Winter biking promotion: San Diego

Road conditions can be the primary motivating (or demotivating) factor for winter cyclists. PHOTO BY ALLEN MCINNIS /Montreal Gazette

I've written about promoting bicycling all year round, including in winter--meaning winter with snow.  And planning for it systematically.

-- "Cycling Through Winter," Plan Canada Magazine
-- "Why Finland leads the field when it comes to winter cycling," Guardian
-- "Mainstreaming Bicycling in Winter Cities: The case of Oulu, Finland,"Jeffrey Pratte, masters thesis
-- "Oulu – The winter cycling capital of the world. Finland, Eltis

-- "Winter Cycling – Addressing the Challenges, year after year," Sustainable Urban Transport Project, Germany
-- Winter Bike Lane Maintenance: A Review of National and International Best Practices, Alta Planning & Design
-- Winter Maintenance Resource Guide, Toole Design

Minneapolis' great bicycle plan has an element on maintenance, including the winter season.

And I recommend doing commercial district revitalization planning by daypart and season ("Events and programming in a systematic manner").

For example, Montreal has a winter cycle route program, which prioritizes snow clearance on those routes, which is a subset of the routes supported during temperate months ("Winter biking in Montreal? No sweat," Montreal Gazette).  Calgary does too.

The Winter Cycling Federation sponsors the Winter Cycling Congress, linking cities from snowy climes, and some cities have organized a Winter Bike to Work Day or Week, like Boulder, and related programming.  Fort Collins, Colorado offers a "Winter Cycling" workshop.

-- "Winter preparedness, planning and the Walking/Biking/Transit City," 2019

International Winter Bike to Work Day is the second Friday in February.

Granted San Diego is temperate, but their "Winter Wonderland Week" of events and initiatives is a good model for promoting biking during the winter season.

One of the events is a self-guided bike tour event around the city, called the Joy Ride, with pit stops.  That's a great idea too.

Granted it's not all fun and games.  For example, bicycle sharing systems that operate year round have protocols that shut the system down when weather conditions are particularly bad.

But still, as long as conditions are not super icy or polar vortex cold, it's possible to bike in the winter in many places, so long as you dress appropriately and have the right gear like rainpants and face masks ("Tips for winter biking," REI, "How to Ride Your E-Bike All Winter," TreeHugger).