It knocked Minneapolis, which was tops in 2010, to second place, followed by Boulder, Washington D.C. and Chicago.

"No other city in the United States has more cyclists per capita," according to Bicycling magazine, which compiled the list of the top 50 best cycling cities.

Although cycling culture is thriving in Minneapolis and Boulder boasts the second-highest percentage of bike commuters in the U.S., Portland scored top points in the ranking that evaluated bike culture in cities with 95,000 or more residents.

The magazine, which used data from the Alliance for Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists, also looked at the number and quality of bike lanes, racks, routes and bicycling projects, cyclist-friendly cafes, as well as how many residents commute by bike and cycling clubs and events.

New York City, which will launch the largest bike share system in the country this summer, came in seventh, followed by San Francisco at No. 8.

Memphis was named the most improved city for bicycling.

The complete ranking can be found at BICYCLING.com

(Reporting by Pat Reaney, Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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