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30 great benefits of cycling
Riding bikes boosts your brainpower, relationships, health and happiness
1 / 9
There are many advantages of cycling, including improving your health and happiness
(Peathegee Inc / Getty)
Whether it's to boost your fitness, health or bank balance, or as an environmental choice, taking up bicycle riding could be one of the best decisions you ever make.
Not convinced? Here are 30 reasons to ride a bike, spread across improving your health, happiness and relationships.
The benefits of cycling
1. You’ll get there faster
Commute by bike in the UK’s major cities and you’ll get there in half the time of cars, research by Citroen shows.
In fact, if you drive for an hour in Cardiff’s rush hour, you’ll spend over 30 minutes going absolutely nowhere and average just 7mph, compared to averaging around 12-15mph while cycling.
And even in bike-friendly or less congested cities outside of the UK, you'll still generally get around the city centres faster on a bike.
2. You'll sleep more deeply
An early morning ride might tire you out in the short term, but it’ll help you catch some quality shut-eye when you get back to your pillow.
Stanford University School of Medicine researchers asked sedentary insomnia sufferers to cycle for 20-30 minutes every other day. The result? The time required for the insomniacs to fall asleep was reduced by half, and sleep time increased by almost an hour.
Riding will help you sleep more deeply
“Exercising outside exposes you to daylight,” explains Professor Jim Horne from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre. “This helps get your circadian rhythm back in sync, and also rids your body of cortisol, the stress hormone that can prevent deep, regenerative sleep.”
3. You'll look younger
Scientists at Stanford University have found that cycling regularly can protect your skin against the harmful effects of UV radiation and reduce the signs of ageing.
Harley Street dermatologist Dr Christopher Rowland Payne explains: “Increased circulation through exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to skin cells more effectively, while flushing harmful toxins out. Exercise also creates an ideal environment within the body to optimise collagen production, helping reduce the appearance of wrinkles and speed up the healing process.”
Don’t forget to slap on the factor 30 before you head out, though.
4. Boost your bowels
According to experts from Bristol University, the benefits of cycling extend deep into your core.
“Physical activity helps decrease the time it takes food to move through the large intestine, limiting the amount of water absorbed back into your body and leaving you with softer stools, which are easier to pass,” explains Harley Street gastroenterologist Dr Ana Raimundo.
In addition, aerobic exercise accelerates your breathing and heart rate, which helps to stimulate the contraction of intestinal muscles. “As well as preventing you from feeling bloated, this helps protect you against bowel cancer,” Dr Raimundo says.
5. Increase your brain power
Need your grey matter to sparkle? Then get pedalling. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that a five percent improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness from cycling led to an improvement of up to 15 percent in mental tests. That’s because cycling helps build new brain cells in the hippocampus — the region responsible for memory, which deteriorates from the age of 30.
“It boosts blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which fires and regenerates receptors, explaining how exercise helps ward off Alzheimer’s,” says the study’s author, Professor Arthur Kramer.
6. Beat illness
Is cycling good for you? Yes! Forget apples, riding’s the way to keep the doctor at bay. “Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active, so they’re ready to fight off infection,” says Cath Collins, chief dietician at St George’s Hospital in London.
Cycling regularly is a surefire way to keep illness at bay
In fact, according to research from the University of North Carolina, people who cycle for 30 minutes, five days a week take about half as many sick days as couch potatoes.
7. Live longer
King’s College London compared over 2,400 identical twins and found those who did the equivalent of just three 45-minute rides a week were nine years ‘biologically younger’ even after discounting other influences, such as body mass index (BMI) and smoking.
“Those who exercise regularly are at significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, all types of cancer, high blood pressure and obesity,” says Dr Lynn Cherkas, who conducted the research. “The body becomes much more efficient at defending itself and regenerating new cells.”
8. Save the planet
Twenty bicycles can be parked in the same space as one car. It takes around five percent of the materials and energy used to make a car to build a bike, and a bike produces zero pollution.
Bikes are efficient, too — you travel around three times as fast as walking for the same amount of energy and, taking into account the ‘fuel’ you put in your ‘engine’, you do the equivalent of 2,924 miles to the gallon.
You have your weight ratio to thank: you’re about six times heavier than your bike, but a car is 20 times heavier than you.
9. Cycling improves your sex life
Being more physically active improves your vascular health, which has the knock-on effect of boosting your sex drive, according to health experts in the US. One study from Cornell University also concluded that male athletes have the sexual prowess of men two to five years younger, with physically fit females delaying the menopause by a similar amount of time.
Meanwhile, research carried out at Harvard University found that men aged over 50 who cycle for at least three hours a week have a 30 percent lower risk of impotence than those who do little exercise.
10. It’s good breeding
A ‘bun in the oven’ could benefit from your riding as much as you. According to research from Michigan University in the US, mums-to-be who regularly exercise during pregnancy have an easier, less complicated labour, recover faster and enjoy better overall mood throughout the nine months.
Your pride and joy also has a 50 percent lower chance of becoming obese and enjoys better in-utero neurodevelopment.
Cycling while pregnant will help both mother and baby
“There’s no doubt that moderate exercise such as cycling during pregnancy helps condition the mother and protect the foetus,” says Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
11. Heal your heart
Studies from Purdue University in the US have shown that regular cycling can cut your risk of heart disease by 50 percent. And according to the British Heart Foundation, around 10,000 fatal heart attacks could be avoided each year if people kept themselves fitter.
Cycling just 20 miles a week reduces your risk of heart disease to less than half that of those who take no exercise, it says.
12. Your boss will love you
No, we don’t mean your Lycra-clad buttocks will entice your superiors into a passionate office romance, but they’ll appreciate what cycling does for your usefulness to the company.
A study of 200 people carried out by the University of Bristol found that employees who exercised before work or at lunchtime improved their time and workload management, and it boosted their motivation and their ability to deal with stress.
The study also reported that workers who exercised felt their interpersonal performance was better, they took fewer breaks and found it easier to finish work on time. Sadly, the study didn’t find a direct link between cycling and getting a promotion.
13. Cycle away from the big C
There’s plenty of evidence that any exercise is useful in warding off cancer, but some studies have shown that cycling is specifically good for keeping your cells in working order.
One long-term study carried out by Finnish researchers found that men who exercised at a moderate level for at least 30 minutes a day were half as likely to develop cancer as those who didn’t.
And one of the moderate forms of exercise they cited? Cycling to work. Other studies have found that women who cycle frequently reduce their risk of breast cancer by 34 percent.
14. Lose weight by riding your bike
Loads of people who want to shift some heft think that heading out for a jog is the best way to start slimming down. But while running does burn a ton of fat, it’s not kind to you if you’re a little larger than you’d like to be.
Think about it — two to three times your body weight goes crashing through your body when your foot strikes the ground. If you weigh 16 stone, that’s a lot of force!
Instead, start out on a bike — most of your weight is taken by the saddle, so your skeleton doesn’t take a battering. Running can wait…
15. You’ll make more money
If you’re cycling to lose weight then you could be in line for a cash windfall… Well, sort of. Researcher Jay Zagorsky, from Ohio State University, analysed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth — which saw 7,300 people regularly interviewed between 1985 and 2000 — to see how their obesity and wealth changed over that period.
Zagorsky concluded that a one unit increase in body mass index (BMI) score corresponded to an £800 or eight percent reduction in wealth. So, shed a few BMI points on the bike and start earning.
16. Avoid pollution
You’d think a city cyclist would suck up much more pollution than the drivers and passengers in the vehicles chucking out the noxious gases. Not so, according to a study carried out by Imperial College London.
Researchers found that passengers in buses, taxis and cars inhaled substantially more pollution than cyclists and pedestrians.
Cyclists breathe in fewer fumes on the street than drivers
On average, taxi passengers were exposed to more than 100,000 ultrafine particles — which can settle in the lungs and damage cells — per cubic centimetre. Bus passengers sucked up just under 100,000 and people in cars inhaled about 40,000.
Cyclists, meanwhile, were exposed to just 8,000 ultrafine particles per cubic centimetre. It’s thought that cyclists breathe in fewer fumes because we ride at the edge of the road and, unlike drivers, aren’t directly in the line of exhaust smoke.
17. Bike riding means guilt-free snacks
Upping your salt intake is seldom your doctor’s advice, but in the few days leading up to a big ride or sportive, that’s exactly what you should do. This gives you the perfect excuse to munch on crisps and other salty foods you might normally avoid.
The sodium in them helps protect your body against hyponatraemia, a condition caused by drinking too much water without enough sodium that can lead to disorientation, illness and worse.
18. Enjoy healthy family time
Cycling is an activity the whole family can do together. The smallest tyke can clamber into a bike seat or tow-along buggy, and because it’s kind on your joints, there’s nothing to stop grandparents joining in too.
Cycling is something the whole family can do together
Moreover, your riding habit could be sowing the seeds for the next Bradley Wiggins. Studies have found that, unsurprisingly, kids are influenced by their parents’ exercise choices.
Put simply, if your kids see you riding regularly, they think it’s normal and will want to follow your example. Don’t be surprised, though, if they become embarrassed by your tendency to mismatch fluorescent Lycra when they become teenagers.
