Cycling San Diego

San Diego's roadway system provides an extensive network of routes for travel by bicycle. The dry and mild climate of San Diego makes cycling a convenient and pleasant year-round option. At the same time, the city's hilly, canyoned terrain and significantly long average trip distances—brought about by strict low-density zoning laws—somewhat restrict cycling for utilitarian purposes. Older and denser neighborhoods around the downtown tend to be friendlier to utility cycling. This is partly because of the grid street patterns now absent in newer developments farther from the urban core, where suburban style arterial roads are much more common. As a result, a vast majority of cycling related activities are recreational.

The city has some segregated cycle facilities, particularly in newer developments although the majority of road facilities specifically for bicycles are painted on regular roadways.

In 2006, Bicycling Magazine rated San Diego as the best city for cycling for U.S. cities with a population over 1 million.

San Diego County Bicycle Coalition
The Coalition is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization "dedicated to making bicycling better in San Diego." It aims to do this through educational programs, promoting awareness of bicyclists and bicycling issues, reviewing infrastructure improvements, and acting as a voice for bicyclists to elected officials and decisionmakers throughout the San Diego region.

The coalition represents all of San Diego County instead of only a single city since there are many medium-sized cities in the county that are currently too small to support their own bicycle advocacy groups. The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition has a dues-paying membership of about 1,000 people, and a full-time Executive Director, Kathy Keehan.