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Comment by k8sToGo | Hacker News Reader

What are you primarily using during winter and rainy months?

Since our older kids go to school themselves I don't have to cycle them any more. The last few years I dropped two kids of at day care by cargo bike regardless of weather. The alternative is basically public transport because the combination of traffic and lack of parking locations in the city make dropping them off by car impossible for me.

So I basically have the choice of cycling in the rain (the kids are rain protected in the bike anyways) and taking the bus and subway. However at either one of those sides I need to walk a bit anyways and then the kids also get wet.

So despite potentially wet and snowy weather, it's still the best option.

> What are you primarily using during winter and rainy months?

In the Toronto, Canada, I cycled 5km every workday to/from work, from March to December, rain or shine: as long as the roads were clear I added layers for winter, and during rain I put on rain gear (like even a simple poncho):

* https://www.mec.ca/en/product/6017-198/mec-hydrocycle-jacket...

I bought my rain gear many years ago, and it gave be ~decade of service (don't cycle nowadays because of WFH/hybrid, but the gear is still good).

pretty milk winter in toronto as well

> pretty milk winter in toronto as well

How many people live in IECC Climate Zones ≥5:

* https://basc.pnnl.gov/images/iecc-climate-zone-map

And even for those that do, just because someone may not cycle in the winter, that does not preclude cycling during the other three seasons. Further, not all winter days are bad, even in colder climates.

See also "Why Canadians Can't Bike in the Winter (but Finnish people can)":

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU

Or a fellow in Calgary:

* https://www.youtube.com/@Shifter_Cycling

Or a couple that have live(d) in Ottawa and Montreal:

* https://www.youtube.com/@OhTheUrbanity/search?query=winter

Winter weather in calgary, ottawa, and montreal are all warmer than winnipeg or edmonton.

All bakfiets models come with (optional) rain tents, so young can kids stay dry and out of the wind. Cold is usually more of an issue than rain on longer trips. In a bit of snow, I feel a lot safer on my bike than in a car. Just adjust speed and do controlled braking to feel the grip (or lack thereof). It helps a lot that I live in a flat country (Netherlands), as snow/ice and slopes are a really bad combination with cycling.

vienna has a very mild winter. they're barely just below freezing most of the time.

People bike in rain and snow.

everything is relative. biking in vienna in winter isn't similar at all to biking in winnipeg in the winter.

> everything is relative. biking in vienna in winter isn't similar at all to biking in winnipeg in the winter.

Perfect is the enemy of the good: just because you can't cycle everyday, twelve months of the year, doesn't mean you shouldn't perhaps cycle for 6/8/10 months of the years when it is "possible".

But on the topic of locations, how about Finland? "Why Canadians Can't Bike in the Winter (but Finnish people can)":

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU

Or a fellow in Calgary:

* https://www.youtube.com/@Shifter_Cycling

Or a couple that have live(d) in Ottawa and Montreal:

* https://www.youtube.com/@OhTheUrbanity/search?query=winter

Also look at the larger conversation of one of the most car-centric countries, the US: how many folks live in climate zones (say) 1 to 4:

* https://basc.pnnl.gov/images/iecc-climate-zone-map

What does "winter" mean there?

Ya, I could bike in -20c to -40c weather for 1.5 hours a day in each direction (3 hours a day), or I could drive to work and be warm for 25 minutes and have 2.5 hours to do useful things with my life.

Bike nuts are nuts.

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