Have you ever wondered why there seems to be so many more cyclists on the roads than ever before? Inner London has seen a 144% rise in cyclists, but there’s more to cycling than just using it to get from one place to another; it can impact your life positively in so many ways, read on to find out why you should use a bike more often.
Save money
It can be hard to image waking up in the morning and instead of crawling sluggishly into your car to get to work, you bounce out of the door and straight onto your bike. Have you ever calculated how much money it costs to drive yourself to work each day of the week? Speaking generally here, if you live 5 miles away from work and ride there and back each day, allowing for holidays and based on a 48 week year it amounts up to 2400 miles. Imagine saving 2400 miles worth of petrol money and miles in one year; you could put it towards going on a road trip, and even attach your bike to your vehicle with a bike rack. And that is without taking into account the price of parking and possible congestion charges if you’re in London!
Keep fit and healthy
Cycling is a brilliant way to improve your fitness and unlike running it is not an impact based task meaning that it will not in any way have any lasting effects on your joints and you will be less likely to pick up an injury. Almost every muscle is used whilst cycling, leg muscles are used the most but abdomen and back muscles are hard at work also. Cycling will promote the beginning of a healthy and new lifestyle; of course the level of health entirely depends on you how far away you live from the destination you’re cycling to. If you’re simply driving to a location with a cycle carrier attached then again where you ride once you’re there is up to you, but alternating between high intensity and low can help to burn more calories. Cycling is a perfect way to improve your cardio-vascular system by working your heart and lungs, it doesn’t matter what level of fitness you are you can go at your own pace.
Improve the environment
Of course it isn’t possible to cycle everywhere, however cycling produces zero carbon pollution so for shorter journeys a bike can replace your car or a bus. Even the steps that are taken to manufacture a bike are still only a small fraction of the materials and energy required to build a car. The resources needed to make one car can make somewhere between 70 and 100 bikes! Driving a car is the highest polluting act that most people will ever commit; riding a bike to and from work each day can help reduce that drastically.
Save time
We’ve all been in the position of being stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home from work and wished we could jump the queue, on a bike you can continue to make your way down the cycle lane and car traffic is at a standstill. The amount of time spent in traffic and at the petrol station can often be eradicated, when on a bike you have a separate lane of traffic to avoid the congestion. Often there are even separate cycling paths which are off the road so you don’t even have to worry about traffic lights.
Promotes happiness
Cycling can have a huge influence on the way you feel, when you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. Cycling has also been found to increase energy, reduce fatigue and relieve stress.
Free to explore
When travelling to a neighbouring city or to the countryside for a get-away it is very easy to help the environment and have fun by travelling with your bike, cycle carriers are a great addition to any family trip and they allow each person to be free with exploring and seeing sights, many places are more easily accessible when travelling via bicycle and you get to appreciate your surroundings rather than being stuck inside a car without the ability to view the beauty of the world. Just because you’re on a bike it doesn’t mean that your picnic food, change of clothes or anything else can’t come with you as there are many bags designed to make your life easier when riding a bike like the Thule Pannier bag. Riding a bike does not mean that you limit yourself with regards of what to carry or where you are going there are many accessories like child seats and handlebar phone holders to make riding a bike just as comfortable as driving a car.
Whether you choose to cycle to work, to the shops or attach your bike to your car with a cycle carrier to carry with you on more journeys making a conscious effort to do so can positively impact your life in so many ways. Do not underestimate the power of riding a bike!