This morning the League of American Bicyclists awarded EcoMetro city Portland with platinum level recognition as a Bicycle Friendly Community, rising from the previous gold level status. The only other city in the US with platinum level recognition is Davis, California. San Francisco is Gold, and Oakland and Berkeley are not ranked. Read on for our local biking resources and events.


The League cited double-wide bike lanes as Portland's most significant recent accomplishment, saying "Their bicycle use numbers reflect this, having experienced their third consecutive year of double-digit growth. The city auditor estimates that 16 percent of Portlanders use the bicycle as either their primary or secondary means of transportation to work."

Here's our biking information from the 2008 EcoMetro Guide. You can preview all of our bike coupons in the merchant directory.

Bay Area Women’s Cycling holds women-only clinics and group rides including longer weekend clinics, or join Grizzly Peak Cyclists for group rides and lessons. The Missing Link Bicycle Co-op (1988 Shattuck Ave) has classes and 3-D maps of area bike rides including a flat Berkeley to Richmond Marina ride or a Mt. Diablo ride with 6000ft elevation gain!

Additional maps and information are available from the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, which also hosts a blog about new bike transportation features and legislation. Bike-Friendly Berkeley Coalition has Berkeley-specific info. Find routes in your area or submit yours to be displayed on Google maps at bikely.com. Attended bike parking is available at the Bikestation at the Berkeley BART or Embarcadero Bikestation. Through BikeLink you can get a bike parking card which gives you access to fully enclosed bike boxes at El Cerrito Plaza BART and Oakland City Center BART stops. Charges are 3-5 cents per hour, and the card is available in many locations.



Some of the Portland community highlights, from the League of American Bicyclists (read the full list at their site):
• Portland’s bikeway network includes 270 miles of on-street bike lanes, bike boulevards, and paved trails; another 40 miles of unpaved trails offer mountain biking opportunities in city parks.
• Six bike corrals have been installed, each replacing one on-street car parking space with 12 bicycle spaces.
• 400 bikeway destination signs have been installed (with 400 to come) on the bikeway network.
• More than 400 bicycle light sets are distributed annually to low-income bicyclists by the city, Tri-Met (the transit agency) and the Community Cycling Center.
• 2,250 elementary students annually receive a 10-hour bicycle safety course as part of a larger Safer Routes to School initiative. The course is delivered by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and has helped increase bicycling to school by 5% in just one school year.
• More than 9,100 people participated in the 2007 Bicycle Commuter Challenge, including 1,700 first-time bike commuters
• 20,000 participants in the Providence Bridge Pedal make Portland home to the second largest community bike ride in the United States (after Bike New York).
• 2,000 hardy riders fill the annual Worst Day of the Year ride in early February.
• The Bicycle Transportation Alliance boasts 3,000 members in the city and is just one of many advocacy and riding groups that organize thousands of rides, events and bicycling activities year-round.
• The city boasts 40 bike shops and more than 150 bicycle-related businesses that provide thousands of green-collar jobs and with an economic impact of more than $65 million (2005).