Quote:
Originally Posted by jmecklenborg
Detroit is the #1 bike city. It's flat and there is no traffic.
No clickbait bike ranking list is ever going to arrive at that conclusion, however. There needs to be a lot of bike-specific infrastructure for a city to achieve a high ranking, since the whole point of bike advocacy is to build things rather than just ride your damn bike.
I've ridden twice in Chicago. It's pretty easy. I remember riding north on Ashland for several miles and someone at my destination remarking that I was a daredevil, or some such. No, it's not that big of a deal, folks. Do some real mountain biking and tell me riding in any U.S. city presents any sort of technical challenge.
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Ok, you're right it can be done, but until there is better infrastructure that prioritizes biking and makes it less stressful and high stakes the percentage of people biking is going to stay low. I used to bike everywhere in Chicago in my 20s and then eventually burned out. It's not just more physically demanding to have to be constantly vigilant on the streets, it's also mentally exhausting. I would bike all the time if there was better infrastructure and I still often do because driving is also stressful, but biking is at least twice as stressful especially for the average Chicagoan to use as a practical means of transportation. Sure it's fine for leisure especially in the touristy areas.