19. Get better at any sport
Whether you want to keep in prime shape or just improve your weekly tennis game, a stint in the saddle is the way to begin. A recent medical study from Norway carried the title Aerobic Endurance Training Improves Soccer Performance, which makes it pretty clear that the knock-on benefits to other sports and activities are immense.
20. Make creative breakthroughs
Writers, musicians, artists, top executives and all kinds of other professionals use exercise to solve mental blocks and make decisions — including Jeremy Paxman, Sir Alan Sugar and Spandau Ballet.
A study found that just 25 minutes of aerobic exercise boosts at least one measure of creative thinking. Credit goes to the flow of oxygen to your grey matter when it matters most, sparking your neurons and giving you breathing space away from the muddle and pressures of ‘real life’.
21. You’re helping others
Many cyclists turn their health, fitness and determination into fundraising efforts for the less fortunate. The London to Brighton bike ride has raised over £40 million for the British Heart Foundation since the two became involved in 1980, with countless other rides contributing to the coffers of worthy causes.
22. You can get fit without trying too hard
Regular, everyday cycling has huge benefits that can justify you binning your wallet-crippling gym membership.
According to the National Forum for Coronary Heart Disease Foundation in the US, regular cyclists enjoy a fitness level equal to that of a person who’s 10 years younger.
23. Boost your bellows
No prizes for guessing that the lungs work considerably harder than usual when you ride. An adult cycling generally uses 10 times the oxygen they’d need to sit in front of the TV for the same period.
Even better, regular cycling will help strengthen your cardiovascular system over time, enabling your heart and lungs to work more efficiently and getting more oxygen where it’s needed, quicker. This means you can do more exercise for less effort. How good does that sound?
24. Burn more fat
Sports physiologists have found that the body’s metabolic rate — the efficiency with which it burns calories and fat — is not only raised during a ride, but for several hours afterwards.
“Even after cycling for 30 minutes, you could be burning a higher amount of total calories for a few hours after you stop,” says sports physiologist Mark Simpson of Loughborough University.
Riding regularly will help you burn off the fat
And as you get fitter, the benefits are more profound. One recent study showed that cyclists who incorporated fast intervals into their ride burned three-and-a-half times more body fat than those who cycled constantly but at a slower pace.
25. You’re developing a positive addiction
Replace a harmful dependency — such as cigarettes, alcohol or eating too much chocolate — with a positive one, says William Glasser, author of Positive Addiction.
The result? You’re a happier, healthier person getting the kind of fix that boosts the good things in life.
26. Get (a legal) high
Once a thing of myth, the infamous ‘runner’s high’ has been proven beyond doubt by German scientists. Yet despite the name, this high is applicable to all endurance athletes.
University of Bonn neurologists visualised endorphins in the brains of 10 volunteers before and after a two-hour cardio session using a technique called positive emission tomography (PET). Comparing the pre- and post-run scans, they found evidence of more opiate binding of the happy hormone in the frontal and limbic regions of the brain — areas known to be involved in emotional processing and dealing with stress.
“There’s a direct link between feelings of wellbeing and exercise, and for the first time this study proves the physiological mechanism behind that,” explains study co-ordinator Professor Henning Boecker.
27. Make friends and stay healthy
The social side of riding could be doing you as much good as the actual exercise and health benefits. University of California researchers found socialising releases the hormone oxytocin, which buffers the ‘fight or flight’ response.
Another nine-year study from Harvard Medical School found those with the most friends cut the risk of an early death by more than 60 percent, reducing blood pressure and strengthening their immune system. The results were so significant that the researchers concluded not having close friends or confidants is as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight. Add in the fitness element of cycling too and you’re onto a winner.
28. It'll make you happy
Even if you’re miserable when you saddle up, cranking through the miles will lift your spirits.
“Any mild-to-moderate exercise releases natural feel-good endorphins that help counter stress and make you happy,” explains Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation.
Cycling makes you happy — science says so!
That’s probably why four times more GPs prescribe exercise therapy as their most common treatment for depression compared to three years ago.
“Just three 30-minute sessions a week can be enough to give people the lift they need,” says McCulloch.
29. Feeling tired? Go for a ride
Sounds counter-intuitive but if you feel too tired for a ride, the best thing you can do is go for ride.
Physical activity for even a few minutes is a surprisingly effective wake-up call. A review of 12 studies on the link between exercise and fatigue carried out between 1945 and 2005 found that exercise directly lowers fatigue levels.
30. Spend quality time with your partner
It doesn’t matter if your paces aren’t perfectly matched, just slow down and enjoy each other’s company. Many couples make one or two riding ‘dates’ every week.
And it makes sense: exercise helps release feel-good hormones, so after a ride you’ll have a warm feeling towards each other even if he leaves the toilet seat up and her hair is blocking the plughole again.
Riding bikes boosts your brainpower, relationships, health and happiness
1 / 9
There are many advantages of cycling, including improving your health and happiness
(Peathegee Inc / Getty)
Whether it's to boost your fitness, health or bank balance, or as an environmental choice, taking up bicycle riding could be one of the best decisions you ever make.
Not convinced? Here are 30 reasons to ride a bike, spread across improving your health, happiness and relationships.
The benefits of cycling
1. You’ll get there faster
Commute by bike in the UK’s major cities and you’ll get there in half the time of cars, research by Citroen shows.
In fact, if you drive for an hour in Cardiff’s rush hour, you’ll spend over 30 minutes going absolutely nowhere and average just 7mph, compared to averaging around 12-15mph while cycling.
And even in bike-friendly or less congested cities outside of the UK, you'll still generally get around the city centres faster on a bike.
2. You'll sleep more deeply
An early morning ride might tire you out in the short term, but it’ll help you catch some quality shut-eye when you get back to your pillow.
Stanford University School of Medicine researchers asked sedentary insomnia sufferers to cycle for 20-30 minutes every other day. The result? The time required for the insomniacs to fall asleep was reduced by half, and sleep time increased by almost an hour.
Riding will help you sleep more deeply
“Exercising outside exposes you to daylight,” explains Professor Jim Horne from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre. “This helps get your circadian rhythm back in sync, and also rids your body of cortisol, the stress hormone that can prevent deep, regenerative sleep.”
3. You'll look younger
Scientists at Stanford University have found that cycling regularly can protect your skin against the harmful effects of UV radiation and reduce the signs of ageing.
Harley Street dermatologist Dr Christopher Rowland Payne explains: “Increased circulation through exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to skin cells more effectively, while flushing harmful toxins out. Exercise also creates an ideal environment within the body to optimise collagen production, helping reduce the appearance of wrinkles and speed up the healing process.”
Don’t forget to slap on the factor 30 before you head out, though.
4. Boost your bowels
According to experts from Bristol University, the benefits of cycling extend deep into your core.
“Physical activity helps decrease the time it takes food to move through the large intestine, limiting the amount of water absorbed back into your body and leaving you with softer stools, which are easier to pass,” explains Harley Street gastroenterologist Dr Ana Raimundo.
In addition, aerobic exercise accelerates your breathing and heart rate, which helps to stimulate the contraction of intestinal muscles. “As well as preventing you from feeling bloated, this helps protect you against bowel cancer,” Dr Raimundo says.
5. Increase your brain power
Need your grey matter to sparkle? Then get pedalling. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that a five percent improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness from cycling led to an improvement of up to 15 percent in mental tests. That’s because cycling helps build new brain cells in the hippocampus — the region responsible for memory, which deteriorates from the age of 30.
“It boosts blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which fires and regenerates receptors, explaining how exercise helps ward off Alzheimer’s,” says the study’s author, Professor Arthur Kramer.
6. Beat illness
Is cycling good for you? Yes! Forget apples, riding’s the way to keep the doctor at bay. “Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active, so they’re ready to fight off infection,” says Cath Collins, chief dietician at St George’s Hospital in London.
Cycling regularly is a surefire way to keep illness at bay
In fact, according to research from the University of North Carolina, people who cycle for 30 minutes, five days a week take about half as many sick days as couch potatoes.
7. Live longer
King’s College London compared over 2,400 identical twins and found those who did the equivalent of just three 45-minute rides a week were nine years ‘biologically younger’ even after discounting other influences, such as body mass index (BMI) and smoking.
“Those who exercise regularly are at significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, all types of cancer, high blood pressure and obesity,” says Dr Lynn Cherkas, who conducted the research. “The body becomes much more efficient at defending itself and regenerating new cells.”
8. Save the planet
Twenty bicycles can be parked in the same space as one car. It takes around five percent of the materials and energy used to make a car to build a bike, and a bike produces zero pollution.
Bikes are efficient, too — you travel around three times as fast as walking for the same amount of energy and, taking into account the ‘fuel’ you put in your ‘engine’, you do the equivalent of 2,924 miles to the gallon.
You have your weight ratio to thank: you’re about six times heavier than your bike, but a car is 20 times heavier than you.
9. Cycling improves your sex life
Being more physically active improves your vascular health, which has the knock-on effect of boosting your sex drive, according to health experts in the US. One study from Cornell University also concluded that male athletes have the sexual prowess of men two to five years younger, with physically fit females delaying the menopause by a similar amount of time.
Meanwhile, research carried out at Harvard University found that men aged over 50 who cycle for at least three hours a week have a 30 percent lower risk of impotence than those who do little exercise.
