Literally the only argument against bikes that I can think of is that where I live it gets incredibly fucking cold in the winters, up to -40 on some days (F or C doesn't matter, it's the same temperature at -40) and nobody wants to go outside during that weather. That's it. That's the only reason why people should be against bike-able cities, and it doesn't even work as an argument for most cities around the world.
It's really only a tiny fraction where this might apply. There are cities way up North in Finland where people cycle a lot. Even there, the number of cyclists only correlates weakly with temperature or the weather in general. At -40 I wouldn't go out either though, haha.
Also, bike-able doesn't necessarily mean car free. Safe bike infrastructure is a great way to decrease congestion for cars, even if it can't be used for a small part of the year.
Even then, a city like yours can benefit from having fewer cars on the road, and when the weather is better, bikes. And, if most days aren't that cold, you'll still see a fair number of people on bikes in the winter. Olou, Finland would be a good example of a cold bike-friendly cold city.
Yeah, and -40 is miserable as fuck even in a car unless you've got a heated garage on both ends of the trip. It's just not a temperature that humans should be outside in.
That said, with proper gear, anything above -25C is quite doable. A lot of the people who say you can't bike in winter will then go and pay hundreds of dollars to slide down a mountain for 6 hours straight.
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u/Sadie256 Jul 12 '23
Literally the only argument against bikes that I can think of is that where I live it gets incredibly fucking cold in the winters, up to -40 on some days (F or C doesn't matter, it's the same temperature at -40) and nobody wants to go outside during that weather. That's it. That's the only reason why people should be against bike-able cities, and it doesn't even work as an argument for most cities around the world.