Winter Cycling Developments in Two Cities of Northern Finland

It was not a serious accident; neither humans nor animals came to any harm. But this small everyday event revealed the complexity of an entire system and the problems that arise from the system itself. On my way home from the weekend cottage in western Lapland, I got stuck in the snow, and as a result, the road traffic was stopped for about 1.5 hours. I will discuss the situation and my own experience by using Ulrich Beck’s analysis of the causes of risks. The risk may realize, first, in a situation where an individual endangers the system. In this case, I decided to drive on a road that had layers of windswept snow, and the car got stuck in the middle of the road, stopping all road traffic. Second, the risk may materialize if any part of the system fails. In my case, this was exactly the case: the road maintenance was running late. And third, the risk may materialize because the system itself does not work and there is some kind of basic operating failure in the very setup. I started thinking about this possibility only after I had reached the shelter of my home. In this article, I will analyze the entire road traffic system using the idea of a socio-technical system: how institutions, including not only authorities and decision-makers but also laws, rules, decisions and contracts affected the situation. How material elements, including not only technology like the car but also natural conditions affected the situation. And finally, how humans as actors on the scene, and just as well away from it, contributed to the occurrence of the accident.The aim of this chapter is to examine winter cycling in an Arctic urban environment as an everyday mode of mobility. I will discuss developments and adaptations in winter cycling by using the criteria of winter bikeability and bicycle friendliness, which help cyclists to manage challenging winter conditions. The chapter compares winter cycling and its physical environment in two cities of northern Finland, Oulu and Rovaniemi, where an Arctic winter prevails for about six months of the year. The study shows that winter bikeability, defined as a comfortable and safe bicycle infrastructure for access to required destinations, is on an excellent level in Oulu, and heading in the right direction in Rovaniemi. Both cities should, however, do more to promote bicycle friendliness, which emphasizes socio-cultural aspects such as educational efforts, campaigns and events to encourage winter cycling for its health and environmental benefits. While winter cycling will in future be facilitated by longer snowless periods and shorter frost periods, increasingly variable weather will continue to challenge the maintenance of bicycle infrastructure and the safety of cyclists