that none of the questions actually asks what riding there is like. DUH!!

The LAB continues it's slide into irrelevancy

South Carolina at 15th? Really should be 51st that state sucks so bad.

I would have to really question a few of those rankings if I based them on my experience in riding in some of those states. I guess that their criteria is just WAY different than mine. I would have to give some weight to factors like how pleasant the riding was there and how the drivers were.

For example I would rate Virginia a lot lower and Colorado a lot higher.

There was a thread on the General Cycling Discussion Forum entitled, "Your vote for most bike friendly state,' started on 8-27-08:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...988&highlight=

I posted this to it:

"On a cross-country bike trip from Los Angeles to Washington DC about 31 years ago, I thought that Colorado was the most bike friendly state; Kansas, West Virginia and Virginia (except suburban DC) were pretty good also. I'll reserve comment on the worst ;-) "

Such questions would actually make the ranking less reliable. Going by state is very general and vague, so the list is more based on general, statewide things like legislation.

If you were to actually poll riders, the answers would depend on where in the state they live/ride. California is a huge place with many vastly different areas. The answer you'd get from someone in Davis or San Francisco would likely be completely different than what you'd hear from someone deep in central California or Los Angeles.

Georgia = #49
I would have guessed about that.

It's not bad at all where I'm from. Motorists in SC and NC have always been courteous to me. :thumb:

Agreed. I live in NC and spent last weekend riding in rural SC and drivers are for the most part are very courteous. Last weekend nearly everyone waved, and they all gave me plenty of room.

+1 to the above... Lived in CA for 40+ years... I can tell you that riding in Orange County or Redlands is much different than, say, downtown L.A.

I now live in the Boise, ID area and would have to rank my experience here much higher that the #37 for the entire state of Idaho. It would have been more accurate/useful to rank metropolitan or smaller geographical areas. As it stands now, the list is next to useless.

putting colorado outside of top 3 would invalidate that list


they put it at #22

whatever

Montana at #44? There's hardly any traffic there and friendly drivers. Guess we'll all disagree with where we're from.

I'm a little surprised that michigan was in at 12. I live in what many people claim to be one of the most bike friendly areas like Ann arbor, and I don't feel it's all that great. Ann Arbor itself isn't too bad. IT has a nice large park with a good MUP, and lots of bike racks. But the streets are narrow, and in many cases, especially where there is heavy bike use, there are no bike lanes.

And the moment you get out of Ann Arbor, it just gets drastically worse. Finding a Bike rack to lock your bike to in Ypsilanti, the town I live in, is almost futile. There is almost no shoulder on any road. It wasn't until the re-paved a road that a bike lane was added, and it was in an area of very little use.

Perhaps the state is legislating in favor of bikes, but the conditions themselves have not improved much as of yet, I guess the future will tell. Personally, I'd be happy with a few more "Share the road" signs you see here and there.

Heck 3/4 of the drivers wave or give a thumbs up in MT. The only thing that we didn't like there was the amount roads in really poor shape during repair/construction and the poor placement of the rumble strips.

Overall riding through that state was a pleasure.

OTOH: I would say they were close for my home state (Maryland at 35).