The League of American Bicyclists recently announced their annual ranking of bicycle-friendly states in conjunction with May's Bike Month. The list is based on a combination of factors that include legislation, education, bike infrastructure, and public funding. The top five were Washington, Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota. and New Jersey.  New York came in at 34th, well into the bottom half fo the list. 

What struck me as interesting about the top five is that they are all "cold-weather" states! Sunnier spots such as Florida, Arizona, and California ranked 7th, 16th and 20th respectively. So what exactly are the top five doing to earn the badge of "bicycle-friendly?"

"It is when there is combined and consistent work of multiple agencies, legislators and advocate promoting bicycling at the state level that you start to see big gains," says League President Andy Clarke. "The states that have consistently ranked in the top five or ten have that going for them." 

The League also cites the following examples of bike-friendly improvements this past year: three-foot minimum safe passing bills signed into law in Kansas and Georgia; a Complete Streets policy implemented in Michigan and updated training on bicycling related laws and enforcement in Massachusetts.

So what about closer to home? Bicycling Magazine has put together a list of of America's Top 50 Bike Friendly Cities. There are many important things a city can do to gain consideration for this list: segregated bike lanes, municipal bike racks and bike boulevards, to name a few. Their rationale is that If you have those things in your town, cyclists probably have the ear of the local government-another key factor.

To make the Top 50, Bicycling Magazine states a city must also support a vibrant and diverse bike culture, and it must have smart, savvy bike shops.  Let me give you the bad news now.  Syracuse did not make this list.

I wasn't surprised to see New York City as #8 on the list. It's always been known as a great place to ride because of its greenways and car free Central Park.  And the recent efforts of their proactive, cycling-friendly transportation commissioner no doubt helped. 

But when I saw ROCHESTER as #50 and the only other city in NY on the list, I thought, wait a minute.  What do they have that we don't have? Bicycling Magazine states "you can ride a new route almost every day in Rochester....the Rochester Bicycling Club has a 300+ ride map library."

Having grown up in Rochester, I've done a fair amount of riding there and in my honest opinion, it just doesn't compare.  Central New York features several scenic lakes (Skaneateles, Owasco, Otisco, Oneida, Cazenovia, DeRyuter, Tuscarora, Hatch, Bradley Brook...to name a few), lung busting climbs (US 20, Stanley Rd, Frank Long Rd. Hitchings Rd...to name a few) and hair raising descents. And the Onondaga Cycling Club may not have 300+ ride maps, but it's pretty close.

So maybe the gauntlet has been thrown down. Should we only be known as the perpetual winner of the Golden Snowball Award? Or is it time for Central New York cyclists to put our city on the map as one of America's Top 50 Bike Friendly Cities? Let us know what you think here.