Boulder’s 6,470 bicycle commuters account for 12.3 percent of the city’s overall population, but it’s not just the number of cyclists that won this city top honors. The city encourages a bicycle-friendly culture in effective and unique ways, The Street reports.
Cyclists looking for the shortest route to work (or anywhere else) can consult a government-funded website, GoBoulderBike.net. Not only will the site describe how to navigate the city’s 300 miles of trails, it also calculates how many calories the trip will burn and how much gas money the cyclist will save. The city’s bike culture is especially evident on Thursdays, when community bike rides bring cyclists out in costumes to match the week’s theme, which this summer have included cops and robbers and heavy metal, according to The Street.
Like Boulder, Fort Collins boasts many bike commuters (7,776), and many miles of bicycles lanes (280). But the city’s bicycle culture is wed to another local passion: beer. The New Belgium Brewery, maker of Fat Tire, organizes an annual bicycle scavenger hunt, a bike-in cinema and a Labor Day bicycle race.
Given their strong contingent of bike riders, it’s no surprise that Local Governments for Sustainability recently recognized Boulder and Fort Collins at two of the country’s top cities for cutting carbon emissions.
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