FABB Blog

Folks who ride a bike to work will tell you that there’s simply no better way to commute. It’s often the fastest way to get to work, it offers a wide array of route options, and, unlike driving or taking public transportation, doing it regularly is actually good for you.

But the numbers from Capital Bikeshare tell a stark, though not shocking, story: People ride to work much less often in the winter. Even as peak usage in warm months has climbed from about 140,000 in 2011 to over 360,000 last year, January or February usage has remained around 110,000.

Of course, those numbers don’t reflect people who own their own bikes and who might be considered more dedicated to cycling and likely to ride when the weather gets cold. However, the most recent annual report by Strava, a popular fitness app for cyclists and runners, also showed that bike rides classified as “commuting” declined 63.3 percent in the winter.

And that’s a shame! Using exercise to commute to work in chilly weather doesn’t need to be met with a cold shoulder. There are ways of making cycling and running to work safe and comfortable enough to become regular winter habits, leading to increased fitness and, best of all, the satisfaction of knowing you’re kind of a badass...