I ran an earlier story (Dec. 2nd, 2005. 'The bicycle in Japan'), in part about the practicality of riding your bike in the flat, car crowded cities. Well, on a recent trip to the city of Hakodate, in Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, I discovered a climate where it is certainly impractical to ride. Sure, for three seasons of the year it would be great. Cool in summer, practical in late Spring, and good exercise in Autumn. But in winter, forget it!
The snow was half a meter deep, and this was early in the season, with Hakodate having just suffered its first falls for winter. There was evidence of the existence of bicycles, and the old-fashioned kind that I see all over Japan, but as you can see in these photos, most of them were parked, collecting snow, and looking like they were doomed to be in a semi-buried, frozen state for at least the next four months.
I guess even the hardy souls who live in Hakodate's semi-arctic climate have not figured out how to push one of these things through the snow, let alone staying on when the skinny tires find their way onto a patch of black ice. Out with the 'wellies', and get fit hoofing it about Hakodate for the winter!
RK
