
Ice cycles: the northerly world cities leading the winter bicycle revolution - Luc
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/feb/12/ice-cycles-northerly-world-cities-winter-bicycle-revolution
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bipson
Plainly put: cycling in snow and rain and -10° C is not a big deal, once you
are used to it. The trick is to start in summer, do it every day and just
never stop for any weather, e.g. for your work or uni commute.

Obviously you need something that protects you from occasional rain or at
least some dry and clean clothes to change into, but apart from that, the
seasonal change will not be harsh. It is usually gradual, and yes, you will at
some point want to wear gloves, and long pants, at some point even long
underwear (or specific biking clothes), but it is never suddenly cold.
Actually you become less sensitive to the cold overall. At least that was my
experience.

To be fair, I stopped doing that a few years ago, since not having a shower at
work makes slightly longer commutes uncomfortable with co-workers and clients,
obviously. And I became more and more afraid of my laptop in my backpack,
because yes, you will get wet, your stuff will get wet, you will slip on snow,
etc.

~~~
mc32
Is it worth it to get bike snow tires, the ones with knobby studs, for the
snowy months, or do you simply get used to the unsteady ground after a while?

~~~
lower
It depends on how much snow you get. Normal tires are fine on snow once you
get used to it. So if you have icy conditions just for a few weeks, it's
probably not worth the hassle to switch. (I've been riding a road bike
throughout all winter for more than a decade now. Riding on snow is fine. The
only dangerous situation in winter is actually on warmer days without snow,
where one doesn't expect anything, but when the road has frozen over invisibly
in some dark corner.)

~~~
hcurtiss
As a guy who has commuted by bike for the better part of 20 years, I leave my
bike in the house and drive in my car when it's snowing or icy for the same
reason that I wouldn't drive a motorcycle. Two wheels in those conditions is
just dangerous. Watching the die-hards in Portland slide out and eat pavement
on icy roads is humorous every year. While there was a time I relished the
adventure, I'm just too old for that kind of risk. I suppose I'd be more
comfortable with a 3/4 wheeled bike, but there's still the risk of other car
drivers bouncing off you, which they do a lot in Portland in the winter.

~~~
fulafel
It's best to leave the bike in the cold in freezing months, frequent
thawing/freezing will result in water condensing in your cables and elsewhere
and then freezing.

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scj
One of the chief problems of transportation during winter is "How do we
minimize accidents while half a meter of snow has fallen within a 12 hour
period?" The problem is two fold: roads become slippery, and as they are
plowed, the sides of them fill up with snow, reducing lane size.

Without dedicated bike lanes, a reduction in lane size is bad enough (it is
hard to share the roads when there is no road to share). Add in drivers trying
to swerve around bicyclists (a really dangerous action on icy roads), and you
have a recipe for accidents.

As this article points out, advanced planning is key. But convincing Canadians
(in places like Manitoba), who have very low population density and very far
stretches of road to build/maintain, to sacrifice infrastructure dollars for
bike lanes would be a tough political move. Finland is about half the size of
Manitoba and has 4x the population. That's an 8x spending advantage in terms
of roads!

Europeans have a much easier time with infrastructure than Canada (and the US
to a lesser extent) because of significantly higher population density. I know
I'd love to have European-style infrastructure, but it just isn't practical.

Personally, I wouldn't feel safe riding a bicycle in the winter. Not with our
roads.

~~~
lower
You know what happens to many bike lanes in winter around here (Germany)? The
snow from the road gets heaped on them... It's usual for people to ride on the
road then.

~~~
_delirium
Much of Scandinavia (at least Denmark and Sweden) manages this by having small
snow-removal vehicles specifically for bike lanes:
[http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/12/ultimate-bike-lane-
snow...](http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/12/ultimate-bike-lane-snow-
clearance.html)

In fact in Copenhagen at least the bike lanes are cleared much more reliably
than the road. The city owns many more of these bike lane snow-removal
vehicles (which are small and fairly cheap) and only a few of the big road-
plowing trucks. Salting the bicycle lanes also takes less salt, so tends to be
done more readily.

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akgerber
Just as cars would be useless for much of the winter if roads weren't
maintained, well-maintained bicycle infrastructure works just fine in the
winter.

Sensible clothing, just as one needs to walk or ski, is all one needs to bike
in the winter. Studded tires can make up for defects in infrastructure
maintenance.

And having sunny outdoor time midwinter is decidely good for my mood— people
pay thousands of dollars to take ski vacations, after all.

