It was a shower thought for me this morning, after having seen all these record temperatures being broken around the world.
But, if it gets too hot to cycle, then people won’t. And if they aren’t cycling, they may start driving again, which compounds climate change even further.
Does this worry anyone else?
You probably won’t get most people to switch to bikes by selling them on fighting climate change anyway. You get them to switch to bikes by making it more convenient to bike than to car. This requires a ratchet of policy that deemphasizes car infrastructure and invests in bike infra instead. That investment can include climate change accomodations like adding trees or artificial shading to bike paths/lanes or more aid stations with water/misters/cooling.
This argument is like asking people to donate cups of water to fight a raging forest fire … if we could only gather thousands of cups of water, maybe we can stop that fire. Meanwhile, there is a maniac standing at the edge of the forest with a flame thrower burning everything and no one wants to acknowledge them.
Government should do things at the regional, national and international levels to curb the activities of major corporations and companies that produce a large majority of the pollution in our world. The world and planet will be fine with all the damage and destruction we are doing to it … it’s survived far worse than anything we can do. We have to do something in order to save ourselves … it’s not the planet that will die … we will all die off. We have to start prioritizing how to save ourselves as a species rather than in trying to manage the economic portfolios of a handful of billionaires and their corporate shareholders. As soon as we are gone, none of those profits will matter.
I don’t disagree that there’s more that can be done to fight climate change, especially at the corporate/industry level.
But I’m certain that if a few million cyclists suddenly had to switch back to driving, the environmental impacts would be significant in more ways than one. Even just the need to build wider roads or more parking spaces to support this influx in drivers would be a disaster for communities.
From an individual level, every bit counts. Just like recycling, not wasting water, eating a more plant-based diet, reducing our plastic use, and cycling instead of driving, these efforts are multiplied by tens of millions of times over.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently, trying to survive the recent heat and humidity. Every time I’ve gotten to a destination in the past few weeks, I’ve been drenched in sweat and slightly light-headed. While I still prefer that to driving, bike-crazed as I am, I can’t say it makes for a particularly effective promotion of cycling to the people who see me.
On the flip side, I’ve noticed more and more winter cyclists in my area over the years. Snow/ice doesn’t hang around as long as it used to when it falls, and winter seasons keep feeling shorter and shorter.
I’ve been reading up on heat acclimation and that might be the ticket for regular riders - just ride more often in heat, and you’ll simply adapt. LOL
Last winter was my first, and I thought it was pretty manageable. I just hated having to get a ton of extra gear ready for simple rides, and the added maintenance of getting my bike clean after every ride because of salt.
I’ve been meaning to setup an old bike as a single-speed to use as a low-maintenance winter beater, I should actually finally get to that before next winter…
It is a little worrying on a global scale, but at least in Canada, it will just change the ideal season for cycling.
There will be more cycling in the spring and fall for what we would lose from exceedingly hot temps in the summer.
I bought an ebike a couple of years ago and find that while it may have a somewhat higher carbon footprint, things like heat and air quality have been less of an issue and I commute most days on it now. This is not just because you can switch to an all-electric ride and enjoy the breeze without the workout. In my experience, it also encourages you to seek out parks and trails which may be hillier or add a bit of distance, but are often cooler due to more shade, proximity to water, and less asphalt everywhere.
There are some steps you can take to stay cool on any bike though. There are all sorts of neck and wrist coolers on the market, but even tying a wet towel around your neck can make a huge difference. I am prone to heat exhaustion and this has saved me even when just walking around. But on a bike where you have a breeze to boost the cooling effect of having something wet on your body, it works really well.
Great points! I also ride e-scooters, so I understand how there’s a cooling effect of not having to pedal throughout the entire ride (or with minimal effort).
Yeah there are so many options now, and it’s encouraging to see people even in the car-centric suburbia where I live starting to ride ebikes, escooters, etc.
I prefer this vision of the future over one in which everybody just switches to electric cars. If nothing else, I fear this will trigger a global battery shortage. But I made a calculation based on the specs of my ebike battery. A single Tesla could power around 150 ebikes!
