- University: Cycling weather in Hanseatic much better than its reputation
The stereotype that the weather in Hamburg is often too bad for cycling is not true at all. Researchers at the University of Hamburg found this out by analyzing weather data from over 100 stations during one summer season and combining it with 10,000 simulated bike rides in Hamburg. In bad weather conditions, such as rain, heat, or storms, the traffic lights should turn yellow or red, said study author Amelie Schmitt from the Meteorological Institute. However, this happened surprisingly rarely: the traffic light showed green for two-thirds of the trips.
Temperature is the biggest obstacle for cyclists
"Unlike I thought, rain is not the main problem in Hamburg. Only about five to ten percent of the time did we have a traffic light turning yellow or red due to rain, storm, or wind." Instead, the main risk for bad cycling weather is temperature - cold conditions in winter and heat in summer. In almost 33 percent of all cases, it was either too hot or too cold to cycle, and the weather traffic light turned yellow (26.3 percent) or even red (6.3 percent).
This means that around the year, the weather in the Hanseatic city is suitable for cycling 90 percent of the time: because out of all measured weather risks, the traffic light only showed red in almost ten percent of all cases. "So the weather here is far from as bad as its reputation," said study leader Felix Ament, who co-authored the study with Schmitt.
Flexibility reduces rain risk
The weather experts also bring more good news: "We found that you can halve the risk of getting soaked during your ride if you're flexible by about an hour," says Schmitt.
The study's results could be used by the authors to develop new apps that help users better adapt their planned bike rides to the weather in the future.
Despite commonly believed stereotypes, rain only led to traffic light changes about five to ten percent of the time during the summer season in Hamburg. Instead, extreme temperatures, either too hot or too cold, pose a significant challenge to cyclists, causing the traffic light to turn yellow or red in nearly one-third of cases.