10. It’s good breeding
A ‘bun in the oven’ could benefit from your riding as much as you. According to research from Michigan University in the US, mums-to-be who regularly exercise during pregnancy have an easier, less complicated labour, recover faster and enjoy better overall mood throughout the nine months.
Your pride and joy also has a 50 percent lower chance of becoming obese and enjoys better in-utero neurodevelopment.
Cycling while pregnant will help both mother and baby
“There’s no doubt that moderate exercise such as cycling during pregnancy helps condition the mother and protect the foetus,” says Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
11. Heal your heart
Studies from Purdue University in the US have shown that regular cycling can cut your risk of heart disease by 50 percent. And according to the British Heart Foundation, around 10,000 fatal heart attacks could be avoided each year if people kept themselves fitter.
Cycling just 20 miles a week reduces your risk of heart disease to less than half that of those who take no exercise, it says.
12. Your boss will love you
No, we don’t mean your Lycra-clad buttocks will entice your superiors into a passionate office romance, but they’ll appreciate what cycling does for your usefulness to the company.
A study of 200 people carried out by the University of Bristol found that employees who exercised before work or at lunchtime improved their time and workload management, and it boosted their motivation and their ability to deal with stress.
The study also reported that workers who exercised felt their interpersonal performance was better, they took fewer breaks and found it easier to finish work on time. Sadly, the study didn’t find a direct link between cycling and getting a promotion.
13. Cycle away from the big C
There’s plenty of evidence that any exercise is useful in warding off cancer, but some studies have shown that cycling is specifically good for keeping your cells in working order.
One long-term study carried out by Finnish researchers found that men who exercised at a moderate level for at least 30 minutes a day were half as likely to develop cancer as those who didn’t.
And one of the moderate forms of exercise they cited? Cycling to work. Other studies have found that women who cycle frequently reduce their risk of breast cancer by 34 percent.
14. Lose weight by riding your bike
Loads of people who want to shift some heft think that heading out for a jog is the best way to start slimming down. But while running does burn a ton of fat, it’s not kind to you if you’re a little larger than you’d like to be.
Think about it — two to three times your body weight goes crashing through your body when your foot strikes the ground. If you weigh 16 stone, that’s a lot of force!
Instead, start out on a bike — most of your weight is taken by the saddle, so your skeleton doesn’t take a battering. Running can wait…
15. You’ll make more money
If you’re cycling to lose weight then you could be in line for a cash windfall… Well, sort of. Researcher Jay Zagorsky, from Ohio State University, analysed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth — which saw 7,300 people regularly interviewed between 1985 and 2000 — to see how their obesity and wealth changed over that period.
Zagorsky concluded that a one unit increase in body mass index (BMI) score corresponded to an £800 or eight percent reduction in wealth. So, shed a few BMI points on the bike and start earning.
16. Avoid pollution
You’d think a city cyclist would suck up much more pollution than the drivers and passengers in the vehicles chucking out the noxious gases. Not so, according to a study carried out by Imperial College London.
Researchers found that passengers in buses, taxis and cars inhaled substantially more pollution than cyclists and pedestrians.
Cyclists breathe in fewer fumes on the street than drivers
On average, taxi passengers were exposed to more than 100,000 ultrafine particles — which can settle in the lungs and damage cells — per cubic centimetre. Bus passengers sucked up just under 100,000 and people in cars inhaled about 40,000.
Cyclists, meanwhile, were exposed to just 8,000 ultrafine particles per cubic centimetre. It’s thought that cyclists breathe in fewer fumes because we ride at the edge of the road and, unlike drivers, aren’t directly in the line of exhaust smoke.
17. Bike riding means guilt-free snacks
Upping your salt intake is seldom your doctor’s advice, but in the few days leading up to a big ride or sportive, that’s exactly what you should do. This gives you the perfect excuse to munch on crisps and other salty foods you might normally avoid.
The sodium in them helps protect your body against hyponatraemia, a condition caused by drinking too much water without enough sodium that can lead to disorientation, illness and worse.
18. Enjoy healthy family time
Cycling is an activity the whole family can do together. The smallest tyke can clamber into a bike seat or tow-along buggy, and because it’s kind on your joints, there’s nothing to stop grandparents joining in too.
Cycling is something the whole family can do together
Moreover, your riding habit could be sowing the seeds for the next Bradley Wiggins. Studies have found that, unsurprisingly, kids are influenced by their parents’ exercise choices.
Put simply, if your kids see you riding regularly, they think it’s normal and will want to follow your example. Don’t be surprised, though, if they become embarrassed by your tendency to mismatch fluorescent Lycra when they become teenagers.
19. Get better at any sport
Whether you want to keep in prime shape or just improve your weekly tennis game, a stint in the saddle is the way to begin. A recent medical study from Norway carried the title Aerobic Endurance Training Improves Soccer Performance, which makes it pretty clear that the knock-on benefits to other sports and activities are immense.
20. Make creative breakthroughs
Writers, musicians, artists, top executives and all kinds of other professionals use exercise to solve mental blocks and make decisions — including Jeremy Paxman, Sir Alan Sugar and Spandau Ballet.
A study found that just 25 minutes of aerobic exercise boosts at least one measure of creative thinking. Credit goes to the flow of oxygen to your grey matter when it matters most, sparking your neurons and giving you breathing space away from the muddle and pressures of ‘real life’.
21. You’re helping others
Many cyclists turn their health, fitness and determination into fundraising efforts for the less fortunate. The London to Brighton bike ride has raised over £40 million for the British Heart Foundation since the two became involved in 1980, with countless other rides contributing to the coffers of worthy causes.
22. You can get fit without trying too hard
Regular, everyday cycling has huge benefits that can justify you binning your wallet-crippling gym membership.
According to the National Forum for Coronary Heart Disease Foundation in the US, regular cyclists enjoy a fitness level equal to that of a person who’s 10 years younger.
23. Boost your bellows
No prizes for guessing that the lungs work considerably harder than usual when you ride. An adult cycling generally uses 10 times the oxygen they’d need to sit in front of the TV for the same period.
Even better, regular cycling will help strengthen your cardiovascular system over time, enabling your heart and lungs to work more efficiently and getting more oxygen where it’s needed, quicker. This means you can do more exercise for less effort. How good does that sound?
24. Burn more fat
Sports physiologists have found that the body’s metabolic rate — the efficiency with which it burns calories and fat — is not only raised during a ride, but for several hours afterwards.
“Even after cycling for 30 minutes, you could be burning a higher amount of total calories for a few hours after you stop,” says sports physiologist Mark Simpson of Loughborough University.
Riding regularly will help you burn off the fat
And as you get fitter, the benefits are more profound. One recent study showed that cyclists who incorporated fast intervals into their ride burned three-and-a-half times more body fat than those who cycled constantly but at a slower pace.
25. You’re developing a positive addiction
Replace a harmful dependency — such as cigarettes, alcohol or eating too much chocolate — with a positive one, says William Glasser, author of Positive Addiction.
The result? You’re a happier, healthier person getting the kind of fix that boosts the good things in life.
26. Get (a legal) high
Once a thing of myth, the infamous ‘runner’s high’ has been proven beyond doubt by German scientists. Yet despite the name, this high is applicable to all endurance athletes.
University of Bonn neurologists visualised endorphins in the brains of 10 volunteers before and after a two-hour cardio session using a technique called positive emission tomography (PET). Comparing the pre- and post-run scans, they found evidence of more opiate binding of the happy hormone in the frontal and limbic regions of the brain — areas known to be involved in emotional processing and dealing with stress.
“There’s a direct link between feelings of wellbeing and exercise, and for the first time this study proves the physiological mechanism behind that,” explains study co-ordinator Professor Henning Boecker.
27. Make friends and stay healthy
The social side of riding could be doing you as much good as the actual exercise and health benefits. University of California researchers found socialising releases the hormone oxytocin, which buffers the ‘fight or flight’ response.
Another nine-year study from Harvard Medical School found those with the most friends cut the risk of an early death by more than 60 percent, reducing blood pressure and strengthening their immune system. The results were so significant that the researchers concluded not having close friends or confidants is as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight. Add in the fitness element of cycling too and you’re onto a winner.
28. It'll make you happy
Even if you’re miserable when you saddle up, cranking through the miles will lift your spirits.
“Any mild-to-moderate exercise releases natural feel-good endorphins that help counter stress and make you happy,” explains Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation.
Cycling makes you happy — science says so!
That’s probably why four times more GPs prescribe exercise therapy as their most common treatment for depression compared to three years ago.
“Just three 30-minute sessions a week can be enough to give people the lift they need,” says McCulloch.
29. Feeling tired? Go for a ride
Sounds counter-intuitive but if you feel too tired for a ride, the best thing you can do is go for ride.
Physical activity for even a few minutes is a surprisingly effective wake-up call. A review of 12 studies on the link between exercise and fatigue carried out between 1945 and 2005 found that exercise directly lowers fatigue levels.
30. Spend quality time with your partner
It doesn’t matter if your paces aren’t perfectly matched, just slow down and enjoy each other’s company. Many couples make one or two riding ‘dates’ every week.
And it makes sense: exercise helps release feel-good hormones, so after a ride you’ll have a warm feeling towards each other even if he leaves the toilet seat up and her hair is blocking the plughole again.
An example of what cycling does for you. How many out there would like a BP reading of less than 110/60 in their senior years WITHOUT MEDICATION?
This is what just 5 hours of cycling per week can achieve.
