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.

Google Maps has a driving directions page that already tops all the others. After all, after you enter your starting and ending addresses, you already can click the option: "Take Public Transit," and it will give you several options--even calculating the price of driving vs. the price of riding!

What are you missing? Click to watch the video for the surprising results. Watch the video while tired, talking on your cell phone, at night...well, you'll get the idea.



Do the Test

How was your ride? Write about it in a short message and compare notes at Velog.  Like a bike computer meets a text message (in the 140 word limit familiar to users of Twitter.com), Velog capitalizes on the urge to tell your pals about your bike ride and the need to keep it short and sweet. Calling itself "the worlds simplest cycling log" Velog allows users to post on a message board open to "bike commuters, roadies, mountain bikers, cyclocrossers, randonneurs, weekend warriors, and anyone and everyone with a bicycle under their butt." If you had to google randonneur (long distance cycling) or haven't seen your bike since the leaves hit the ground, use the Velog ride descriptions as encouragement.

If you drive a diesel vehicle, consider using biodiesel. The Berkeley Biodiesel Collective holds a Biodiesel 101 monthly at the Ecology Center. The BioFuel Oasis is a women/worker-owned co-op that has gallons of information on their site biofueloasis.com. 

Bike commuting is a great way to work exercise into your day, avoid the cost of commuting and reduce your C0 2emissions. Many people’s top concerns about bike commuting are arriving wet and safety on the road — fortunately our area has good solutions to both, and good weather for biking.

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!

If you are concerned about being stuck without a car, use car sharing through companies such as Flexcar, which has cars in Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco. Plans start at $7/hr.

511.org combines all local transit (BART, AC Transit and more) in one easy place, so you can search for the best route and know how long it will take before even leaving the house.

Driving to work can be tedious, polluting, and costly. Find resources for commuting by other means at 511.org. We love the blog Walking Berkeley, where local Jen English finds events, takes photos and posts updates about upcoming walks. She set the goal of walking every possible street in town, and has documented her journeys through each neighborhood with photos and insights.

Screenshot of Walking Berkeley.

Walking is free, healthy and a good way to see the neighborhood. Find the best way to trot around your area in Oakland with the Walk Oakland! Map & Guide at local bookshops and bike stores.

Kids can find the best walking or biking route through Safe Routes to School. Families can participate in National Walk to School Day in early October. Finding your best route on public transportation is easy with the 511Trip Planner, which calculates your route based on starting and ending point. 

And remember, if you drive and are idling for more than 15 seconds, like at a school or office, turn your car off. Use carboncounter.org to determine how much CO2your commute creates.