Bikes work in some cities, and I'm a big fan of bikes in general. Especially in the US, it would benefit a lot of people to get a bit of daily exercise. Howeve

Bikes work in some cities, and I'm a big fan of bikes in general. Especially in the US, it would benefit a lot of people to get a bit of daily exercise. However, I can't imagine riding a bike to work on where I live. First, it's too dangerous. The modern age of cell phones is very different that the days when I grew up when parents allowed kids to ride their bikes in the street to school every day. Distracted drivers now seem to mow down bicyclists regularly. Furthermore, the cities I've lived in have weather too extreme to ride in: Buffalo -- on average it snows during 6 months of the year, around 90+ inches/year (242cm/year). Boston -- very cold four months of the year. I recall 30 consecutive days with a high below freezing. It also has high winter wind speeds (some days as high as 14mph (23km/hr) in December) and rainfall. Dallas -- averages 97 days per year with a high over 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius) Houston -- averages 99 days per year with a high over 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius) and very humid. Its also 637.4 square miles (1,651 km^2) in size making it very likely that one will have a long sweaty commute. Austin -- averages 108 days per year with a high over 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius) Detroit -- one block from home I was beaten off of my bike by an organized gang of bicycle thieves that took my bike and were never caught. The weather isn't concussive to bike riding either. There are cities in the US that have better weather. I enjoyed walking to school the year I lived in Marin County in California.