When you're stuck in hospital for weeks or months after a stroke or heart attack you'll be wishing you left your car at home and hopped on a bike instead.
Your loved ones who depended on you for a roof over their heads and a food on the table will be wishing you had cycled too.
This is my reading after just a 40km bike ride this morning. We had a great time and finished off with a fantastic coffee.
I recommend it to everyone young or old. Cycling will change your life.
This is what just 5 hours of cycling per week can achieve.
When you're stuck in hospital for weeks or months after a stroke or heart attack you'll be wishing you left your car at home and hopped on a bike instead.
Your loved ones who depended on you for a roof over their heads and a food on the table will be wishing you had cycled too.
This is my reading after just a 40km bike ride this morning. We had a great time and finished off with a fantastic coffee.
I recommend it to everyone young or old. Cycling will change your life.
Just look at the Phily Cycling Thread for more benefits of cycling!
Singapore cyclists should start an annual naked bike ride event too. It will definitely change the negative attitude towards cycling that so many sinkies seem to harbor.
I agree, Boss!
It helps to boost the self confidence of individuals, reveal human beauty in its raw form. Can help boost fertility rate too!
In that case, it is unbecoming to DEMAND or even expect other road users to keep off the first lane.
Co-exist with mutual understanding rather than DEMAND.
Isn't an organised and unregistered convoy of 5 or more persons considered as an illegal gathering?
Other road users don't have to keep out of the first lane. All they have to do is overtake cyclists who are using that lane when it is safe to do so.
Fully agree but your earlier video post seemed to portray otherwise.
Road users, be they two or more wheelers, should act as an individual user and not as a convoy to obey all traffic rules.
A convoy SHOULD be ESCORTED.
Many agree but this line of thinking is not supported and acted upon by our national LEEders.
Shouldn't they set a good example for the people to follow or are our national poLEEcies meant to create a national divide - eLEEtes drive while non-eLEEtes shall walk or cycle.
Fully agree but our PAP-led Government is still unable to provide Singaporeans with such facilities - designated CYCLING TRACKS and not public roads designed for motor vehicles.
Cycling - health benefits
To be fit and healthy you need to be physically active. Regular physical activity can help protect you from serious diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, diabetes and arthritis. Riding your bicycle regularly is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle.
Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from young children to older adults. It is also fun, cheap and good for the environment.
Riding to work or the shops is one of the most time-efficient ways to combine regular exercise with your everyday routine. An estimated one billion people ride bicycles every day – for transport, recreation and sport.
Cycling for health and fitness
It only takes two to four hours a week to achieve a general improvement to your health. Cycling is:
Health benefits of regular cycling
Cycling is mainly an aerobic activity, which means that your heart, blood vessels and lungs all get a workout. You will breathe deeper, perspire and experience increased body temperature, which will improve your overall fitness level.
The health benefits of regular cycling include:
Cycling and specific health issues
Cycling can improve both physical and mental health, and can reduce the chances of experiencing many health problems.
Obesity and weight control
Cycling is a good way to control or reduce weight, as it raises your metabolic rate, builds muscle and burns body fat. If you’re trying to lose weight, cycling must be combined with a healthy eating plan. Cycling is a comfortable form of exercise and you can change the time and intensity – it can be built up slowly and varied to suit you.
Research suggests you should be burning at least 8,400 kilojoules (about 2,000 calories) a week through exercise. Steady cycling burns about 1,200 kilojoules (about 300 calories) per hour.
If you cycle twice a day, the kilojoules burnt soon add up. British research shows that a half-hour bike ride every day will burn nearly five kilograms of fat over a year.
Cardiovascular disease and cycling
Cardiovascular diseases include stroke, high blood pressure and heart attack. Regular cycling stimulates and improves your heart, lungs and circulation, reducing your risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Cycling strengthens your heart muscles, lowers resting pulse and reduces blood fat levels. Research also shows that people who cycle to work have two to three times less exposure to pollution than car commuters, so their lung function is improved. A Danish study conducted over 14 years with 30,000 people aged 20 to 93 years found that regular cycling protected people from heart disease.
Cancer and cycling
Many researchers have studied the relationship between exercise and cancer, especially colon and breast cancer. Research has shown that if you cycle, the chance of bowel cancer is reduced. Some evidence suggests that regular cycling reduces the risk of breast cancer.
Diabetes and cycling
The rate of type 2 diabetes is increasing and is a serious public health concern. Lack of physical activity is thought to be a major reason why people develop this condition. Large-scale research in Finland found that people who cycled for more than 30 minutes per day had a 40 per cent lower risk of developing diabetes.
Bone injuries, arthritis and cycling
Cycling improves strength, balance and coordination. It may also help to prevent falls and fractures. Riding a bike is an ideal form of exercise if you have osteoarthritis, because it is a low-impact exercise that places little stress on joints.
Cycling does not specifically help osteoporosis (bone-thinning disease) because it is not a weight-bearing exercise.
Mental illness and cycling
Mental health conditions such as depression, stress and anxiety can be reduced by regular bike riding. This is due to the effects of the exercise itself and because of the enjoyment that riding a bike can bring.
Back to top
Hand cycling and health
Hand cycles are similar to recumbent tricycles, but they are powered with hand instead of foot pedals. Velcro straps can be used to secure the hands to the pedals if necessary.
This style of tricycle allows amputees, people with spinal injuries and those recovering from certain conditions such as stroke to cycle as a form of exercise and recreation. Hand cyclists get cardiovascular and aerobic benefits similar to those of other cyclists.
Back to top
Where to get help
Things to remember
- Summary
- Cycling can help to protect you from serious diseases such as stroke, heart attack, some cancers, depression, diabetes, obesity and arthritis.
- Riding a bike is healthy, fun and a low-impact form of exercise for all ages.
- Cycling is easy to fit into your daily routine by riding to the shops, park, school or work.
- Cycling for health and fitness
- Health benefits of regular cycling
- Cycling and specific health issues
- Hand cycling and health
- Where to get help
- Things to remember
To be fit and healthy you need to be physically active. Regular physical activity can help protect you from serious diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, diabetes and arthritis. Riding your bicycle regularly is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle.
Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from young children to older adults. It is also fun, cheap and good for the environment.
Riding to work or the shops is one of the most time-efficient ways to combine regular exercise with your everyday routine. An estimated one billion people ride bicycles every day – for transport, recreation and sport.
Cycling for health and fitness
It only takes two to four hours a week to achieve a general improvement to your health. Cycling is:
- Low impact – it causes less strain and injuries than most other forms of exercise.
- A good muscle workout – cycling uses all of the major muscle groups as you pedal.
- Easy – unlike some other sports, cycling does not require high levels of physical skill. Most people know how to ride a bike and, once you learn, you don’t forget.
- Good for strength and stamina – cycling increases stamina, strength and aerobic fitness.
- As intense as you want – cycling can be done at very low intensity to begin with, if recovering from injury or illness, but can be built up to a demanding physical workout.
- A fun way to get fit – the adventure and buzz you get from coasting down hills and being outdoors means you are more likely to continue to cycle regularly, compared to other physical activities that keep you indoors or require special times or places.
- Time-efficient – as a mode of transport, cycling replaces sedentary (sitting) time spent driving motor vehicles or using trams, trains or buses with healthy exercise.
Health benefits of regular cycling
Cycling is mainly an aerobic activity, which means that your heart, blood vessels and lungs all get a workout. You will breathe deeper, perspire and experience increased body temperature, which will improve your overall fitness level.
The health benefits of regular cycling include:
- increased cardiovascular fitness
- increased muscle strength and flexibility
- improved joint mobility
- decreased stress levels
- improved posture and coordination
- strengthened bones
- decreased body fat levels
- prevention or management of disease
- reduced anxiety and depression.
Cycling and specific health issues
Cycling can improve both physical and mental health, and can reduce the chances of experiencing many health problems.
Obesity and weight control
Cycling is a good way to control or reduce weight, as it raises your metabolic rate, builds muscle and burns body fat. If you’re trying to lose weight, cycling must be combined with a healthy eating plan. Cycling is a comfortable form of exercise and you can change the time and intensity – it can be built up slowly and varied to suit you.
Research suggests you should be burning at least 8,400 kilojoules (about 2,000 calories) a week through exercise. Steady cycling burns about 1,200 kilojoules (about 300 calories) per hour.
If you cycle twice a day, the kilojoules burnt soon add up. British research shows that a half-hour bike ride every day will burn nearly five kilograms of fat over a year.
Cardiovascular disease and cycling
Cardiovascular diseases include stroke, high blood pressure and heart attack. Regular cycling stimulates and improves your heart, lungs and circulation, reducing your risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Cycling strengthens your heart muscles, lowers resting pulse and reduces blood fat levels. Research also shows that people who cycle to work have two to three times less exposure to pollution than car commuters, so their lung function is improved. A Danish study conducted over 14 years with 30,000 people aged 20 to 93 years found that regular cycling protected people from heart disease.
Cancer and cycling
Many researchers have studied the relationship between exercise and cancer, especially colon and breast cancer. Research has shown that if you cycle, the chance of bowel cancer is reduced. Some evidence suggests that regular cycling reduces the risk of breast cancer.
