Cycling: What's in it for you?

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified the positive impact of making cities more bike-friendly: “integrating health-enhancing choices into transportation policy has the potential to save lives by preventing chronic diseases, reducing and preventing motor-vehicle-related injury and deaths, improving environmental health, while stimulating economic development, and ensuring access for all people.” The CDC also recognized that a lack of efficient transportation alternatives to driving and a fear  of biking in heavy traffic only encouraged people to continue to drive all or most of the time.

She claims that with safe bike routes that encouraged people to ride, "billions of health care dollars saved." Karin pointed to a pair of studies to back up her position, and indeed they do. In Thomas Gotschi's 2011 study, Costs and Benefits of Bicycling Investments in Portland, Oregon, published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health , he writes:

"By 2040, investments in the range of $138 to $605 million will result in health care cost savings of $388 to  $594 million, fuel savings of $143 to $218 million, and savings in value of statistical lives of $7 to $12 billion.
 
The benefit-cost ratios for health care and fuel savings are between 3.8 and 1.2 to 1, and an order of magnitude larger when value of statistical lives is used. 

Conclusions: This first of its kind cost-benefit analysis of investments in bicycling in a US city shows that such efforts are cost-effective, even when only a limited selection of benefits is considered."

These are pretty impressive numbers. However, they won't be reported, or promoted in our lame-stream media,  political debates or anything else that might upset the corporate lobbing effort on behalf of junk food, and our  sedentary lifestyle. It's why we lead the world in obesity, and rank (25th) just slightly above Solvenia in health  care, but pay more for it than the top five other countries combined.

More cycling is good news for the environment and your local community. But the biggest benefit is for you as an individual.

Increasing Fitness
Your strength, stamina, aerobic fitness and general muscle function will all be improved. Cycling is a low impact  activity and one of the safest ways to exercise without risk of over-exertion or strain to muscles and joints. Regular physical activity also facilitates other healthy behaviour and could help you reduce weight or even give up smoking.

Lowering Risk of Heart Attack
Your heart muscles are strengthened, resting pulse is lowered and blood fat levels reduced. People taking regular physical activity suffer far less heart disease than people who don't!

Shedding Excess Weight
By burning body fat and raising your metabolic rate you can lose weight. If you undertake physical activity regularly you can enjoy a more varied diet without increasing body weight. Cycling is one of the more comfortable forms of physical activity for those who are new to exercise, allowing most people to get fit easily and safely without undue physical strain.

Reducing Stress
Anxiety, stress and depression are all alleviated, partly due to the physical activity itself, but also due to the pleasure and satisfaction of riding a bike. Cycling is convenient for short journeys, and often faster across town than other forms of transport. It's a stress free means of taking physical activity because it can form part of a daily routine. So there's no need to worry about fitting your new healthy lifestyle into an already overcrowded schedule.

So come and ride with us - you'll feel better for it!

Walkable, bikeable neighborhoods are one of the simplest and best solutions for the environment, our health and our economy." A 135-pound woman pedaling 12 to 14 miles an hour burns 488 calories in 60 minutes.