The race for "Platinum" begins

So far, only four U.S. cities have been given the "Gold Level Bicycle Friendly City" designation by the League of American Bicyclists; Palo Alto, Boulder, Corvallis, and my current home town, Portland, Oregon.

It used to be that "Gold" was as good as it gets.  That is, until some Portlanders started asking Andy Clarke (LAB's Executive Director) how we could do better.  Was there a Platinum status?

At the time, Andy wasn't sure; they'd never considered a Platinum designation.  But soon enough they came up with the requirements and now the Platinum designation is just waiting to be achieved.

If I was a betting man, I'd vote for Portland.  Besides an amazingly robust and diverse bike community, we've got a new city commissioner who is serious about cycling.  His name is Sam Adams.  Now, I know some of the other cities are starting to put their "Platinum Plan" together, but I don't think any of them have a guy like Sam on their side.  How serious is Sam about going Platinum?  Well, check out this recent post on his blog and see for yourself.

In the race to Platinum there are no losers...may the best city win!