>>biking in the rainy, cold, northern Europe is anything but glorious.
Let us not exaggerate. Biking in northern Europe is OK -- if the roads are ploughed, you have the right clothes and winter tyres (2 * 60 Euro for my bike, shudder. Damn thieves.)
The "right clothes" is admittedly a bit much this week, when it is below minus 10 Celsius. Sigh, maybe I should look for a job down south, in warm and sunny Copenhagen.
>>I bet the majority of them would really want a car instead
I bike because I need the exercise. I won't get a car until I live so I get enough exercise anyway.
I wouldn't call this exaggerated. Biking to work in anything below 0°C isn't what I'd call safe or comfortable. The winter tires available for bikes are ok, but cycling outside in a huge winter suit is everything but.
This wouldn't work in Norway. Only 35% of the population live in the larger cities, I know lots of people who have a 60km (~35 miles) commute. Hell, I even know people who get on a plane daily to go to work.
Denmark is also damn flat, at least compared to Norway, which is more "mountainy", like Switzerland.
It does work in Norway for a lot of people. I used to bike to and from school through most of winter, and most of my friends did the same. If you need a "huge winter suit" you're not dressing properly.
Maybe it won't work for as many people as in Copenhagen, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work and wouldn't work for a lot more people than presently.
I think you have the right idea: if you need an environmental bubble (a car) to get between your larger environmental bubbles (home, work), the problem may not be you, but rather your environment. Live somewhere you could [theoretically] get by without clothing, insulation, or electric heat/AC, and I guarantee you a better life.
Let us not exaggerate. Biking in northern Europe is OK -- if the roads are ploughed, you have the right clothes and winter tyres (2 * 60 Euro for my bike, shudder. Damn thieves.)
The "right clothes" is admittedly a bit much this week, when it is below minus 10 Celsius. Sigh, maybe I should look for a job down south, in warm and sunny Copenhagen.
>>I bet the majority of them would really want a car instead
I bike because I need the exercise. I won't get a car until I live so I get enough exercise anyway.