It takes 5 years here. It's shortened to 3 if you're in a serious relationship with a Swede, and I'm told it can be much faster if you're really good at soccer.

If you toured in the summer then my hat is off to you. For most people, the heat and humidity seem a bit too much. I remember having to wait until after 10pm for the temp to go down to the low 90s to go play tennis with my friend. Most people I talked to find it's easier to take off some clothes in cooler climate when exercise. Hence my retort to previous poster.

I'd also like to point out that Southerners may have to deal with heat and humidity for, roughly, 3 months of the year. People in the upper midwest (Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin) and, to a lesser extent, the west have to deal with cold and snow from 6 to 9 months out of the year. The 9 months out of the year that we are dealing with cold weather, your weather is rather mild and conducive to bicycle commuting. But the rate of bicycle commuting is far greater in the areas of cold and snow than in your milder climate. If you read the report, the rate of cycling in western and midwestern cities varies from 1 to 6% while commuting by bicycle in southern cities is basically nonexistant. Trust me, dealing with cold is far more difficult than dealing with heat.

I thought there were age limits - like you can't do it if you're over 30.

Not at all.

Danish system is the easiest. No job is required for a residence permit if you have a BS.

Swedish system is quite easy also, if you have a PhD.

That would my goal if I was younger. But I'm too old to move now.

Used to just be Bob commuting by bike. Now Bob and Mike do it!

Not sure I agree. I've lived all over and in numerous extremes. You can dress for the cold, you cannot avoid heat and humidity. I find it easier to ride in 0f in MN than 105f/95% in AL. That said, I won't ride more than about a mile if it's below -10 or -15f.

I agree though that southern states have many more mild days per year than northern states.

Either way, most states should be able to do 15-20% modal share bicycling if they develop better Dutch style facilities.

cue the banjos!

I am going to school to get an advanced degree in physics, but I'm also turning 30 this year. Do you know how the Norwegian system is? In my reading that one seems like the best cultural fit. Lots of outdoors stuff, etc.

Initially I thought it seemed like more than 60% increase - and looking at the ACS report, of course I was right! Most of the commuters and most of the increases occurred in denser populations, so a cyclist in or near a larger city is likely to see more than 100% increase, or 4-500% in some cases.

Apparently they counted 1,320 bicycle commuters in Atlanta (area). A tiny number considering a population of over five million in the urban area. No wonder I see a handful on the Greenway but never a one on the roads.

I'm always intrigued by the demographic dichotomies of cycling. The highest commuting rate by race were multi-racial or race not tracked by the Census (.8%). People with graduate or professional degrees had a .9%, yet people who did not finish high school were at .7%. Both higher rates than the national average. From the two ends of the spectrum, distant reasons but the same solution.

Ratio of unemployed went up with fuel costs... the wages fell and so bikes are an economic requirement as the old folks retired

and the Bosses imposed 2 tier rate for new hires is low.

Year round bike commuters are a rare breed. Anyone who thinks the average person is going to ride a bike in a snowstorm is more delusional than the person riding the bike. I'd be surprised if any urban area in the US had more than 1% "real" bike commuters, meaning (at least to me) people who ride to work 4-5 times a week on average all year. People for whom their bike is the primary mode of transportation for getting to work.

Speaking personally, there are no other every-day all year commuters on the same route during my commuting times. But Georgia is near the bottom of the list in bike commuting. In places like Portland or Minneapolis with 6.1% and 4.5% respectively, it wouldn't surprise me if at least 1% were every day commuters.

You'd be surprised at the numbers from cities with most snow. Madison, Minneapolis, Denver, Salt Lake City (I didn't know that one had so much snow!) have high bicycle modal share. I'm getting all this from League of American Bicyclists report by the way.

Expensive as hell! I live in Sweden, and I've been to Denmark a bunch of times, and both seem to be very outdoor/nature oriented. They seem to make a big point of soaking up as much sun as they can when they get it. They'll sit outside on a cold, sunny day eating ice cream or drinking cold beer.

For what it's worth, I was 31 when I moved here. An advanced technical degree is helpful for finding employment (as it is everywhere). More important for me was actually the industrial experience that I had in my industry. As it was, my employer had to convince the government that there was nobody in Sweden that could do my job, and then that there was nobody within the European Union that could do it either. Suffice to say, the process was lengthy even after I accepted my job offer.

Most foreigners I know either came here as refugees or because of a girl...

Actually, a PhD is an automatic residence permit, without the needs-based requirement in Sweden. FWIW, I don't find Sweden that expensive. Just cut back and it's OK. Stockholm/Copenhagen aren't so bad if you live within your means.

The easiest country to understand if you'd gain residence within is Denmark. Once you have a Danish visa, it's good for all of Schengen.

Just take the test here:

New to Denmark - The Greencard scheme

They're quite open about it. I lived with my gf for 18 months in Germany (registered at the same address) ... so I got an automatic co-habitating partner residence permit.

Ahem. I find riding in snowstorms to be pretty and exhilarating. The more intense the better. Only times i do not ride or try to avoid riding is thunderstorms, because that's just dangerous being on a metal object out in the open.

And as for dressing for weather...... You can only strip down so much in the heat. In reality when it gets dangerous hot (100+) you need light and very breathable fabric clothing and LOTS of water, and a very intense cool-down procedure after riding, and preferably cooling rest stops as well.

In the sub freezing cold all you really need are two things, a warmth layer and a wind blocking layer. The wind blocking is very important for neck, elbows, and hands, and the warmth is very important for torso and parts of the head.

- Andy

I've been part of that 1% group for almost 7 years now and damn proud of it...

Tell that to folks in Amsterdam (or anywhere in The Netherlands), Copenhagen, Stockholm, Munich, Helsinki, Berlin, or most of Sweden, Finland, Germany, or Denmark. For North America there's Montreal, Edmonton and Minneapolis. Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges in NYC still have a steady stream of folks during snowstorms and cold weather.

And for Asia, there are Japan and China, at the very least.

I was talking about this with a guy at work. I said that there's always a chance you might fall in front of a car, and the car can't stop. But once you get over your fear of a painful death, it's actually great fun. He said he'll just take my word for it.

I don't think there is such thing as snowstorm in Amsterdam. I remember one time about an inch of snow fell and Schiphol airport was shutdown for almost the entire day. I spent about 8 hr in the plane on the taxiway. The passengers were furious.

I'd guess the problem was wind, not snow.

Well, there's snow then there's ice. If it's icy out the only real option is to ride in the middle of the lane so no one tries to pass you, reducing the risk of being hit. You also need to have proper tires for riding in icy conditions. Slicks are no good, you need at least a somewhat raised tread to have gripping edges. If the road is cleared, you gotta be wary of those weird lil parts where the shoulder vanishes under a mound of icy snow, or parts where the plow trucks missed & get compacted down. It can be tricky, but proper tires will usually track reliably over all of this..

- Andy

My biggest problem is tire tracks. I can plow through fresh snow, but moving in and out of deep tracks gives me a bit of a problem.