These were examples of what people can do when they set their minds to it.
Of course people won't be commuting to work across hundreds of miles of desert or mountains or tundra. They don't do that in cars either.
There are, however, fairly basic ways of making normal people commutes more bearable on a bicycle: dedicated paths shaded by a tree row, evenly-spaced water fountains, hedge rows for wind-blown snow blocking, reliable snow clearing, perhaps escalator-like systems for climbing up hills along highly popular routes.
Of course people won't be commuting to work across hundreds of miles of desert or mountains or tundra. They don't do that in cars either.
There are, however, fairly basic ways of making normal people commutes more bearable on a bicycle: dedicated paths shaded by a tree row, evenly-spaced water fountains, hedge rows for wind-blown snow blocking, reliable snow clearing, perhaps escalator-like systems for climbing up hills along highly popular routes.