People still ride bikes in winter, Erica.

Yay - winter is when it's dark most of the time and more hazardous to mix it up with the cars.

Don't mind Mr. Poe. He's still butt hurt about not being picked for Freaky Friday.

@3

Oh, you totally know it. Crushed!

Erica,

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned the fatality in Portland. Obviously, the cyclist was to blame.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/10/a_ghost_bike_a.html

@1, actually, most people around here do not go outside due to the snowdrifts and frequent subzero temperatures. We hibernate for 3 to 4 months, so won't benefit from this until spring. You should be sarcastic and cynical like Erika, with "the glass is only 90% full" attitude.

@2, I appreciate the logical analysis, and I do not mind the pointy ears.

Oops - "Erica." Sorry.

@6

We rarely receive 'subzero temperatures' in the Northwest, and although you might be right about 'most people', I do.

I haven't driven a car in over five years. I have this crazy ability to know how to dress when riding my bike in the cold (wowz! astonishing!), and walking is equally sufficient.

Just sayin'.

Never knew it ever closed....but then I only run on it as part of my morning run.

Winter is the best time to have the trail open. I hate commuting in the rain on my bike fighting traffic.

Hey - serious, doof: Cardio in the Winter in Seattle replaces pills from your doctor. And, for christsake, now that it's darker and darker: Driver, pedestrian, and cyclist: Be more careful about the others. Not the right time to be a namby-pamby Seatthole.

I walk to work even in the winter on the Burke-Gilman, from Fremont to Wallingford, actually. It's fairly sheltered and sometimes if not icy one can run too. And lots of people bike and run on it.

Plus, not having to worry about cars not seeing you is a big plus.

Bicycles; Share the road, share the rules of the road.

@11, Seatthole is my word of the day I think.

"butt hurt" is such a dumb shit phrase, and even more sad that I can identify the thread where you learned it and are now ripping it off from #3

The bike fatality in Portland is so like the one we had here in Seattle - chilling.

There occasionally is that one sunny day in winter when it is sub-freezing... the perfect time for a stroll or ride on the trail. Can't wait.

Even if northern Europe’s climate were better for bikers, climate is not destiny where cycling is concerned: The frigid Yukon is tied with temperate British Columbia for the highest cycling rate among Canadian provinces, and Alaskans bicycle two to five times as much as do residents of the balmy southern states that once formed the Confederacy, according to research by analysts John Pucher and Ralph Buehler (pdf).

Quote's from Sightline Institute.

"Bicycle Neglect" is an excellent series, if y'all haven't read it already.

One of the possible reasons Alaskans bike more than Lower 48-ers is that their trails have night lights. What a concept... Greg Nickels touts all over himself because he mandated that cruise liners plug into City Light's grid while they're in port (so they don't belch diesel fumes), but he can't find a way to make our bike trails fully usable for the commute home after work by lighting them up.

Norway and Finland have night lights on their trails for use in winter time too.