But flat terrain tends to have stronger winds, and non-cyclists often underestimate how big a difference that makes. Power needed to overcome wind resistance increases with the cube of the velocity[0], so you really feel the headwinds.
The Danish city of Århus is extremely hilly and has a very high cycling rate.
I cycled through it during rush hour one day. It was very humbling to be passed uphill by ladies cycling in leopard print mini-skirts and heels. Granted I was overweight, had 80 pounds of camping gear on my bike and was pacing for an 8 hour day, but...
I wish ebikes were better at regenerative braking, that would help smooth the worst hills outs, just a little extra help getting up to recharge on the way down, but the inertia to drag ratio is not conducive to such things.
I think many US cities could do a lot better, mostly by limiting cars in certain areas. Already it is common to see bike rental stations near the parking areas near many city centers. It is just that the cars are still there too, and there isn't always a safe way to cross some areas even in the center.
Outside of city centers it is a combination of sparsity and impossible to cross highway exchanges. Even in century old urban neighborhoods it is single family dwellings with yards andboicket fences. Not hard to ride in as long as you know any car door may fly open at any time. But the sparsity means you are probably riding a long way to find groceries. The highway exchanges have no side street alternatives and they slice up cities so that if you want to cross from one section to another, you are going to have to take your bicycle onto a road with no shoulders and high speed limits.
Lastly, I have ridden to get groceries in the Netherlands, it was quite pleasant. Even in winter when it isn't fun, you can bumdle up and ride to work. I apoke with people who did. Riding to work (or shoo) when the temp varies from -10C to well over 40C presents additional challenges. Apart from the Pacific Northwest, the US climate isn't anywhere close to as pleasant year round as the Netherlands. Some parts of California are nice enough I guess.
> I wish ebikes were better at regenerative braking, that would help smooth the worst hills outs, just a little extra help getting up to recharge on the way down, but the inertia to drag ratio is not conducive to such things.
Flywheels perhaps? Though it'd add weight to the bike…
Its a myth that riding up is harder than cycling on the flat. Pushing 150 watts takes the same effort no matter the incline. The lower speed climbing relative to the same power on the flats just make people push harder to keep up speed. It is very much possible to ride up while being comfortable.
Yesterday was our weekly office day, and I've got a 45 minute bike commute back home across the city. My thumbs were already frozen after 5 minutes. I would have taken my bike into the metro but that's not allowed during rush hour.
So I just suffered through the freezing rain and got home fine to a cup of hot chocolate and a change of clothes. It's actually fine once you're through it. It just sucks when you still have more than half an hour of freezing rain to look forward to. In fact, it's mostly those first 15 minutes that were the worst. After that, you get used to it, you adapt, and just continue through until you're home.
20cm of snow in Stockholm, hills everywhere and I still see quite a bunch of people biking. Even where I'm right now some 15km away from the city centre.
Less in the cities. They are mostly used in the biking highways between the cities. In the cities they are actually pretty dangerous and budget e-bikes like VanMoofs (with their annoying alarms) and Cowboys are frowned upon.
A good fraction of bikes i see in cities are powered. 52% of new bikes sold in the Netherlands have electric assist so even if they aren't the majority now they will be in a few years.
I think the whole "Van moof" backlash is a thing that only exists in Amsterdam and opinion pieces of certain newspapers that have run out of things to write about.
I don't see the same. And also have a biased opinion on the excessive amount of public space it takes in a crowded city. A speeding bike needs much more room to break for instance. And notifying the entire neighborhood about at VanMoof being slightly touched with an alarm is also improper use of public space.
E-bike != speeding bike. Or it shouldn't, at least. I don't have an e-bike but definitely wouldn't push it for exactly the reason you mentioned, I ride bikes to support my health not to get sooner to the hospital.
It gets plenty wet and plenty cold in Amsterdam. In fact, most days of the year there's a decent-or-better chance of rain. So, what we would do (I'm no longer in town) is:
1. Take thin "rain ponchos" for riding
2. Check out cloud radar website, like buienradar.nl , to decide when / via what route to bike
Also, there is absolutely no problem for the Dutch to bike at temperatures below the freezing point, in the height of winter (even though, granted, it isn't that far below zero centigrade). The bike paths are cleared of snow and things work just fine.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_(physics)#Power