If I EVER hear anything in Seattle being "world-class" I will take a gun and kill the idiot who says that. I mean B-G is nice but "world-class"? Wonder if the large portions that need repaving add to it being "world-class"? And anyone who bikes around UW knows what I am talking about.

Cascade has it right about pavement quality; it's atrocious here. This isn't something that comes up a lot in discussion of bike-friendliness, but it's a big issue; dodging potholes on a bike is uncomfortable, stressful, and dangerous.

How 'bout a special fund for fixing pavement on streets that are (or could be) useful bike routes? Motorists will benefit too.

Nit: The city is responsible for a gender gap in cycling?

I think we are making great progress, in the two years since i've moved here i've seen quite a bit of changes and i really appreciate them! Great work everyone involved, thanks!

@3: PC, men are responsible.

Welcome to bike-to-work day! I got chewed out at 4th and Pike for *daring* to load my bike on the bus' bicycle carrier by a metro driver. He attempted to drive off with my bike and would have if he didn't have to stop for a red light. Fercripes sake it's been legal to load your bike downtown since February! Evidently some drivers were diddling themselves in the back room when it was explained to other drivers.

I blame the squirrels - they keep getting in between my spokes.

seattle really needs to connect various routes through the city if they are to become a "world class bike city." for example, I ride from the U district every day to get to work. I use the Eastlake-Harvard-Roanoke-10th ave route to get there. While I have few problems with it, I imagine most beginning cyclists out there are too timid to ride in traffic, judging by the large number of folks riding on the sidewalk. yet there is no evidence of anything being done to guide cyclists. And this is probably the primary connecting route between these two large neighborhoods!

these problems are evident everywhere and are exacerbated by seattle's diverse and difficult topography. but come on -- there are few routes that go anywhere for more than a mile or two.

and i agree with pavement. i was scandalized by it when i moved here --i thought the podunk tiny norcal town i used to ride through was bad, think again! they actually fix things there! amazing!

I'm unemployed so I just biked today.

@Weekilter wow! that's annoying. I feel like metro should give bike riders a permit sheet of paper that says what we are allowed to do and not so we can give it to the drivers and "school" them on the current policy. I've had a couple instances where a driver has lectured me on something only to find when i read the website i was doing something totally legal

Didn't we just steal the Law School Dean at the UW from Davis?

Maybe they have an opinion about bike-friendly Seattle ...

There is actually a system in place for getting pavement fixed.

http://www.seattle.gov/Transportation/po…

Fill out the form, send it, and the pothole will typically be patched within 72 hours. It's quite handy.

@9: Your canoe has spokes?

I lived in Davis for 4 years while studying there (class of 2008) and, except for the occasional 45 minute drive on some weekends to visit the family, did everything on bike. I loved biking and never loved driving. The population in Davis is the same as in my hometown, but even with a cramped downtown and minimal parking, it never felt crowded like it did at home. The strength was in numbers: with so many cyclists, drivers stopped for them AND pedestrians, every shop had bicycle parking in front of it, and even the busy streets felt safe because drivers were paying attention.

What the article didn't mention is that Davis also has a very good bus system, so if biking wasn't feasible, there was good public transport as well. But there is no train or bus to get to my hometown, so I drove.