Some people think I am a nut for cycling in the winter time. Some people think it is dangerous to ride in the winter or led to believe bikes should not be allowed on the streets during the cold months. In my opinion, they are flat out wrong and definitely do not understand at all.
First and foremost, being to cold out? Never. Even when the temperatures plummeted to single digits (in F) I still rode. I still came to work sweaty. Why? Body heat. I was far warmer then those waiting for buses, trains or just walking. I felt bad for them. While you are driving your car and your heater still hasn’t heated up, I was warmer then you even though you were in an enclosed metal box. It’s all about how you layer! And there have been times, even at 24F when I had one too many layers on. And I usually only wear two at most!
I am not hating on cars in this blog. Just to get that out of the way.
Now, you ask, what about snow? That’s something completely different. I wouldn’t even drive with heavy snowfall. And we’ve only had 3 heavy snowfall days. I took 4 or 5 days off just for that. Common sense ruled in this case. Still have I have knobbier tires and shoe covers, I will stay off the bicycle.
I did ride in one of those snowstorms! Unbelievably fun, but the end result led to soaked shoes and extremely dirty bike. So worth it though. From a commuting stand point, I’ll pass till the day after the snowfall for clear roads.
To sum it up, this winter cycling commute, has been amazing and totally worth it and has proved to me that cycling is a VERY viable way of getting around even on the coldest days. Sometimes, yeah, common sense will work its way to mind, especially on bad weather days.
Light snow, cold days, and layering don’t bother me. Get a bike and ride!
To Be Continued.
Winter bike commuting only seems crazy until you try it. Then it makes perfect sense.
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