Stephen Kurz
Growing up in Canada, winter cyclists were few and far between. Admittedly, I too was a seasonal rider. In the past ten years however, winter cycling has become increasingly common in my hometown, especially in the city center. Still, my main association with winter cycling at that time was either hardcore bicycle messengers who looked like they were dressed as though they were preparing for battle, or the increasingly popular “fat bikes” for which a lucky few had the funds to invest and the space to store them.
When I moved to the Netherlands in 2016 for graduate studies, I realized that winter cycling could be different. Of course, the Netherlands gets nowhere near as much snow or is as cold as most Canadian cities. Dutch winters are instead mainly characterized by wind and rain, and lots of it, but for the most part, this scarcely stops the Dutchies from hopping on their