Winter riding on the rise, says Calgary-based cold-weather cycling veteran
Kim Kelln earned his veteran status, the CBC reported, by riding the streets of the Alberta city year-round for more than 10 years.
Calgary is one of those cities in Canada that has seen an uptick in winter cycling, a phenomenon that even This Hour Has 22 Minutes recently noticed with a rather cheeky, playful send-up of those who spend the coldest months on two wheels.
On the more serious end of the spectrum, though, a Calgary rider—described by the CBC as a winter cycling veteran—is making a documentary about the experience.
Kim Kelln earned his veteran status, the CBC reported, by riding the streets of the Alberta city year-round for more than 10 years, so he’s keenly aware of what’s needed to get through winter. Having done so in one of Canada’s colder cities, riding comfortably through the winter, he says, is as simple as being prepared. “Put on layers, make sure you are warm, but not too warm because you are going to heat up as you get going,” he told reporters.
“You dress for the weather and it’s fine,” he explained—something winter riders across the country know very well.
From his vantage point riding through the snow, slush and searingly cold headwinds of winter, Kelln also notes that he’s increasingly not alone in such a hardy pursuit. Between today and a decade ago, the streets have swollen with an increasing number of cyclists doing the same. “There was hardly anyone cycling in the winter 10 years ago that I saw on my route, anyways,” he said. Over the last four or five years, he said, he’s seen a “great uptick.”
His chosen gear? Kelln prefers to use studded tires to make his winter riding a little easier. He also says that, overall, the response of motorists to the sight of riders like himself on the streets of winter is a positive one. Those who seem to have a problem with he and his kind, he said, have the same attitude no matter what the season.
“In general,” he said, “I am finding that there is a vocal minority [of motorists] that really object to cyclists being on the road period, regardless of the time of year. Most people are very courteous; they will give you the room.”
Kelln’s documentary, the CBC reported, will be ready in September.
