Even the "decent climate" range is actually huge, <especially with ebikes>. Basically I can think of only a one climate where life on bikes is really hard: very hot and humid.
Hot and dry is manageable since when cycling you naturally create cooling currents around you; you need to wear appropriate clothing (sunglasses + cap or helmet with shaded visor; appropriate long sleeved shirt, appropriate pants and shoes).
Cold climates are super manageable with appropriate clothing, bar mitts and most crucially of all: <well designed bike infrastructure including priority maintenance, just like for car infrastructure>.
Of course super extreme weather like -30C or +40C at some point makes any active transportation close to impossible, but the vast majority of people don't live in those conditions and the people that do live like that, only do it for max 1-2 months per year.
99.99% of these issues are actually failures of infrastructure design and implementation.
For snowy conditions: daily snow plowing, debris removal, salting to prevent ice formation, etc, etc.
For hot conditions: planting trees, removing asphalt (for example grassy tram/train lines; parking spots with grass pavers (https://buildwithabs.com/product/grass-pavers/), designing tall buildings to shade urban sidewalks, etc.
Also, infrastructure doesn't just need to safe, it needs to be maintained as critical infrastructure, just like for cars, so that the infra is not degraded in practice.
alt Hacker News
Even the "decent climate" range is actually huge, <especially with ebikes>. Basically I can think of only a one climate where life on bikes is really hard: very hot and humid.
Hot and dry is manageable since when cycling you naturally create cooling currents around you; you need to wear appropriate clothing (sunglasses + cap or helmet with shaded visor; appropriate long sleeved shirt, appropriate pants and shoes).
https://youtu.be/2opQQP13lPI?si=LdhJnF8yLKrVNuGM (for long sleeved shirts)
Cold climates are super manageable with appropriate clothing, bar mitts and most crucially of all: <well designed bike infrastructure including priority maintenance, just like for car infrastructure>.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU
Of course super extreme weather like -30C or +40C at some point makes any active transportation close to impossible, but the vast majority of people don't live in those conditions and the people that do live like that, only do it for max 1-2 months per year.
99.99% of these issues are actually failures of infrastructure design and implementation.
For snowy conditions: daily snow plowing, debris removal, salting to prevent ice formation, etc, etc.
For hot conditions: planting trees, removing asphalt (for example grassy tram/train lines; parking spots with grass pavers (https://buildwithabs.com/product/grass-pavers/), designing tall buildings to shade urban sidewalks, etc.
Also, infrastructure doesn't just need to safe, it needs to be maintained as critical infrastructure, just like for cars, so that the infra is not degraded in practice.