I really enjoy cycling, but there are external factors that can demotivate me, for sure.

In the winter, it’s road salt. Not so much that I have to clean my bike more often, but the stuff destroys components and steel frames, and you can never really clean it all off. And the amount of salt that my municipality dumps on paths ends being more hazardous than ice!

Other things that I’m not a fan of:

• having to worry about theft, and having to bring 6 lbs of locks every time I plan to stop at a store.
• poorly connected infrastructure or a lack of infrastructure; I have 10 options to go north and south, but almost none that run east/west. And my municipality lacks multiuse paths along major roads where the neighbouring three have them… this is aggravating beyond belief!
• poorly maintained infrastructure. I’ve opted for dangerous roads rather than some bike paths, just because those bike paths are so uncomfortable to ride on in their state.
• not having a place to park my bike at a destination; further annoyed by the fact that car parking lots are near empty at some stores.
• cars/large trucks + aggressive drivers. Some people drive like they are in a video game, and expect the consequences of their actions to be zero.
• Sweat can be annoying, but it really depends on the effort you’re putting out, more than the environment; an e-bike would solve this for 99% of people.
• headwind is fine; I see it as a way to get some extra training in. But winds of 40km/h + are downright awful.
• Not having the ability to legally make an Idaho Stop is something I hate, so I do them “illegally”. Forcing any cyclist to wait at an empty intersection for the light to change (sometimes 10+ minutes), only to further insult them by never having the light change unless a car is there, is discriminatory. Cycling can save time over driver, but only if car infrastructure doesn’t interfere.