Ice cycles: the northerly world cities leading the winter bicycle revolution

Oulu in Finland and Winnipeg in Canada are two winter cities with remarkably different stories. Oulu is just like Winnipeg - except for the bike paths stretching for miles in every direction and the thousands of people riding bicycles in the snow - says Winter Bike to Work Day founder Anders Swanson

It happened for me three years ago in Turku: the moment I realised that cycling in the snow was going to become normal. I was winding my way up Finland, en route to the world's first ever Winter Cycling Congress, hosted by a city called Oulu some 400 miles north. It had been snowing non-stop for a week.

I thought I had already found somewhere quite special. Earlier that afternoon, I had watched what I believed to be an impressive number of people riding their bicycles on Turku's main shopping street in the falling snow. I remember thinking, as I ran around with my camera taking as many pictures as possible before sunset: "Oulu must be like this."