Our results are in from 70 respondents for our Jan. 2011 informal poll. Thank you! We asked the question: “Do you cycle in the winter?” Below is the split-out for those who are tenacious out there on sometimes snowy, icy roads and those who would rather be warmly tucked indoors. Or maybe you are engaged in a snow sport on the slopes.
Winter cyclist by Rocky Mountains. Banff, Alberta 2011. Photo by HJEH Becker
Poll results are abit deceiving, since there are actually more winter cyclists than shown in the pie-chart. The “Other” category was intended to allow respondents to give an answer not offered in the other multiple choices.
“Other” was originally a discrete, standalone category by itself. In the end, “Other” became a hodge-podge of people who wanted to explain abit about their cycling or non-cycling situation and who didn’t want to choose one of the other multiple choice answers. So, we’ve included some comments from 18 people who chose the “Other” category:
- I am disabled –can’t ride bike.
- Don’t really have winter.
- Yes, but not on roads, I take to the woods on an MTB.
- Only when roads aren’t icy or covered with salt.
- Usually not –salt is hell on bikes.
- Yes, winter weather is not an issue where I live.
- Yes, but only when the temperature is above freezing.
- Every day when I was younger (20-50 year old ages).
- When I feel like it.
- Every day.
- Stationary trainer.
- I’ll ride in the winter if the stars align, ie. Sunny and low winds
- Above 40F for a few days and with little car traffic.
- Survey Results for Winter Cycling. Poll taken for 3 wks. Jan. 2011. Note: There are actually more cyclists since several responses in “Other” category include some winter cyclists.
The survey was provided to both females and males in both co-ed and female-only Internet forums and simply open access to the blog. The blog is viewed by a mix of cycling and non-cycling readers. As a general observation, there are over 55% respondents who do cycle during the winter –including some positive responses gleaned from “Other” comments. It is an informal, anecdotal poll. But there are more people attempting winter cycling than one is led is to believe.
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