Last summer I went out on my bicycle and suffered heat exhaustion. I spent all day in the hospital. It put me off biking the whole summer. I think you’re right.
I’m sorry to hear that :(
The problem gets even worse if you cycle in a city or even the suburbs, where I’ve noted temperatures at least 5C hotter than riding out in rural areas or through forest paths.
It’s okay, it was scary, one minute I was biking and the next I was on the ground with some people talking to me.
I got back on my bike this summer, albeit I picked up an ebike. That little motor gives me just the right amount of confidence and a bit of an escape valve if I start to wear down.
It’s okay, it was scary, one minute I was biking and the next I was on the ground with some people talking to me.
Were there any symptoms before that happened? Sounds like a scary thing to happen if you’re biking on a roadway :o
Not as much symptomatic warning as you might think. I was getting worn down, stopped to catch my breath and that was it. Luckily I was on a firm trail and not the road.
That’s wild! I hope it never happens again!
Me too, I’m a lot more cautious about humidity and temperature, along with my own capabilities, these days.
Mostly I find that avoiding peak UV is enough to reduce the impact of biking.
Yeah, I’ve been trying to mitigate UV more than heat. I ride with arm sleeves, but I’m looking for some kind of neck and leg protection, too. The problem is that those can also insulate heat if you aren’t moving… so, it’s sunscreen in the meantime.
I supply my 70 seat BBQ joint with bike & cart. I only get meats & beer delivered (kegs…ya’know). Summer is hot, winter is cold. I have excellent rain gear I break out 4-5 times a year (former Seattle native caught without one time too many)
It’s entirely possible for a lot of businesses to switch to a better solution.
I’ve been riding a bike, mainly for fitness, for almost 3 decades. Lately, the heat has been forcing me to shorten my rides or not ride at all. Even from 5 years ago, I don’t remember it being so hot that you’re looking to get into the shade by mid-morning.
I feel like most of the people who advocate for biking everywhere don’t live in the US, or they live in a dense, metropolitan area where everything is just a few miles away.
Bikes will never be a solution to people in rural areas. You want people to bike 15 miles to the grocery store, then bike back with a small amount of groceries? Then repeat that several times a week since you can’t stock up all at once
Cars have a place, pretending they don’t and can be replaced by bikes entirely is a joke.
People need to focus more on EVs and sustainable, renewable, environmentally-more-friendly energy sources.
That vast majority of emissions aren’t from individual commutes to work or the store, but from industrial processes and transportation. Increasing heat will lead people to stay inside in general, which will raise electric demands, leading to more emissions, though.
I could be wrong about the commute spiral, I don’t have any hard numbers, it’s just a guess.
The effect of switching from cars to bike is significant. .
But the best example we have of this is how cities with terrible smog suddenly cleared up during the pandemic, when there were fewer cars on the road and people got out to bike in record numbers.
But, I do agree that being forced to stay indoors would have indirect side effects on the environment.
It’ll be interesting to see how, or even if, humans will solve this problem.
Oh, yeah. I was mainly just thinking about global climate change, but I could see it having a large impact on local air quality.
I’m fairly pessimistic about the long term odds of beating climate change.
global climate change
Yeah, this one takes far more time to solve, but as individuals, we can still have some sway!
A vegan cyclist, for example, who doesn’t fly or spend time on a cruise ship can hit several major contributors to greenhouse gases with little effort. If they use green energy, that’s another major industry down. How they decide to shop can tackle a few more.
Who they vote for can also impact those areas that they have no direct influence over (i.e. certain manufacturing industries of raw materials).
This is all very easy to do on an individual basis, and don’t affect one’s quality of life, but multiply that by a million or a billion people and we WILL see a positive change.
The hard part is convincing someone to make easy changes to their life. 😩
nope as it’s not too hot to cycle in general, maybe during some hours at some specific days of summer but the overall year is completely nice
yeah, I’m telling you from barcelona and here there’s no snow and ice on the roads/trails I use to cycle it’s true but there’s much more equipment and tires to cycle on winter conditions, so you can adapt your bike to winter, than the 0 equipment and components to cycle on hot, summer, conditions
winter wins, always