Diabetes and cycling
The rate of type 2 diabetes is increasing and is a serious public health concern. Lack of physical activity is thought to be a major reason why people develop this condition. Large-scale research in Finland found that people who cycled for more than 30 minutes per day had a 40 per cent lower risk of developing diabetes.
Bone injuries, arthritis and cycling
Cycling improves strength, balance and coordination. It may also help to prevent falls and fractures. Riding a bike is an ideal form of exercise if you have osteoarthritis, because it is a low-impact exercise that places little stress on joints.
Cycling does not specifically help osteoporosis (bone-thinning disease) because it is not a weight-bearing exercise.
Mental illness and cycling
Mental health conditions such as depression, stress and anxiety can be reduced by regular bike riding. This is due to the effects of the exercise itself and because of the enjoyment that riding a bike can bring.
Back to top
Hand cycling and health
Hand cycles are similar to recumbent tricycles, but they are powered with hand instead of foot pedals. Velcro straps can be used to secure the hands to the pedals if necessary.
This style of tricycle allows amputees, people with spinal injuries and those recovering from certain conditions such as stroke to cycle as a form of exercise and recreation. Hand cyclists get cardiovascular and aerobic benefits similar to those of other cyclists.
Back to top
Where to get help
- Your doctor
- Bicycle Network Victoria Tel. (03) 8376 8888 or 1800 639 634 (for country callers)
Things to remember
- Cycling can help to protect you from serious diseases such as stroke, heart attack, some cancers, depression, diabetes, obesity and arthritis.
- Riding a bike is healthy, fun and a low-impact form of exercise for all ages.
- Cycling is easy to fit into your daily routine by riding to the shops, park, school or work.
101 Benefits Of Cycling That Will Make You Love It More
Taking up cycling can be one of the best decisions you’ll make in life. Whether you choose to hop on a bike for health reasons, to help the environment, try a new activity, or even to supplement another sport, cycling is a ton of fun.
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Health Benefits
Environmental Benefits
Economic Benefits
Social Benefits
Transport Benefits
Sports Benefits
Personal Benefits
And you won’t be riding alone. Globally, more people own bikes than own cars – about 42% of the world’s population – and that number is growing every year.
FOR EXAMPLE, in the US, the number of people biking to work has grown by 60% over the past 10 years and the number of cyclists has grown by 15 million people overall.
If you’re still on the fence about joining the global community of cyclists, Here Are 101 Amazing Benefits to cycling that span all aspects of life.
The best part is, you only need to choose one to start cycling – but as soon as you start, all the other benefits will follow!
HEALTH BENEFITS
Exercise Is A Critical Component Of Staying Healthy. But The Type Of Exercise You Do – Strength Or Cardio, Sprinting Or Endurance - Also Matters. Cycling Is A Great Way To Capture The Health Benefits Of These Different Styles Of Fitness Since It Blends The Line Between Lower Body Strength, Aerobic Training, Intervals, And Long Rides In The Saddle.
Cycle Regularly And Mix Up Workouts For Maximum Benefits
Of course, health benefits don’t come for free. While you might see some benefits after your first few times on the bike, many of these benefits require cycling regularly to develop and maintain. Mixing up your cycling workouts, for example by doing intervals one day a week and a long ride later in the week, can help you to hit on different aspects of fitness.
1.Build Muscle
Cycling is a serious leg workout, and your quads, hamstrings, and glutes are sure to respond by building new muscle fibers to adapt. Although cycling at low resistance will slowly build muscles, you can maximize the gains and build muscle faster by riding uphill, riding in higher gears, or including sprint intervals in your workout.
2.Cut Fat
Low intensity, aerobic, and consistent exercise is one of the most effective ways to lose body fat. Cycling for an hour or so each day is plenty to begin losing fat, and you can maximize the loss by heading into a training section after fasting for a few hours – but be careful not to overeat at the end of the ride.
Low Intensity, Aerobic, And Consistent Exercise Is One Of The Most Effective Ways To Lose Body Fat.
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3.Strengthen Your Legs
Cycling is far more fun than lifting weights in the basement, but it can help you achieve similar strength gains in your lower body. The best way to build brute strength, particularly in your quads, is to grind away in your highest gear – but if you drop below 60 pedal strokes per minute, drop a gear so that you don’t crush your knee joints.
4.Decrease Your Stress
Many athletes point to the “runner’s high” as a zen mental state that comes from exercise, but the same stress-free feeling can be found through cycling. Cycling forces you to regulate your breathing, breathe more deeply, and focus on the task at hand rather than the stress of other parts of your life.
5.Save Your Knees
Running, and most team sports that involves running, slowly breaks down your knee joints over time. Cycling, on the other hand, has a low impact on your knee joints and as a result is a sport you can participate even in old age. Be sure to fit your bike properly, since a seat that is too high or low can cause grinding or over extension.
6.Breath Deep
Just as you can train the muscles in your legs, you can train the muscles that expand and contract your lungs. Cycling is a great way for this because there are ample opportunities to include intervals in your workouts, or to practice cresting a hill and then keeping up the hard effort. This type of training can help to expand your lung capacity and teach you to move air more effectively.
7.Cheer Up
Even 30 minutes of cycling or other aerobic exercise per day has been demonstrated to improve your subjective mood. In addition, according to one study, people who exercise routinely have a decreased chance of falling into depression as they age.
8.Reduce Anxiety
Cycling has been shown to reduce stress levels by up to 40%, and as a result can keep feelings of anxiety at bay. By keeping your mind on the road in front of you rather than aspects of work or life that are bothering you, cycling can provided a much-needed mental break.
9.Stretch Yourself
The motion of cycling forces you to extend specific muscles in your lower body that don’t often get stretched, like your glutes and hip flexors. This stretching can increase your overall range of motion and flexibility. However, it’s also important to remember to stretch these muscles after rides so they don’t tighten up after expanding.
10.Sleep Better
Decreases in fitness have been found to correlate with levels of insomnia in both men and women, so it’s important to stay in shape to give yourself the best possible chance of a good night’s sleep. Cycling in particular is a great way to reap exercise-induced sleep benefits since it reduces anxiety and keeps weight down, both of which are thought to contribute to insomnia.
11.Boost Your Libido
Building your cardiovascular system is a great way to increase your sex drive and counteract aging. In men, athletes can have the sex drive of non-athletes up to five years younger and one study found that men over 50 who cycle at least three hours a week are 30% less likely to experience impotence. In women, cardiovascular exercise can delay menopause by up to several years.
12.Heart Healthy
Hopping on a bike can drastically cut your risk of heart disease. One study found that cycling regularly can decrease your chance of developing heart problems by 50%, while another study found that those who ride just 20 miles per week have half the heart disease risk as people who don’t exercise.
13.Work Those Lungs
Regular cardiovascular exercise can help to keep your lungs healthy by teaching them to move air more efficiently. Breathing hard actually forces the muscles that expand and contract your lungs to work harder, which can decrease your risk of losing lung function as your age.
14.Improve Your Cholesterol
Aerobic exercise, like cycling, is one of the best ways to boost your HDL cholesterol – the good cholesterol – and decrease your LDL cholesterol – the bad cholesterol. Just two months of regular cycling at an intensity that raises your heart rate, but doesn’t leave you breathless, is enough to raise your HDL cholesterol by 5%.
15.Fight Cancer
Exercise in general can reduce your risk of cancer, but studies have honed in on cycling in particular as one of the best sports to reduce cancer risk. One study in particular looked at bike commuters, and found that cycling to work can reduce your chances of developing cancer by 45%.
Cycling To Work Can Reduce Your Chances Of Developing Cancer By 45%.
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16.Control Diabetes
People with Type II diabetes often experience poor circulation in their lower body, which can lead to swollen feet. Cycling is a great way to help enhance blood return from the lower body, reducing swelling and foot pain. Because cycling uses up glucose in your muscle cells as well, it can also help people with diabetes regulate their blood sugar.
17.Boost Your Brain Power
Cycling doesn’t just build blood vessels in your leg muscles – it also builds them in your brain. As a result, hopping on a bike regularly can improve blood flow through your brain which can help replenish the neurons involved in thought processing and memory.
18.Eat Frequently
Cycling can burn through your body’s fat and sugar reserves quickly, requiring you to eat small portions frequently to replenish your energy during long rides. That same habit of eating small portions frequently, rather than stomach ache-inducing large portions all at once, can help your digestive tract function more smoothly off the bike, too.
19.Improve Your Blood Pressure
Any physician will tell you that high blood pressure is a risk factor for having a heart attack. They’ll also tell you that cycling is one of the best exercises for lowering your blood pressure since it helps your body circulate blood from your legs back to your heart.
20.Get Addicted
For some people, cycling is more than just a fun sport – it’s an addiction. But cycling is a positive addiction, one that can help to replace or stave off developing other, less benevolent addictions and that can add significant satisfaction to your daily life.
21.Be In Tune With Your Body
Cycling, especially at a competitive level, requires you to understand all of the nuanced signals your body gives you about mood, fatigue, stress, and exertion. Tuning yourself to recognize these signals can be helpful in assessing and adapting your daily life, for example to stress at work or illness.
22.Look Younger
A study from Stanford University found that cycling regularly can reduce signs of aging by protecting your skin from harmful UV rays. The secret is that increased circulation allows your skin cells to gain nutrients and flush out toxins – just remember to lather on the sun tan lotion when you go out for a ride.
