Originally Posted by
Giant Doofus
This doesn't work everywhere. October through April, I can get away with wearing work clothes for my 6 mile (12 r/t) commute. But I live in the south, so May through September there is no pace at which I could ride and manage to arrive at work looking anywhere near professional.
+1
Right now I can't even
stand outside in the shade for longer than 5 minutes without sweating profusely. Combine that with the hills and humidity and it's obvious that comparing commuters in Europe or some fantasy utopia to real world conditions in other parts of the world is a fool's errand. Telling someone they're not choosing to engage in an activity because it's difficult to do so while maintaining an acceptable level of professionalism is reductive and prevents an equitable solution from ever being reached.
- Riding a bicycle, properly upright, at a moderate pace will keep you cooler than walking. This based on experience in B'ham, Nashville, Atlanta, London, St Paul, and Naples. On hot humid days you'll get just as sweaty walking across a parking lot as riding 5 miles at a moderate pace.
Not everyone has the same physiology nor rides the same terrain. You're forgetting the elevation factor. 5 miles with 0 elevation is super easy, which is why Euro-centric arguments always crop up. 5 miles and 250+ feet of elevation is a different story. No way anyone is doing that at any pace without getting soaked on a regular spring/summer day in the southern US.
It's the difference between "riding" and "coasting." If you can mostly coast to work and pedal sparingly things are much easier.