May is national bike month. It’s also when The League of American Bicyclists Rankings are released. There was a lot of movement in the top ten this year. After digging shallowly into the data, one basic observation was that a couple specific deficits determined the overall standings. While some states had widely varying rankings, other high performers had closely grouped numbers, which may highlight areas of opportunity.

Washington held onto the number one spot and Colorado moved up to number two. Both of those states scored high in key categories, followed closely by some lower figures in other significant areas. Oregon and Minnesota, third and fourth respectively, were mathematically more balanced but ranked lower overall.

Click through for the 2013 top ten and 2012 rankings for comparison.

The League of American Bicyclists’ website offers up several visually stimulating renditions of their findings. View the interactive map with several different overlays here. Then, find the full 2013 rankings here.

Below, find their slightly more colorful 2012 rankings for comparison. Note how much movement in both the overall and categorical rankings we see in the top ten.

Personally I have laid down significant miles in Washington, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, most of California, and almost all of Illinois. Now, I live in Portland. Therefore, I have a considerable bias and can’t even begin to lay my opinions over these statistics.

How do you feel about these state rankings? Is biking in Seattle that much better than biking in Chicago, for example? Tell us below.