Originally Posted by
vilago
As to the snow thing, about how many days per year would you say the paths/lanes are completely blocked? Do they eventually get the snow out after a couple days or are you looking at complete and utter blockage for weeks on end until it eventually melts?
The cold is fine, just want to make sure i can still get where i need to go.
It's not the snow, that's cleared away in cities overnight unless it's a big storm, then maybe a few days. When it's not, we even have a few dedicated forum members who ride to work on fat bikes when their coworkers in cars stay home. But plowed streets can be icy. I only did a few winters at Purdue in really cold weather and I never got spike tires, but I had lots of options what to do at 7am and no full time job. Still, I had more than a few spills on ice when it was really cold. So if cold and snow is a regular problem you probably have a nearly-disposable old MTB with spike tires. The plowed and salted streets then quickly turned to nasty grimy slush, so fenders become a must. At Purdue the sidewalks were swept, but on your route to a suburban job they likely won't be, at least not as soon as the street, so you might be riding with the cars. Riding a bike from the dorm to the lecture hall is also a <1 mile proposition, body heat management does not really become a problem like it would on a 10 mile ride.
You can get groceries delivered, or order them and have them picked up by someone who does have a car. With three small kids and four pets in the burbs I have no idea how it would work to be car free, it would have to be in the city with this size family.