23.Regulate Your Digestion
Cycling also works the muscles inside your body – the ones surrounding your digestive tract. Cyclists have more frequent bowel movements. That may not seem like a benefit, but it actually reduces feelings of being bloated, can result in softer stools that are easier to pass, and can reduce your risk of digestive tract cancers.
24.Keep Disease At Bay
Aerobic exercise can be a significant boost to your immune system thanks to the boost in circulation it provides. One study found that people who exercised five days a week were more than 40% less likely to get the common cold compared to people who didn’t exercise, and when they did get sick they reported symptoms as being 30% less severe compared to non-athletes.
25.Improve Bone Structure
Resistance exercises are one of the best ways to improve bone density and fight osteoporosis as you age. Pushing and pulling on the pedals on the bike works the muscles in your legs, which in turn work the bones and signal your body to keep up bone structure.
26.Live Longer
By reducing your risk of some of the most common killers – car accidents, heart and lung disease, and cancer, cycling can actually help to stretch your lifespan. Numerous studies looking directly at lifespan have found that cyclists tend to live longer than non-athletes, by an average of an extra five years for men and four years for women.
Cyclists Tend To Live Longer Than Non-Athletes
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27.Treat Arthritis
Cycling involves a low impact motion that makes it a great option to strengthen muscles even when most other sports cause pain. One recent study found that because of this, cycling can both slow down the development of arthritis and reduce its effects on patients who experience arthritis pain in their knees.
28.Your Newborn Will Thank You
Exercising during pregnancy has a number of benefits for both mothers and their newborns. Several studies have found that exercise can reduce the risk of caesarean sections and dangerous complications during childbirth, like preeclampsia. Children of parents who exercise also have a 50% lower risk of obesity.
29.Stay Hydrated
Good hydration can promote cardiovascular health, keep your joints and muscles in working order, and help regulate your body temperature. Cycling is a great way to make staying hydrated part of your routine since performing at your best on and off the bike forces you to drink lots of water.
30.Wake Up
Studies have found a strong link between regular exercise and reduced fatigue. In one example, study participants who cycled at low intensity for 20 minutes daily reported feelings of fatigue 65% less often than participants who did not exercise. While the mechanism for this isn’t clear, researchers believe it may be because the stimulation provided to the nervous system lasts longer than the workout itself.
31.Improve Posture
Correct posture is a big deal when cycling. It affects not only comfort during long rides, but also speed on the road and your risk for developing injury. While developing good posture on the bike takes some practice, that posture improvement will translate to all aspects of your life and can reduce your risk of back pain.
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Let’s face it – cars aren’t great for the environment. They produce noise pollution and air pollution, and are one of the largest contributors of man-made greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But since bicycles don’t run on diesel, they can be an environmentally sustainable alternative to cars.
Catalyze The Change
It's often said that one person switching to cycling won’t make a dent in the number of cars on the road, but switching to cycling can encourage friends, family, and even strangers to trade their cars for bikes. And the more bicycles that replace cars, the better these benefits get.
32.Save on CO2
Even a short commute of around 5 miles to work each day can quickly add up to more than 100 gallons of gas over a year, and correspondingly contribute to carbon dioxide emissions and global climate change. Biking to work doesn’t require fossil fuels and can help to reduce your personal contribution to climate change.
Biking To Work Doesn’t Require Fossil Fuels And Can Help To Reduce Your Personal Contribution To Climate Change.
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33.Reduce Smog
Cars are among the largest contributors to air pollution because they emit not only carbon dioxide, but also pollutants like nitrogen oxides and particulate soot. Cycling doesn’t produce any of these pollutants and can help to keep city air clean to breathe.
34.Cut Noise Pollution
Compared to a car engine, bikes are basically silent. Reducing noise pollution, especially in crowded cities, can drastically reduce noise complaints and make for a more pleasant environment. In addition, reducing noise pollution can actually have physical health benefits since long exposure to moderate noise levels can cause auditory damage.
35.Use Less Space
A single parking space for a car can fit up to 12 bikes, which on the scale of a city can be a ton of real estate converted to uses other than parking. In fact, cities often subsidize the cost of parking – so that taxpayer money is being used to pay for people to drive.
36.No Idling
Idling in traffic can suck up gas, producing carbon dioxide emissions and contributing to air and noise pollution. Not only do bikes not contribute to these problems when they’re stopped – they also require you to stop less frequently because you can weave through traffic or use a designated bike path.
37.Use Less Resources
Bikes do require materials and their manufacture has some environmental negatives, but the manufacturing footprint for bikes is minimal compared to cars. That’s even more true when accounting for batteries, leather seats, and the sheer amount of industrial materials required to put together a car compared to a bike.
38.Leave batteries behind
All cars, even environmentally friendly electric vehicles, use large batteries that need to be replaced every few years. These batteries produce toxic waste that is hazardous to dispose and can’t be recycled. Bikes don’t require any batteries.
39.Save trees
All tires use rubber, which typically comes from rubber plantations planted over rain forests that have been clear-cut and burned. But the skinny tires of a road bike use far less rubber than car tires, which helps to reduce demand for rubber and can save rain forests from being converted to plantations.
40.Reduce Water Pollution
Motor oil, brake fluid oil, and antifreeze all leak from cars, and thanks to the number of cars on the roads have become a major source of water pollution and contain a variety of toxic substances. Bikes, on the other hand, don’t require any oil – so riding a bike can help to keep the water we drink clean of toxins.
41.Save Animals
The number of animals killed by cars each day is staggering – it’s estimated to be in the tens of millions globally. While bike-animal collisions can happen, the slower speed of bikes make these collisions much more avoidable and far less dangerous to both humans and animals.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Everyone wants to save money, and cycling is one way to keep more of your hard-earned paycheck in your pocket. Owning a bike is far cheaper than owning a car thanks to parking, insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs. And while a bike can be a significant initial investment, the money saved by switching from a bike to a car can quickly pay that back.
Bikes Help Cities, Too
Cycling can also have an economic benefit that reaches beyond your own pockets. Cities generally lose money on giving up real estate for parking spaces and cars can cause significant road wear that has to be fixed. All of these things cost cities money, which in turn means higher taxes for everyone. So switching to biking can save your entire community a little dough.
42.Bikes Are Cheaper Than Cars
If you need a way to get around, from a purely economic standpoint choosing between a new bike that costs a couple hundred dollars and a new car that costs several thousand dollars or more is a no-brainer. Even after spending money on accessories to enable your bike to carry gear and ride in any weather, you’ll save by opting for a nice bike instead of a cheap car.
43.Use Public Bikes
Although far cheaper than a car, a new bike comes with its own price tag as well as additional maintenance costs over the life of the bike. Many cities offer bike-sharing programs that you can use for a low monthly cost, saving you even more money while still meeting most of your transportation needs.
44.Save On Gas
Commuting 5 miles to work by car every day can use up more than 100 gallons of gas, not to mention the additional gas spent on running errands around your neighborhood. Using a bike for these trips instead can save a ton of gas, which in turn saves you hundreds to thousands of dollars per year – enough to recoup investing in a bike and accessories in just five months.
45.Save On Parking
Parking your car in many places isn’t free – expect to pay a meter or invest in an expensive parking pass. Parking a bike, on the other hand, is almost always free. Even buying a reliable bike lock is far less costly than paying daily parking fees.
Buying A Reliable Bike Lock Is Far Less Costly Than Paying Daily Parking Fees.
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46.Drop Your Insurance
Car insurance can cost many hundreds of dollars per year, more than the cost of a nice new bicycle in many cases. While cycling more may not allow you to drop your car entirely, driving less and cycling more can save you money by making pay-as-you-go insurance contracts more economical.
47.Get Around Faster
Time is money, as the saying goes. In many cities, choosing to bike instead of drive can actually get you to your destination faster when traffic is bad. Biking can also save you time since you don’t need to search for a parking space when you get to your destination.
48.Support Local Businesses
Let’s face it – you’re not likely to travel as far or as fast on a bike as in a car. But that provides an incentive to shop locally whenever possible – which keeps cash in your local community and supports local small businesses.
49.Learn To Be A Mechanic
Even if you make a habit of bringing your bike to the local shop when it needs maintenance, owning a bike will teach you some simple mechanic skills. These skills can be translated to doing other simple mechanical maintenance around your home, which can save you money since you can fix more things on your own instead of calling in an expensive expert.
50.Cut Your Healthcare Costs
Biking is great for your overall health, reducing your risk of heart and lung disease and cancer as well as everyday illness. That in turn benefits your wallet because it means less doctor visits and can reduce the cost of your health insurance policy.
51.Spend Less
Biking can provide an extra barrier, mental and physical, to making unnecessary trips – like eating out or visiting a ton of stores and ending up with things you don’t need. The savings can add up quickly, especially if the restaurant you love is just out of range of an easy ride.
52.Reduce Road Wear
Cars cause significant wear and tear on roads over time, which can cost cities – and in turn taxpayers – tons of money to repair. But this road damage is correlated to the size of the vehicle using the roads: it would take an extremely heavy bicyclist 17,000 trips to cause the same road damage as the average car!
53.Improve Tourism
People enjoy cities that have a big biking culture because they’re less crowded, smoggy, and loud. Plus, many cities are discovering the economic benefits of bike tourism – as they build infrastructure for residents to cycle, tourists are flocking to bikes when they visit as well.
