Urban Cycling Suite: San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Washington and Austin

In San Francisco, the best bike trail runs along the north edge of Golden Gate park, starting at the eastern end and rolling downhill to Ocean Beach. In Seattle, what may be the sweetest urban cycling route in the country is just getting off the drawing board. In New York, Van Cortland Park is the choice place to pedal. In Washington, it’s  a swath of land on the city’s northwest border, between D.C. and Maryland in Rock Creek National Park, and in Austin, take the 15-mile backtrack of the Barton Creek Greenbelt. These tips on the very best of urban biking come packed with many more in a very smart series of articles published by Outside magazine and its travel partner, Away.com. No one is arguing that these city trails are preferred to, say Moab or the hills of Vermont, but if one of these cities is where you and your bike happen to be, you’ve got to love the one you’re with, right?