Portland douses some Haterade on Mpls after regaining Bicycling.com’s Best Bike City honor
Two years ago, Portland, after reigning as Bicycling.com’s Best Bike City for 15 years, ceded the title to Minneapolis.
Though Bicycling.com’s methodology is pretty fuzzy, the news prompted wailing and gnashing of teeth in PDX.
This morning, Bicycling.com released a new version of its biannual list, and suffice it to say Portlandians can breathe easy once again — their city again rates as the Best Bike City
Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the city’s Bicycle Transportation Alliance, said Portland is “back on top where we belong.” A Bike Portland blogger tweeted that he’s glad Bicycling.com “came to their senses,” adding “it really was scandalous to put any other city on top.”
Bicycling.com pours a bit more Haterade on Minneapolis in a column accompanying the release of the new rankings. Check out the dismissive tone with which Portland resident Bill Donahue mentions Minneapolis (emphasis mine):
Those of us who ride daily in Portland, we know. We know we are the vanguard of American cycling. No other city in the United States has more cyclists per capita, and no other town has a coffee shop like Fresh Pot, which boasts 25 chairs and parking for 26 bicycles. We have trains of elementary-school bike commuters, and we have Move By Bike, a relocation-company that trundles couches across town on overstacked bike trailers. Even our city’s noncycling Lotharios know it is a deal-killer to ask, at the end of a sprightly first date, “Can I throw your bike in my car and give you a lift home?”
Minneapolis? Please. Let’s ride along the Willamette now…via City Pages
Portland? Please. Let’s ride along the Mississippi now…
The great Portland versus Minneapolis bike war of 2012 has begun my friends.
And this is why no one likes cyclists.
