One has to see who it is that says 'bicycles have no business on the road in the winter,' because it isn't cyclists. The editorialist in the story claims he is a recreational cyclist. Fair enough, maybe he is, but what does that mean? He owns a bike and rides only in ideal circumstances? He rides in parks with his kids? He is too afraid and intimidated of traffic to commute? He is inexperienced? Such a qualifier does not make him qualified to offer a balanced, unbiased view. In fact, he was stating he is primarily a motorist.
The fact is, cyclists don't kill themselves in winter: they get killed by motorists who invariably failed to allow adequate space, attempted to pass too closely and/or failed to handle their vehicle properly considering the traffic and road condtions. Most motorists have the false, distorted and misguided opinion that cyclists will fall because they are on two skinny wheels on ice and snow. However, most cyclists don't, but even if they did; if the motorist is allowing for extra space as he should afford any vehicle in bad weather, he should be able to stop in time. Whenever I have heard a motorist claim cyclists fall and get run over by a car, I ask for examples wherein many will lie and claim they witnessed one of these phantom events. They forget that Toronto keeps very detailed stats on such incidents and there are few, if any, instances of cyclists falling and being struck or run over by a car. So, such events remain solely in the motorists imagination. Even if such things occured, it would be no different than a car stopping suddenly ahead of another car and if the car following struck it, the driver was not affording a safe margin of space and is at fault. I know, I know...what good is it to be right but dead. Yet the facts are, it is rare that a cyclist falls in inclement weather and even rarer to be run over after a fall. The editorialist needs to say what he really means and that is that he and the people who agree with him (motorists all) really don't like driving in bad weather, are aware they are a danger because of longer braking times and inability to maneuver and that they really don't like having to slow down or wait to pass a cyclist, so they prefer to take risks and would really rather not have the cyclist...ahem...force them to take such risks. When an editorialist or letter writer proclaims such nonsense, they merely reveal themselves as fools and hypocrites who refuse to take responsibility for their own failings as motorists and as decent human beings and refuse to grant others basic common courtesy, safety and their rights. If anything, it is cars that have no place on the road in bad weather.