[nothrabannosir]

- pedaling makes you hot and sweaty; you arrive at the office being a mess

- when it rains you get super wet, much more than on a motorbike, because you have less protection and you don't carry special rain trousers with you at all times (whereas they're permanently stored on my motorbike)

- also, when it rains, if you cover yourself up to avoid the rain, you get even hotter and sweatier

I liked your point about people cheering for the cars, but those three are a bit disingenuous. I come from a country where "everyone" bikes "all the time". Perhaps we smell (I jest only slightly). But in the face of at least two countries where people cycle a lot, including for their commute, those three things somehow don't add up.

The distances: yes. The hills: yes, good point. It's not suitable for every journey. But sweat? Come on. And not just once, but three times.

It weakens the rest of your post, which is a shame because I think it's a good one.

P.S.: I'm not going to individually address the points to avoid turning this into some cycling pissing contest. Suffice to say: people cycle. It's real. Nothing inherently wrong with it. Correction: yes, inherent problems, but clearly nothing insurmountable.

EDIT: Can't reply to the guy below, just want to say you make a great point about showers! Showers at work are not just good for biking; also for running. And just for showering :P I'd love showers at my office.

[ptaipale]

Well, when it rains, there are two ways to get wet as you ride bike. You can choose: do not wear a rainjacket and let the rain make you wet. Wear a rainjacket and let the sweat make you wet.

Personally, I prefer the rainwater, and on the other hand I find it impossible to ride so slowly that I wouldn't get sweaty at all. So I wear lycra and carry change clothes in backbag; since I mostly commute to office which has good facilities for showers and dressing rooms, this works fine. It doesn't work if I have to go to a customer or some other meeting out of office, but then I take a car or taxi.

[bambax]

Sweat: maybe it's just me, I don't know, I didn't ask other people; maybe other people don't sweat as much, or maybe they don't mind. It's hard to tell, though, because I never meet people using bikes at my clients' offices.

And I don't see many people on bikes wearing suits; whereas in the subway there are many people with suits (i.e., "suits" aren't allergic to public transport).

A thing about Paris that I find is less true with other big cities is we're always in a hurry, and always late, because we always think we'll be able to make it. On a motorbike, this results in fines (and sometimes, accidents); on a bike, the ordinary outcome is arriving out of breath and, yes, sweaty (and late).

[toothbrush]

> I don't see many people on bikes wearing suits

Something tells me you haven't visited the Netherlands :)

[ptaipale]

> EDIT: Can't reply to the guy below

You just need to wait a little. The HN implementation apparently tries to slow down flamewars this deep in comment chains :)

Read something else for 15 minutes, then you can reply.