It's not just a seasonal sport. It's not about fitness. You can bike every day of the year in every place. Bikes are a transport mode to get from point A to point B.
Many cities pretend to support bicycling but really they're just trying to make the bike advocates be quiet: "We really wish we could but it's just too hard we just don't really want to". Few things do more to cement the perception of bicycling as solely a recreational hobby than prioritizing a parking spot or other driver amenity over safe bicycle facilities.
One of these things is the routine failure to clear bike lanes of snow. These same cities have always refused to clear walkways, instead "requiring" that abutting property owners clear snow and but declining to enforce this "requirement".
Grimlocke reminds us how Boston and surrounding cities only pretend to make biking safe.
Maybe some of the money going to cycling infrastructure should be funneled into clearing out our bike lanes during the winter months, rather than putting in new bike lanes that will only be available to us during the summer. It’s sad to know that this is a reflection of just how important cyclist safety is to the powers that be.
There can be no excuses. If there is too much snow, pick one of the thousands of lightly used car lanes to pile it in. Don't put it in one of the few and well used bike lanes.