Bayshore Bikeway: Is It No. 1? (No, But It's Tops in San Diego)

This story was written and reported by Field Editor Jennifer Vigil.

Let's give the Bayshore Bikeway some love. TheActiveTimes.com did for sure. It ranked the bikeway – which glides along San Diego Bay through Coronado and Imperial Beach – 19th on the list of top bike paths in the country.

The Huffington Post picked up the top list. So did USA Today and many other outlets. 

Like Fox News. And Fox gave the Bayshore Bikeway a little too much love. They started at the bottom of the list and assumed number 19 was number one … so yea, the Bayshore Bikeway is the top bike path in the country!

Whoops. Not so much. The honor really belongs to Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway.

But we're good sports at Patch. We're not bitter. We'll just share five reasons we love the Bayshore Bikeway and think it should move up the list next year. 2014 – the top 10, for sure.

1. The diversity of the communities cyclists can see. The path wends along the bay, which is bolstered by the shipping industry south of the bridge and tourism to the north. You get to see Chula Vista and National City then turn down through Imperial Beach to the grand straightway in Coronado.
2. Some of the unique sights along the way – the salt works in Chula Vista, the “elephant cage” near where IB and Coronado meet (it's really a ginormous Navy radio tower) and the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado where Navy SEALs roam.
3. It leads to other South Bay bike paths near Imperial Beach, to give cyclists a chance to broaden their horizons to Otay Valley Regional Park and the Tijuana River Valley.
4. Although the bikeway is known throughout the South Bay, and Coronado and Imperial Beach are arguably most associated with it, National City was responsible for the first leg, built in 1976.
5. You have to finish the ride on a ferry. “How many bike paths end with a boat ride?” asks the Active Times. Indeed. Top that Minneapolis!