10 reasons why you should ride a bike
Most of us learnt to ride our bikes as kids. Maybe you carried it on into your adult life, or maybe you stopped riding the minute you got your driving license.
Do you remember your first bike, and all those long summer days spent out riding and playing totally care-free. Riding a bike brings back those childhood memories for me. It was the first time I had freedom. I could get on my Raleigh Burner and ride down the street. As a child it felt a million miles from home, in reality it wasn’t, but it didn’t matter. Here I was racing friends down the street, seeing who could ride the furthest with no hands, who could pull the longest wheelie. It was awesome.
“One of the most important days of my life was when I learned to ride a bike.”
Now I ride as an escape, to de-stress from the work-life, and to be out in nature. I ride for the adventure and exploration. I ride for the joy of finding new trails, quiet country lanes and areas of natural beauty. I ride simply because I love it.
You don’t need a reason to ride a bike, but if you’re not convinced of the benefits of cycling here’s 10 reasons.
The health benefits
Cycling helps reduce the risk of serious illnesses like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as improving the symptoms of some mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. This is all alongside the obvious improvements in fitness and weight loss. In fact some studies even suggest that cycling on a regular basis can help you live longer.
Vitamin D
It should come as no surprise that a lack of sunlight has a major impact on your Vitamin D levels. This is more of an issue during the long, cold winter nights, but not getting enough sunlight can and will have a negative effect on your mood. More of a concern should be that a lack of Vitamin D has been linked to heart disease and cancer. What better reason do you need to go for a ride?
Maybe…..
It’s good for your sex life
Physical health and mental wellbeing all have an effect on sexual function, so, if as a cyclist you are fitter and happier, then you may well have a better sex life.
It’s been shown in studies that male cyclists have the sexual prowess of men two to five years younger than themselves, and that it may delay the female menopause by a similar amount of time. But more importantly for us ageing men, research carried out at Harvard University found that men over 50, who cycled for at least 3 hours a week, had a 30% lower risk of impotence than those who do very little exercise. It’s a win-win.
Spending time with your family
Cycling is something everyone can do, from a toddler to a grandparent. The little one can go in a bike trailer, or ride shotgun, whilst everyone else can pedal away on that family adventure. More importantly though your riding habit could have a massive affect on your children. Children are influenced by the behaviours of their parents, so if you ride on a regular basis they will think it’s normal and want to follow your example, and if they enjoy riding as a youngster they will more likely be healthier and more active in their future.
Get to know the place you live
By riding a bike you have so much more time to take in your local surroundings, even more so as the majority of our green and pleasant land isn’t really accessible by car. Most people never truly realise how much great riding there potentially is so close to home, maybe you will find a trail you never knew existed, a quiet lane of natural beauty, or even a cafe that sells the best coffee and cake. Who knows, if you explore the area you live on a bike maybe you will learn to appreciate your local community more.
Make friends
Riding a bike puts you in a great mood, and if you’re like me you may ride a lot on your own, but at some point you will more than likely come across another cyclist rolling along, happy in their own world just as you are. Just remember to be nice and say hello, if you don’t do it first the other cyclist will probably make the first move as it’s a natural human response to greet another person and pass the time of day. Most cyclists do it. We have a shared passion after all, whether it’s riding along country lanes, hurtling down a steep trail or tackling a steep road climb, we love it and love to share our adventures with others.
“Anyone who rides a bike is a friend of mine.”
Travel far and wide
Ride a bike and you will see and experience so much more than you do by car. Travelling under your own steam is also far more satisfying than relying on an engine to get you there. You’ll see all the little details that make up the real world as you become immersed in your surroundings, rather than travelling through it at warp speed and missing it all.
If you take your time and build up your fitness you can cycle some seriously long distances. All you need is the time, a map and the right bike for the terrain you are riding on.
Save money
Cycling is not a particularly cheap hobby. Some bikes can be so expensive that you could buy a car for a fraction of the price. But you don’t need an expensive bike, as long as your bike is road-worthy, or trail ready, you are good to go, and what you save by investing in a bike could work wonders for future investments. Let’s say you commute to work on a bike. Think of all the money you will save on bus fares, taxis, trains, parking, petrol, and car servicing. You may even find that you save time as well, especially if your journeys are short or through busy city centres, if this is the case a bike will be significantly quicker.
Money is not the only thing you will be saving…..
Save the planet
Cycling is not only good for you it’s also really good for the planet. The environmental impact of cars and other vehicles is huge when compared to the production of bikes, even more so when you consider all the pollutants that get thrown in the air that can affect the climate. It also takes around 5% of the materials and energy used to make a car to build a bike, and a bike produces zero pollution.
Some people simply can’t manage without some sort of vehicle, whether it’s for the commute to work, or for work, but if we all do our bit and limit our usage it will go a long way to helping save the planet for future generations.
Helping others
Many cyclists turn their love of riding a bike into fundraising efforts for the less fortunate. Whether it’s London to Brighton, London to Paris, John ‘O’ Groats to Lands End or Coast to Coast, there are plenty of epic challenges to be tackled by bike, and plenty of worthy causes.
There are so many reasons why we should all ride bikes and make them part of our lives. Whether it’s to boost our fitness, improve our health and bank balance, although this is debatable, or even an environmental choice, riding a bike simply works wonders for the mind, body and soul.
There really is nothing quite like riding a bike to bring a smile to your face.
“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.”