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botswana99
Winter biking is better than summer -- you can add layers to get warmer in
winter, but never subtract to get cooler in summer. I've year round commuted
for years in Boston. I am seeing more and more people ride all year. It's
awesome.

~~~
patall
I cannot agree more. I took a lot of wonderful bike trips this february when I
had some free time, and the conditions were great because you cannot really
get too hot. And to be honest, that not many other bikers are around makes it
even nicer ...

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patall
To be honest, I think that riding in fresh snow is actually the best kind of
riding you can have, and sometimes have been taking a longer route to work or
home just to increase the joy of it (in traffic free areas). I also have the
feeling that I am actually safer on two wheels plus two feet than just walking
in icy conditions although one obviously has to be a little more careful. The
only bug nucance about winter is melting, then it really sucks and I trie to
get the shortest, driest path possible.

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CoconutPilot
I never heard of Oulu before so I did a bit of research:

Avg temperature -14c in Jan to 19c in July.

Avg precipitation 19mm April to 65mm August.

Avg windspeed <10mph year round.

UV index +4 in July (50% cloud cover).

Terrain: small and flat.

Conclusion: a tiny, flat city with cool, yet mild weather is a good place to
ride a bike year round.

[https://www.worldweatheronline.com/v2/weather-
averages.aspx?...](https://www.worldweatheronline.com/v2/weather-
averages.aspx?q=oul)

[http://www.oulu.climatemps.com/](http://www.oulu.climatemps.com/)

[https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Oulu,+Finland/@64.995967,25...](https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Oulu,+Finland/@64.995967,25.51345,12.17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x468032a8c02185c1:0x8bb02d322b12e97d!8m2!3d65.0120888!4d25.4650773!5m1!1e4)

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PaulHoule
When I was a grad student I would ride a mountain bike up the hill to Cornell
in Ithaca. I was more sure footed in the snow & ice with the bike than I was
on foot, even using a martial arts collected run.

On a really bad day I would take the bus, but I almost always rode my bike. Of
course there was that time I rode home in a thunderstorm and was so afraid of
the lightning that I didn't see the parked car that I crashed into.

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meggar
Perhaps the Boring Company could build bike tunnels for winter commuting.

~~~
okr
Yes. They could open those hyperloop tunnels for commuting, when there are no
vehicles coming. With some snorkel equipment everything is possible.

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doug1001
my mtb it kitted out with 2.4 (front) and 2.2 on the back (Continental Xking)
29" tyres. That's about as wide as i can go given my forks and chainstays.
Except for ice-covered patches, is this a sane rig to commute in the snow?
Second, accumulated snow from the plows pretty much buries the bike lanes, no?
anyone have experience whether cars reasonable about sharing more of the road?

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Noos
I really doubt this, I think this is a bunch of young, healthy enthusiasts
doing something that being young and healthy can counter. I really doubt any
form of wind chill at those temperatures will be pleasant, nor will slipping
and sliding over a road covered with slush and salt

I know this place has an unhealthy worship of cycling, but this is a bit
ridiculous.

~~~
rconti
People have a tendency to overestimate the hassle and inconvenience of things
they don't like, and underestimate the hassle and inconvenience of their
existing lifestyle.

I don't bike to work nearly enough, and I absolutely love cars, but it baffles
my mind how much money and hassle people expend on cars that are (to them)
just a transportation appliance.

~~~
jessriedel
For most people on HN, the all-in cost of operating a modest car (~$12/hr
[https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/total-cost-owning-
car/](https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/total-cost-owning-car/)) is
significantly less than the cost of their time while they're in it. And for
most people, car is the fastest way to go. So I don't see how the cost is
baffling to you.

Yes, some people like to multi-task their exercise by biking (although then
it's much harder to multi-task your audiobooks), and yes some people have
short commutes that are slightly faster by bike, and yes some people just
enjoy biking. But for most people, transportation is about fast reliable
transportation, and if you're on HN your time is likely worth several times
the car cost.

(Obviously, people can spend a significant fraction of even large salaries on
a luxury car, but that's a personal choice that doesn't have much to do with
economical transportation. It doesn't make sense to tell someone driving a
Mercedes that they could save money by riding a bike.)

~~~
adrianN
The problem with this time=money calculation is that some people enjoy riding
their bike, just like some people enjoy driving their car. For me, the time I
spent on my commute is not lost, is valuable relaxation time. If I had more
time I would use it to ride my bike more :).

~~~
jessriedel
I explicitly acknowledged that this is an important factor for a minority of
people in my comment. This caveat is not particularly relevant to the claim
that people spend a baffling amount of money on cars.