54.Get A Cash Bonus
Some employers have implemented programs to pay their employees a bonus for biking to work as an incentive. Employers win because they can reduce their parking lots and employees are more creative at work and healthier. You win by getting more money in your paycheck.
55.Cut Your Tax Bill
If your employer pays you for cycling to work, you can actually claim that income without having to pay taxes on it later.
56.Drop Your Gym Membership
Switching to cycling as a way to build fitness can also allow you to cut another expense: your gym membership. Even if you don’t like to cycle for exercise in the winter, you can still save during the summer as many gyms will allow you to suspend your membership for a few months.
SOCIAL BENEFITS
Life is about finding happiness, and having great friends along for the journey can make all the difference. Cycling is a great way to not only make new friends, but to form deep bonds and memories that last a lifetime.
New Friends Can Change Your Life
Having different friends can dramatically change your life. For example, a friend you found through cycling may bring along other hobbies or opportunities for you. Or maybe you meet your significant other through a cycling club. The social benefits of cycling can have a far-reaching positive impact on your life that can be hard to predict when you first start out.
57.Make New Friends
Cycling can help you develop deeper bonds with existing friends who cycle, or it can be a gateway to making tons of new friends. Many cities and towns have local cycling clubs full of people eager to ride with new cyclists, and it’s easy to walk away from a bike race with a handful of new cycling friends.
Cycling Can Help You Develop Deeper Bonds With Existing Friends Who Cycle
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58.Belong To A Club
Cycling teams and clubs welcome cyclists of all ability levels, and they offer a ton of benefits both on the bike and off. For cyclists interested in racing, they offer potential teammates, while for more casual cyclists they’re a ready supply of potential friends to bike with and can provide a critical sense of purpose to your rides. Many clubs also offer discounts on bike gear.
59.Spend Quality Time Together
Nothing brings people together like adversity, and it’s relatively easy to manufacture difficult adventures on a bike – just target the biggest hill you can find, or a long route. Time spent cycling together is also spent disconnected from your phone and the outside world, and it can be the foundation of lasting friendships.
60.Create Memories
Tackle a massive route with big views or plenty of beer stops, and you’re sure to remember it forever. Cycling is a great way to enjoy experiences with friends that will turn into lasting memories and stories that you can share for years to come.
61.Teach Others
Being a mentor feels good – and it’s a possibility that cycling can open up for you. New cyclists are constantly joining the ranks (because they find out there are so many benefits to cycling!), and it takes an experienced cyclist to teach them the local routes, bike handling, and gear.
62.Make It A Family Affair
The bonds that cycling can build also apply to your family, since cycling is accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Cycling can also instill a sense of adventure and physical ability in your children, which will serve them well throughout their entire lives.
63.Support Charity
Cycling can be bigger than just you. Many race or organized ride entry fees directly benefit charity, and other rides require you to raise money for charity from family and friends. Best of all, you can pick and choose rides based on the charities you want to support.
64.Be More Interesting
When you meet someone at a party, do you think they would rather hear about your 9-5 job or your latest cycling adventure? The adventure that is an inherent part of cycling, along with the friendships you make along the way, can make you a more interesting person and help you attract even more friends.
65.Get More Dates
According to one survey, people are 23% more likely to go on a date with a cyclist than any other type of athlete – and you can better your chances of having a second date by riding for charity since 80% of potential dates think that’s an impressive feat.
According To One Survey, People Are 23% More Likely To Go On A Date With A Cyclist Than Any Other Type Of Athlete
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TRANSPORT BENEFITS
Cars aren’t always the best way to get around, and they certainly don’t have the versatility that bikes offer. Cycling can help you get places faster, take you to places a car couldn’t or wouldn’t go, and teach you something about your local community in the process.
Every Car Off The Road Matters
Switching to bikes can also make the roads better for everyone, since every car taken off the road is one less car contributing to congestion. That can make it easier for everyone to get around, improve quality of life in crowded cities, and even contribute to the environment by reducing idling.
66.Learn Local Roads
Let’s face it, not every ride can be a long ride - and the roads that you normally drive around your neighborhood may not be ideal for cycling. As a result, cycling forces you to explore the roads around your home that you don’t normally drive and may help you find a shortcut that you didn’t know existed.
67.Avoid Traffic
It’s often easy to get around time-consuming traffic on a bike that would be impossible to escape in a car. For example, you can walk your bike on the sidewalk to go around a jam, or hop on a bike path to avoid a congested area. In fact, cycling is faster than driving during rush hour in many cities.
Cycling Is Faster Than Driving During Rush Hour In Many Cities.
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68.Improve Your Navigational Skills
Being on a bicycle forces you to find your way, since checking your GPS requires you to actually stop and get off your bike – something that most people would rather not do. Practicing your navigational skills on the bike can help improve your sense of direction so that you may not need to check your GPS on your next car trip, either.
69.Explore New Places
Long bike rides can force you to get out of your geographic comfort zone and explore new roads and areas that might offer the perfect pavement. Cycling can also be a great motivation to check out streets that you wouldn’t ordinarily drive down. Best of all, there are numerous lists of amazing places to bikearound the world that cyclists can add to their bucket lists.
70.Access To Bike Paths
There are a growing number of bike paths both in cities and rural areas, and in many cases they offer much more spectacular views than nearby roads as well as the promise of zero traffic.
71.One Less Car On The Road
Taking your bike instead of a car means there will be one less car on the road. And while one car may not make a huge difference, people switching to bikes in large numbers can dramatically reduce traffic. That means less congestion for drivers and safer roads for cyclists – a win for everyone.
SPORTS BENEFITS
Cycling doesn’t have to be your only sport, or even your primary sport. But the training that cycling provides is an excellent way to increase your fitness and athletic prowess, setting you up for success in whatever sport you choose.
Work Your Mental Game
Cycling can impact not just your physical fitness for other sports, but can also reach your mental athleticism. The best athletes have the mental fortitude to push through difficult portions of a competition, and cycling can radically change the way you react to a burning sensation in your leg muscles.
72.Injury Prevention
For non-cyclists, adding a day or more of cycling per week can go a long way towards preventing injury. For starters, simply switching out your normal sport for cycling can help to prevent overuse injuries. In addition, cycling targets and stretches specific muscles like the hip flexors and glutes that many other sports, like running, can stress.
73.Cross-Training Is Key
There are a ton of benefits to trading out your normal sport for a day of cycling once a week or more. Cycling can teach aerobic efficiency because of the nature of spinning your legs at a high rate, as well as provide an alternative to the monotony of training a single sport day in and day out.
Cycling Can Teach Aerobic Efficiency
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74.Recover From Injury
Taking up cycling can be a great way to keep in shape while fighting injury that affects another sport. Peddling uses different muscles than running and many team sports and is low impact on joints and other sensitive areas, so there’s a good chance pre-existing injuries won’t be sensitive to cycling.
75.Tailor Your Intensity
Bikes come with a series of gears that make it easy to choose the intensity of workout you want. Have a rest day? Go with an easy gear. Looking for a resistance training workout or to reap the benefits of building strength in your legs? Drop the chain into your most difficult cog.
76.Build Explosive Strength
Racing bikes takes explosive power in your legs, since the pack can break away at any moment and you must be able to reel them in quickly. That same lower body strength can also help you accelerate from a run to a sprint, making you an asset player in any other sport.
77.Improve Your Endurance
Cycling, especially over long distances, takes grit and endurance. It requires your legs to be able to meter out power steadily, and to train your ability to recover quickly. And that lower body endurance isn’t specific to biking – you’ll find yourself lasting longer on runs and in team sports as well.
78.Practice At The Redline
In any sport, the difference between good athletes and great athletes is the ability to recover quickly after a hard, draining effort. Cycling can help your muscles adapt to hard efforts and active recoveries, which can boost your fitness and performance in any sport.
79.Get Faster
Cycling can make you a faster runner thanks to the high cadence of pedaling. The best runners have cadences of 180 steps per minute, which is difficult to achieve for many runners. But cycling forces you to aim for 90 large rotations per minute, which teaches your feet and legs to turn over quickly.
80.Train Without Injury
Any sport that involves running can wear down your joints if you’re practicing every day and increase your risk of injury, but every day without practice your fitness is at risk. Cycling as a form of cross-trainingcan allow you to train with a low injury risk because it has a very low impact on your knees and hips.
81.Build Aerobic Capacity
For any sporting events that last longer than a minute, your aerobic capacity – your body’s ability to move oxygen to your muscles - defines how long you can play at your best and has been directly linked to performance in soccer. Cycling is one of the best exercises to improve your aerobic capacity because it combines endurance with intervals of hard efforts.
Cycling is one of the best exercises to improve your aerobic capacity because it combines endurance with intervals of hard efforts.
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82.Create A Training Plan
Learning to craft a training plan is an important skill for training for competition in any sport. Cycling is a great way to learn how to create a plan because there are so many resources out there, including premade training plans that you can tailor to your needs.
83.Stay In Shape Through The Winter
Many runners fall out of shape during the winter months because they’re hesitant to go outside in cold and wet weather. But cycling can easily be done inside by putting your bike on a trainer stand, which mimics the feeling of biking on the road and can help you stay in shape ahead of nice spring riding weather.
