> I'd regularly get comments from Germans that I was crazy to cycle that distance through all weather.

It is a bit unusual outside of the Netherlands and Denmark.

I tried to cycle to work 8km or so and it was fine until I had to cross a slope. And since this slope was etched by the nearby river, it went through the whole city, so there wasn't any way around it.

Took all the fun out of it honestly, especially during heatwaves.