Riding to school in Finland

[Veloo]

Wow, puts me to shame.
Do we have any members from Finland that could comment?

https://www.artfido.com/students-in-finland-continue-to-ride-bicycles-to-school-at-17c-1-4f-temperatures-and-its-a-lesson-in-commuting/

[nmrt]

and they do not lock their bikes! :)

[SlowPokePete]

They know the rules.

SPP

[jet sanchez]

It's all about infrastructure, if you build it, people will use it. Here in Toronto the waterfront trail is plowed in the winter and cyclists and runners use it like crazy.

[pdonk]

It's all about infrastructure, if you build it, people will use it. Here in Toronto the waterfront trail is plowed in the winter and cyclists and runners use it like crazy.

I see people every morning on it, rain, shine snow sleet and think they are either crazy or committed to making a statement. The wind off the lake would be miserable.

[Lewis Moon]

It's amazing just how few kids ride to high school here in AZ. It really seems like riding your bike is a sign of low social stature and would earn you a nuclear wedgie and a swirly. The tables get turned when they go to college though....It costs so much to park on campus that riding (or scooters) is the only way to get around on a large campus.
A lot of students come to ASU having never really ridden a bike before. It's wild to see 18yos wobbling along, going the wrong way down a street, with no helmet and then locking their bike to a bare post by only the front wheel. My wife teaches "ASU-101" every couple of semesters. We've talked about me developing an hour long presentation on cycling for the ASU commuter.

[ultraman6970]

I grew in the patagonia, you get used to ride with ice and snow... the other thing is that is not the same -17C in a dry area than with a humid weather, Im not familiar with finland but Im under the impression that could be drier than you could imagine, then the cold feels different.

Cools stuff tho.. I walked to school but we used to ride all year round, for me the cycling season ended by the winter and then during the winter was super cool just because of the heack of it to ride fix gear with ice in the streets... dangerous? heck yeah... fun? super fund to do :D

[efixler]

Sweden (I lived there for a couple of years) was very much like this. Great infrastructure, traffic laws that are respected and prioritize pedestrians and cyclists, and pride in not letting the weather stop you no matter what.

My time influenced me in many ways, one of which was really getting back into bike riding more than I ever had before when I came back to the states.

One other oddity in Sweden that subtly helped biking there was that stores that do repair (any kind of repair) get taxed at a lower rate, to incentivize re-use vs purchase. That (plus the high number of bike riders) means good bike repair shops all over the place.

[exapkib]

We have good friends who relocated to Finland several years ago, and commuting by bike is one of their favorite things about living there. Partly because it's so efficient most of the time, and partly because it creates stories that make them sound so incredible (boiling water to melt the ice off of your brakes before you can ride home at the end of the day, etc.). It really is a year-round activity, not just for kids in school, but for a large number of adults.

[efixler]

So true! We did all our grocery shopping (family on 5) using a beater bike with panniers.

Also, spike tires are pretty magical, and really easy (in particular for people who aren't into bike maintenance) when your LBS is 5 minutes from your house and they are prepared for seasonal tire swaps.

[bikinchris]

and they do not lock their bikes! :)

All of their bikes are equipped with a lock on the rear brake aren't they?

[efixler]

In Sweden, mostly.

[binouye]

I also lived in Sweden, and commuted by bike year round there. Taking a short cut across the frozen lake was fun. And the bike paths were plowed BEFORE the streets were! Riding in the very cold was in some ways easier, the worst was the slush right near freezing temps. I just used knobbies on an old MTB, not spikes, but spiked tires were readily available.

In the cities, the days of just built-in rear wheel locks are pretty much over, too much bike theft for that to work. Bikes still have them, but people use the same range of locks as you find anywhere else. I had a bike stolen when my cable lock was cut (left overnight locked to a lamp post next to a parking lot).