Winter Cycling Tips – Bike Green All Year Long
By ChristaWalking aside, biking is the ultimate form of green transportation!. There are no emissions associated with people power – none that we’ll mention, anyway. While owning a car can cost $8,000 per year (think new parts, insurance, etc.) owning a bike costs around $400 – and that’s only if, unlike me, you’re getting your bike crazy tuneups and buying stuff for it. If you take all of the resources that make up a car, you could make at least 100 totally sweet bikes with all that stuff. And pumping those pedals is seriously healthy, especially if you go the extra mile and can commute via bike instead of car.
But hold up, let’s say you’re trying to live a wicked green life and you love riding your bike to work in the springtime, the summertime, and the fall. Wintertime biking, though? The idea sounds pretty crazy to those of us who would rather spend all day sitting under a heat lamp than go snowshoeing. Turns out, it’s not so crazy and plenty of people don’t stop biking to work – or anywhere else – when the weather gets icy. And for those who are inspired to give winter cycling a go, here are a few tips from Dave from Bicycle Habitat on handling your bike on winter streets.
January 28th, 2011 at 11:20 am
Biking in winter beats walking or skiing in a couple ways (in the Boston area). Bikes can use the road, thus avoiding unshoveled or plowed-over sidewalks. This morning I had to climb a couple four foot hills of snow. At least I finally wore my snow pants! Cross country skis or snowshoes would also help, but XC skis won’t work on shoveled sidewalks or while crossing the street. Snowshoes would probably work better, but they’re certainly not as fast as a bike. The only problem is terrible or downright malicious drivers.