Cold Warriors: Commuters Who Biked in Winter Snow

1. NorwegianBiker
   December 14th, 2007 at 4:39 am

   Quite common in Norway:)

2. S-r-ex
   December 14th, 2007 at 4:56 am

   NorwegianBiker is right, These guys are all over Norway. Probably Sweden and Finland too. Much in the same temps as these guys, seeing that you are talking about sub-zero in fahrenheit. If it was Celsius, it wouldn’t even be impressive…

3. kristen
   December 14th, 2007 at 5:06 am

   Vermont too.

4. MrPumpernickel
   December 14th, 2007 at 5:13 am

   Yep, I bike all through the winter and I live in the northern most regions of Sweden where temperatures of -30 deg C (-22F) are common during the winter. Crazy? Nah, just as long as you dress well and have proper tires it works great.

5. algonkin
   December 14th, 2007 at 7:27 am

   Yep! Very common in Canada. And they are extremely dangerous to drivers. I’ve lost track of how many of theses winter bikers fell in front of my truck as they struggled to pedal during a snow storm. A near miss all the time and damn it it scares the hell out me. I hope one day I don’t kill someone because of their stupidity.

6. Petteri
   December 14th, 2007 at 9:40 am

   Are you serious with this post? What is so strange with bicycling in under -18 C?

7. redphone
   December 14th, 2007 at 10:39 am

   In Toronto, I find the plows don’t leave enough of the bike lane intact. This can make things very difficult. Cyclists need to stay as close to the side as possible, and yet avoid that lumpy edge of the snow - once you hit that, you run a huge risk of slipping and falling under someone’s (like algonkin) vehicle. Vehicles that seem unwilling for the most part to give extra room to those cyclists.

   Of course, one can’t fix stupid. There are still just as many dumb cyclists in the winter as there are in the summer.

   In terms of tips, I have a beach cruiser I use specifically for winter. The weight and the knobby, square tires grip crappy roads just as well as beaches.

8. Peter Fleck
   December 14th, 2007 at 11:02 am

   I am a newly minted crazy biker. I was always hesitant for fear of ice but I’m not finding that to be a problem. What is a problem (as mentioned already) is poor snow removal on the part of the city (Minneapolis in my case). They didn’t declare an emergency after the last storm and so now we have to bike in the car lane on many streets. I’m also finding curb cut areas that I think are under city control that have not been cleaned.

   We pay a lot of lip service here to promoting biking and we build expensive bike bridges but sometimes you have to take care of the mundane maintenance details. If you don’t bad things can happen (like bridges falling down).

9. andrew
   December 14th, 2007 at 6:13 pm

   I live in Boulder, Colorado, USA and I just got home from work, taking a bike the whole way. It doesn’t get as cold here, or (I would imagine) quite as snowy as Norway. But it’s still pretty bad and a lot of fun.

10. Lenore
    December 14th, 2007 at 7:24 pm

    I used to commute by bike in winter in Boulder, Colorado. On a snowy day when car traffic was backed up, biking was usually faster because they plow the off street bike paths pretty early. And even if the plow hadn’t gotten there yet, you could still bike safely over the fresh crunchy snow. It’s the next morning you have to worry about when you have to get over the refrozen plow sludge in the gutters to get onto the bike path. But if I can do it, just about anyone should be able to. Granted, Boulder doesn’t get quite as cold or have as much snow as many places, but we usually got a good dose of winter. So don’t make it sound like it’s exclusively for hardcore cyclists!

11. Vonskippy
    December 14th, 2007 at 9:55 pm

    I’d rather bike in 0 degree weather then 35 degree weather. You can always add another layer of cold weather gear, but there’s only so much you can take off (and not join a nudist colony).

12. Andi.
    December 15th, 2007 at 10:46 am

    I’m riding my bike year round here in Canada. Temperatures of -30 Celsius are not the problem… more the car drivers who drive without any common sense with 60 km/h over ice covered roads. It’s called “driving” and not “braking”, isn’t it (see algonkin’s commentary)? Snow ploughs don’t make the situation easier, ’cause they push the snow onto the sidewalks, and bike lanes do not exist at all in Moncton, NB.

13. Stakker
    December 15th, 2007 at 11:57 am

    I love riding in the winter. Just put on some more clothes and studded tyres and that’s it. Pedalling keeps you warm, you know

    Personally I quit when it gets under -15 degrees Celsius, but many people don’t… Some freehubs will start freezing after that though, and some suspension parts might start acting weird, so the bike may require some adjustments.

    P.S. I’m from Finland

14. Jason
    December 24th, 2007 at 2:59 pm

    This is quite common in Fairbanks Alaska. I personally ride my bike until it no longer operates, ~< -40?(F/C). Just wear more clothing and get pogies to keep your hands warm.

15. Jason
    December 24th, 2007 at 3:00 pm

    This is quite common in Fairbanks Alaska. I personally ride my bike until it no longer operates, ~< -40(F/C). Just wear more clothing and get pogies to keep your hands warm.

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