The person on the left is carrying bags, the one in orange is a delivery driver and a couple of people are wearing backpacks. Aside from car brained, Damaris is also blind.
I’ll get downvoted being in this community, but in extreme climates where it goes down to - 30 Celsius and has up to 230cm of snow a season, bikes don’t work.
Fall Spring summer, sure.
This is another version of the comment people are mocking. ‘Ah, but in this incredibly extreme situation, bikes are inefficient!’ Yeah, I know, mate. I wasn’t planning on biking to the south pole with a fridge on my back, was I? The point is not that bikes are the best solution for every single journey any human has made or will ever make, but that cars aren’t the best solution the vast majority of the time.
They work better than cars do. Not long ago on my bike commute in a blizzard I had to keep getting off to help get stuck cars moving again, then if happily ride off…
And handling the cold is easier when riding than walking to and waiting for trains and buses because you generate your own heat. People ski in those conditions. It’s just a matter of the right clothes and equipment and not being soft as fuck.
Similar experience here. Bike commuted year around for a decade and went through multiple blizzards. Helped more drivers get unstuck than i can count
Frequently did the commute sub-zero. If you have the gear it isn’t that bad. And i never had to worry about my bike not starting.
I’d be keen to know your (or others) experience of biking and driving in those conditions because in my experience cars aren’t well suited to those temperatures either. I don’t have direct experience of biking in that low but I know people who do and they swear by it.
Of course you could throw fuel at it and keep your car running all the time to stop it from freezing. 😷
https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/329955-russia-cars-extreme-frosts
Anyway as others have said no one is actually saying cycling is the solution for all extreme use cases that’s a strawman.
I throw studded tires on my bike in about 15 minutes and go about my day as normal. It takes about 30-60 minutes to do the same to my car and I’m sore for a couple days after. Also, unless I’m driving 5+ miles, the car is usually slower or equal in time for the commute. The bike is faster and far easier to maintain. The commute isn’t much different, but I’m forced to ride sidewalks because my city plows into the bike lanes. Maybe if I had a car with heated seats, I’d miss the car.
On the bike, I fall probably once per season, but that’s always the result of doing something reckless like jumping over a small snow bank or riding into large chunks of ice that I should have gone around.
down to - 30 Celsius and has up to 230cm of snow a season, bikes don’t work.
Cars don’t either.
Because your concern seems to be disproportionately weighted on extreme weather?
Montrealer here. When roads are unplowed, cars also struggle. When it’s too cold, cars also struggle.
I live at the top of a gentle slope and as soon as it starts snowing, cars are slipping and sliding down the slope. There’s even a famous video of exactly this kind of thing, with cars, buses, police and snow plows just sliding down the slope.
Cars need very well maintained roads to work in winter. Those roads can also be used by bikes. And if you plow bike paths and bike lanes, just like we do for cars, cycling in winter is usually no big deal. Sometimes while cars are slipping down I can observe cyclists being able to climb the same slope. Or they just push the bike up on foot and continue on their way.
I use my bike in winter and can assure you that it is working.
Addendum: I am a simple man. When is starts snowing I just sit by my window and watch cars struggle to go uphill. In fact, I record it.
Also, just to continue on your points. It’s not -30C every day and snow here is usually plowed within a few hours, AND removed within a few days. Extreme weather is extreme, and one should avoid driving in during heavy snowfall anyway. So either you’re on a bike, or in a car that you must dig out of a snow bank, or using public transit, if the weather is extreme, everyone is going to have a less than perfect day.
Ok, I guess some people are willing to bike in extreme weather.
I’ve never tried it, but I don’t think I’d like to be out in -30 + windchill on a bike instead of in a heated car.
I’m all for better public transit though.
I do 65 minutes in the morning to work, and 80-85 coming home.
I do 65 minutes in the morning to work, and 80-85 coming home
I think you’ll find most !fuckcars members will also be big advocates for zoning reform that enables more people to live closer to their work. Nobody should be living a 65 minute drive from their work unless it’s purely by choice. They shouldn’t even be a 65 minute bike ride away from their workplace.
I know, unless you absolutely need the job and it’s the only one that accepted your offer.
In my case however, the company lied to me; they said at the start I can shift to full remote over time, but 4 months in and they’re saying that I need supervision to work (even though no one helps me with anything all day).
So I got fucked.
