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Comment by jtdev | Hacker News Reader

Cycling to/from work, grocery stores, etc. is completely infeasible for 6 months of the year in approximately 1/3 of the United States. In addition to seasonal infeasibility, much of the U.S. is rural... good luck commuting 15 miles each way to work.

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Right, so before cars were widespread (~50 years ago) people just didn't go to work?

I didn't own a car until I was 27 and when there's no other choice, you definitely can use a bike in all weathers. It sucks, but that's life. You appreciate the warmth more after weather so cold it makes your face sting.

As for rural living, the article is talking about cities, so the idea is you travel to the edge of the city by car then get on a bike.

"Right, so before cars were widespread (~50 years ago) people just didn't go to work?"

People lived a lot closer to their work then..,

Maybe people should live a lot closer to their work again

I biked to work year-round in Calgary, Canada every workday during a 16 month internship. Including during heavy snow. Tungsten-studded bike tires made it easy. This was before the current era of electric-powered fatbikes, which easily handle such conditions.

15 miles is not that far. 45 minutes with a US (20MPH) e-bike. Average commute is 30 mins each way. And that's time you don't have to spend at the gym now.

You going to shower at work? How do you get your kids to school? Are you going to put them on the handlebars?

Well, I think you're right, kinda, but either their own bikes or in one of those carts you attach.

Shower at work? why, because you're sweaty? yeah, the humidity on East Coast is killer. I don't shower, but I keep a change of clothes at work.

Waiting for the bakfiets crowd to show up.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dutch+children+bike&source=l...

Using NL as an example here is a major stretch... NL has been designed around non motorized transport; it’s like using Venice as an example for why gondola based transit is a good idea for North America <>

You should google some pictures of NL in the 1970s if you think NL is "designed" around non-motorized transport.

There's no natural law that says that NL had to be bike friendly. Within my lifetime it wasn't[1]. Paris wasn't a good place to bike in and that is rapidly changing[2]. There's no reason urban environments can't be bike friendly. Suburban environments, which are prevalent in the US, have one root problem: zoning for lack of density and land-use segregation. If locales were allowed to build up, public transport would be more efficient because it would service more people in smaller area, and if shops were intermingled with housing you would be able to walk to get groceries, instead of driving for 10 minutes to get milk or bread. A big problem is that because of land-use segregation all the jobs are in one place while all the people are spread out and for political purposes and historical reasons, urban environments cater to the mobility needs of people going to work, not those that live within cities.

[1]: https://www.fastcompany.com/3052699/these-historical-photos-...

[2]: https://www.francetoday.com/travel/paris/the-paris-bicycle-b...

"You going to shower at work?"

Yes? Or alternatively just dry off and change clothes.

"How do you get your kids to school?"

Kids here take the school bus - or indeed cycle to school. I cycled to school from about age 6.

>is completely infeasible for 6 months of the year in approximately 1/3 of the United States

Why? Because of winter? They make cold weather gear for cycling. You can even buy rechargeable, heated gloves. You can buy studded tires, as well.

I had a year-round, 10 mile, each way, commute for 19 years, in temperatures ranging from 0F to 100F. (Humidity, raising the Heat Index over 100, is far worse than the cold.)

If it’s doable in Scandinavia I’d say it’s doable in the whole US too. It’s not comfortable some days, but it’s doable (disclaimer - I don’t do it even in nice weather but I pass a lot of people with my car that do).

Short urban commutes in winter are not an issue (or shortish commutes in Scandanavian high density population areas)... it's the idea of long commutes in rural areas and/or long commutes in rural areas during winter that is not just inconvenient but actually quite dangerous.

Where I live 20km from Stockholm it’s pretty common to ride year round at least. That’s around 45min to 1h. It’s definitely not very dense the first 10km, but no exactly rural either. Infrastructure is good though with separate bike paths more or less door to door, and some bike lanes once you reach the city limits (though not as good as class leading Copenhagen).

I don't think anyone is suggesting that some farmer switches to cycling to shop. Most of these articles are talking about people living in/near the cities. The average commute is 6 miles or so which is short enough to cycle just fine.

> commutes in rural areas during winter that is not just inconvenient but actually quite dangerous.

Not if you build the infrastructure for it and maintain it.

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