Knob Magazine

Earlier today the League of American Bicyclists announced their new state rankings, which, as always is full of suprises. One thing is obvious, the League’s main goal is to motivate legislative action, not give cyclists an accurate picture of how bicycle friendly a state is.  The deciding factor between Arizona, 3rd, and Texas, 30th, was Arizona’s decision to recognize the bicycle in their carbon emmission reduction plan.  How this makes a difference to a cyclist is beyond me, especially when not a single ranked Arizona community was recognized as having effective enforcement of bicycle friendly laws.  Not to sound cynical, but I wonder how much of the ranking system is designed to provide a carrot to states that enact laws that are friendly to the interests of the sponsors: