Saturday 23 November 2019

Saturday Photo: Winter Biking, Bixis, and Snow

Montreal's bike share program, Bixi, ended for the season Nov. 15, after what appeared to be a very good year.   The non-profit reported a record breaking  320,000 individual users logging more than 10 million kilometres of travel.

 The service begins in mid-April and runs until mid-November, and in recent years there's been some agitation to make the season longer.  But this year the end came sooner than expected since the snow fell abundantly the first week in November, well before the Bixi folks were ready to dismantle the stations and store the bikes.

This week I think that most of the stations around my 'hood had been packed up, but this is what it looked like a little earlier.  Not much traffic the last week, for sure!

Nevertheless, winter bike riding is on the rise in Montreal. You need heavier bikes, and I'm told that studded tires (forbidden on cars) are useful, too.   Don't think I'd take it up even if I were a better bike-rider than I am, but some of my nearest and dearest regularly bike to work all winter.  Heroes--or foolhardy?

Think I'll walk!

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