The League of American Bicyclists recently named Washington the nation’s top ranked “Bicycle Friendly State” for the eighth straight year.

Here in Redmond, the city is tagged as the “Bicycle Capital of the Northwest,” so I’m sure that played a major part in boosting the state to the top of the list again.

The annual Derby Days event features one of the country’s most popular criteriums and cyclists can always be found along the Sammamish River Trail, the roads and often racing at the nearby Marymoor Park velodrome.

The city even has a “Redmond, Bicycle Capital of the Northwest” sign sporting a penny-farthing bicycle on it along Redmond Way for all to see. That’s a big deal around these parts.

“Bicycling plays an important role in Washington’s quality of life; it gives Washingtonians a viable transportation option, encourages a healthy lifestyle and lowers our individual carbon footprint while supporting our local economies through bicycle tourism,” said Gov. Jay Inslee, who officially proclaimed May as Bike Month in Washington. “Being again named the most bike-friendly state inspires us to continue building on the progress we’ve made.”

While that press-release statement is all well and good, I can’t emphasize this enough: bicyclists and cars need to work together, pay attention to each other and share the road.

It sounds like it would be easy to accomplish with the multitude of bike lanes and “sharrows” out there and people with smart heads on their shoulders, but accidents happen. People aren’t always watching out for each other because they’re in a hurry or talking on the phone while driving, or with bicyclists, taking chances while cycling alongside drivers and assuming that everyone can see each other.

There are more bicyclists out there on the road these days and bad things can happen in an instant.

A Reporter article in April noted that a car was turning right at an intersection without stopping at the red light. A bicyclist rode through the crosswalk — traveling perpendicular to the direction the car was turning — and was struck by the driver, who “just didn’t see the rider there,” said Chris Shone, a traffic officer with the Redmond Police Department.

Even for the most experienced drivers and cyclists, the roads can be tricky and we just have to always be alert for what’s around us and be courteous to others — to those in cars and on bikes alike. We’re all in this together. Enjoy the ride, but do it right.