By Brigitte Furst, 8z Broker and Ben Corbett, 8z Contributing Editor
There are good reasons why, year after year, Boulder continues to rank as the “Smartest City in America,” and one of those reasons is because many of us use the bicycle as our main form of transportation. Which is why, in turn, we were ranked #3 in Bicyclingmagazine’s 2010 “Top-50 Bicycle-Friendly Cities in the U.S.” With almost 100 linear miles of bikeways stretching across the city limits, our town is geared for gear-heads of any stripe.

Let’s do the math. When traffic is stacked up during that five o’clock crunch along 28th Street and Broadway, as motorists are burning up a precious 45 minutes crawling home, their two-wheeled brethren are clearing the same distance in an easy 10-15 minutes.

For South Boulderites, with a designated bike lane within five blocks of almost every household, you’re never more than a minute or two away from a literal smorgasbord of linked paths that lead to any part of the city. From SoBo’s southernmost Greenbriar Blvd., west to Kendall Dr., north and south on Broadway, and through the heart of the community on Gillaspie Dr., the widened streets are highlighted by marked bicycle lanes that lead to a network of non-motorist multi-use paths, making any destination in town a snap.

Click here for a detailed bicycle map highlighting every bike route stretching across South Boulder and the rest of the city’s splendorous terrain. Oh, and hey. Got a flat? Brakes need tweaked? This map’s got it all. On top of every bicycle shop speckled across the city, it features all the underpasses and bridges, even the nearest public restrooms and water fountains! Every Boulder cyclist should have one of these tucked under their seat springs.

Posted on 4.7.2011 / SoBo0 Comments