It was a shower thought for me this morning, after having seen all these record temperatures being broken around the world.
But, if it gets too hot to cycle, then people won’t. And if they aren’t cycling, they may start driving again, which compounds climate change even further.
Does this worry anyone else?
I bought an ebike a couple of years ago and find that while it may have a somewhat higher carbon footprint, things like heat and air quality have been less of an issue and I commute most days on it now. This is not just because you can switch to an all-electric ride and enjoy the breeze without the workout. In my experience, it also encourages you to seek out parks and trails which may be hillier or add a bit of distance, but are often cooler due to more shade, proximity to water, and less asphalt everywhere.
There are some steps you can take to stay cool on any bike though. There are all sorts of neck and wrist coolers on the market, but even tying a wet towel around your neck can make a huge difference. I am prone to heat exhaustion and this has saved me even when just walking around. But on a bike where you have a breeze to boost the cooling effect of having something wet on your body, it works really well.
Great points! I also ride e-scooters, so I understand how there’s a cooling effect of not having to pedal throughout the entire ride (or with minimal effort).
Yeah there are so many options now, and it’s encouraging to see people even in the car-centric suburbia where I live starting to ride ebikes, escooters, etc.
I prefer this vision of the future over one in which everybody just switches to electric cars. If nothing else, I fear this will trigger a global battery shortage. But I made a calculation based on the specs of my ebike battery. A single Tesla could power around 150 ebikes!