Sporting four layers of clothing, a neck warmer pulled up to her ears, large goggles and a safety helmet, Montrealer Marie-Pierre Savard is ready to face the Canadian winter on her bicycle.
In the mostly French-speaking metropolis, more and more people, like her, are getting around by bike even in sometimes extreme weather conditions.
“It would be wrong to say that it’s exactly the same as riding a bike in the summer,” says the 38-year-old with short hair who believes that “it requires more concentration, better know-how and a different style of riding.”
But even in winter, for her, this means of transportation is unbeatable: It’s “simpler, more efficient, more ecological and more economical” than a car or public transit, she says.
Not even snowstorms and temperatures plunging to -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) can stop the winter cyclist.
She confesses she actually “loves to ride when it has just snowed a few centimeters to leave the first tracks on fresh snow.”
On Montreal’s bike paths, it is not uncommon to come across kids in a child seat in the back, bundled up as though ready for skiing, on their way to school or daycare. They are quickly outpacing families who opt to pull kids in toboggans on sidewalks after a storm.
“At the beginning, there were very few of us,” recalls Frederic Venne, who is in his 15th winter on a bike. Over the last two years, a greater effort to “clear bike paths” of snow have convinced more neophytes to join those who have long been seen as diehards, he adds.
It was an awakening for Mathieu Levesque, who only recently took it up. This 35-year-old bearded Quebecer says he “loves cycling during storms” and prides himself on being able to “do it every day.”
– Cycling city –
In just a few years, as in other cities around the world, the number and length of bike paths have exploded in Montreal, making it one of the most cyclable in North America.
It now has some 900 kilometers (560 miles) of dedicated bike paths, almost 80 percent of which are accessible year-round, and has plans to add 200 kilometers more by 2027. The city’s stated objective is for 15 percent of all trips to be taken by bicycle by then.
Already between 2020 and 2021, bicycle trips in both summer and winter have increased by 20 percent, Mayor Valerie Plante recently pointed out.
And “winter cycling is exploding,” according to Hugo Bourgoin, a spokesperson for the city. In 2022, nearly 1.7 million bicycle trips were recorded in Montreal during the cold season.
In his Velo Espresso shop where wheels hang from the ceiling, Olivier Quirion-Deslauriers said he’s observed a 15 percent year over year increase in customers coming in to winterize their bikes.
Ultimately winter bikes don’t require any extra equipment, except for good tires that won’t slip.
“Studded tires will give you the grip you need on the ice,” says the bike mechanic, his hands black with grease.
In the end it seems “intimidating at first but it’s accessible to everyone.”
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