84.Get Competitive
Cycling can be a fun and welcoming introduction to the world of competitive sports, since there are many races that cater to beginners and pros alike. Racing can in turn encourage you to become a better cyclist or athlete in another sport, which only enhances many of the health, social, and exercise benefits from cycling.
85.Balance Better
Bikes don’t simply stay upright by themselves, so the simple act of cycling and focusing on keeping the bike steady teaches your body and mind to balance. The resulting improvement in balance can rub off on every other movement you make throughout the day, of which balance is an important and often underrated element.
86.Learn To Use Your Body Weight
Cycling is a technical sport – there are descents, corners, and sudden stops and accelerations. Staying upright on two wheels requires understanding how to move your body weight around to adjust to the bike’s motion. While training this might feel specific to cycling, you’ll notice the benefits in many sports through improved agility and coordination
87.Build Mental Fortitude
All sports are mentally demanding, and cycling is a great way to train for that. Long hours of solitude, freezing your fingers off during a winter ride, or dripping water from your whole body after riding through a rainstorm all build mental fortitude that can help carry you through any challenge, whether in sport or in life.
All sports are mentally demanding, and cycling is a great way to train for that
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88.Get In A Training Rhythm
Training for cycling requires dedication, endurance, and the willingness to create a plan and stick to it. That same training ethic and the skill of building a training plan is crucial for nearly any sport and can be easily translated.
89.Improve Reflexes
Situations can change fast on the road. In a race, changes in speed can be sudden, while even during daily rides it’s important to be able to shift and clamp down on the breaks quickly. Because of this, cycling can help you build reflexes in your hands and legs that can increase your quickness in all parts of your life.
PERSONAL BENEFITS
Cycling can also have some unexpected benefits that are hard to measure, but that any experienced cyclist knows to be real.
Change Your Outlook
These benefits reach beyond your body to your mind and outlook on life, and can play a huge role in how you choose to live and your quality of life.
90.Find Inner Peace
Long rides can seem monotonous at first, but after enough hours on the road staring at your front wheel it’s easy to enter another, higher mental state altogether. This zen state isn’t “runner’s high” – instead, it’s a relaxation and acceptance that can only come from cycling long distances.
91.Rep Your Style
Riding a bicycle can be a statement of your lifestyle and values in itself, but you can also make a serious style statement with your choice of bike. Those who believe that life should be lived in the fast lane can pick up a racing-style road bike, while more easygoing people can ride a beach cruiser or mountain bike.
92.Be More Resourceful
Unfortunately, things won’t always go right on the road. You may get a flat, find yourself lost on a new road with a dead phone, or run out of food or water. Cycling teaches you to be resourceful when you’re out on the road by yourself, and that same resourcefulness can help you solve problems that crop up in all aspects of your life.
Cycling Teaches You To Be Resourceful When You’re Out On The Road By Yourself
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93.Be More Adventurous
Cycling encourages exploration, and not just of your local roads. There are tons of amazing rides that other cyclists have compiled, and one of the best things about biking is that it almost always rewards taking a map and drawing out a new route from scratch.
94.Don’t Waste A Nice Day
There’s nothing worse than giving up a sunny day because you don’t know what to go outside and do with yourself. Cycling can be your go-to activity for nice days to feel the wind in your face, catch the sun on your skin, and enjoy the beauty of your surroundings on a blue-sky day.
95.See The World
Traveling the world is on many people’s bucket lists, and cycling offers a great excuse to make it to far-flung destinations that you wouldn’t otherwise see. Many tourist-friendly cities now offer bike tours, while many countries have developed Tour de France-like routes intended for cycling vacations packed with sightseeing and amenities.
96.Improve Your Productivity
Numerous studies have found that people who cycle to work are more productive than their non-cycling peers. Opting to bike instead of relying on public transit or sitting in traffic can leave you feeling refreshed and energized rather than feeling stressed and potentially late for work.
Numerous studies have found that people who cycle to work are more productive than their non-cycling peers.
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97.Boost Creative Breakthroughs
While your heart rate may drop soon after you hop off the bike, the benefits of boosting blood flow to your brain can last through the remainder of the day. Exercise has been shown to increase problem solving abilities and can encourage your creative juices to flow freely.
98.Learn Self-Sufficiency
Especially on long rides, anything that can go wrong, will. That’s why cyclists have to be self-sufficient, carrying everything they need to fix a flat, find their way, and fuel themselves throughout a ride. That capacity for self-sufficiency translates well to other activities, like traveling on your own or even work around the house.
99.Snack More
Eat more salt? Probably not what any non-athlete would hear from their doctor, but increasing salt intakecan actually be beneficial for frequent cyclists to avoid hyponatremia during long rides. That means getting to enjoy more of the snacks you love that aren’t necessarily the healthiest.
100.Drink More Beer
Let’s face it, many cyclists are just in it for the beer. Finishing off a big ride with a beer is an essential partof the celebration and recovery. And best of all, cycling will help your body burn the calories from that beer so you don’t have to worry about gaining weight from it.
101.Have More Fun
Cycling has a ton of benefits, any of which could be motivation enough to hop on a bike. But at the end of the day, it’s the fun of cycling that will keep you coming back – ask any biker how much fun cycling is, and an hour later they’ll probably still be listing all of the cool adventures they’ve had on their bike with friends.
Taking up cycling can be one of the best decisions you’ll make in life. Whether you choose to hop on a bike for health reasons, to help the environment, try a new activity, or even to supplement another sport, cycling is a ton of fun.
Health Benefits
Environmental Benefits
Economic Benefits
Social Benefits
Transport Benefits
Sports Benefits
Personal Benefits
And you won’t be riding alone. Globally, more people own bikes than own cars – about 42% of the world’s population – and that number is growing every year.
FOR EXAMPLE, in the US, the number of people biking to work has grown by 60% over the past 10 years and the number of cyclists has grown by 15 million people overall.
If you’re still on the fence about joining the global community of cyclists, Here Are 101 Amazing Benefits to cycling that span all aspects of life.
The best part is, you only need to choose one to start cycling – but as soon as you start, all the other benefits will follow!
HEALTH BENEFITS
Exercise Is A Critical Component Of Staying Healthy. But The Type Of Exercise You Do – Strength Or Cardio, Sprinting Or Endurance - Also Matters. Cycling Is A Great Way To Capture The Health Benefits Of These Different Styles Of Fitness Since It Blends The Line Between Lower Body Strength, Aerobic Training, Intervals, And Long Rides In The Saddle.
Cycle Regularly And Mix Up Workouts For Maximum Benefits
Of course, health benefits don’t come for free. While you might see some benefits after your first few times on the bike, many of these benefits require cycling regularly to develop and maintain. Mixing up your cycling workouts, for example by doing intervals one day a week and a long ride later in the week, can help you to hit on different aspects of fitness.
1.Build Muscle
Cycling is a serious leg workout, and your quads, hamstrings, and glutes are sure to respond by building new muscle fibers to adapt. Although cycling at low resistance will slowly build muscles, you can maximize the gains and build muscle faster by riding uphill, riding in higher gears, or including sprint intervals in your workout.
2.Cut Fat
Low intensity, aerobic, and consistent exercise is one of the most effective ways to lose body fat. Cycling for an hour or so each day is plenty to begin losing fat, and you can maximize the loss by heading into a training section after fasting for a few hours – but be careful not to overeat at the end of the ride.
Low Intensity, Aerobic, And Consistent Exercise Is One Of The Most Effective Ways To Lose Body Fat.
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3.Strengthen Your Legs
Cycling is far more fun than lifting weights in the basement, but it can help you achieve similar strength gains in your lower body. The best way to build brute strength, particularly in your quads, is to grind away in your highest gear – but if you drop below 60 pedal strokes per minute, drop a gear so that you don’t crush your knee joints.
4.Decrease Your Stress
Many athletes point to the “runner’s high” as a zen mental state that comes from exercise, but the same stress-free feeling can be found through cycling. Cycling forces you to regulate your breathing, breathe more deeply, and focus on the task at hand rather than the stress of other parts of your life.
5.Save Your Knees
Running, and most team sports that involves running, slowly breaks down your knee joints over time. Cycling, on the other hand, has a low impact on your knee joints and as a result is a sport you can participate even in old age. Be sure to fit your bike properly, since a seat that is too high or low can cause grinding or over extension.
6.Breath Deep
Just as you can train the muscles in your legs, you can train the muscles that expand and contract your lungs. Cycling is a great way for this because there are ample opportunities to include intervals in your workouts, or to practice cresting a hill and then keeping up the hard effort. This type of training can help to expand your lung capacity and teach you to move air more effectively.
7.Cheer Up
Even 30 minutes of cycling or other aerobic exercise per day has been demonstrated to improve your subjective mood. In addition, according to one study, people who exercise routinely have a decreased chance of falling into depression as they age.
8.Reduce Anxiety
Cycling has been shown to reduce stress levels by up to 40%, and as a result can keep feelings of anxiety at bay. By keeping your mind on the road in front of you rather than aspects of work or life that are bothering you, cycling can provided a much-needed mental break.
9.Stretch Yourself
The motion of cycling forces you to extend specific muscles in your lower body that don’t often get stretched, like your glutes and hip flexors. This stretching can increase your overall range of motion and flexibility. However, it’s also important to remember to stretch these muscles after rides so they don’t tighten up after expanding.
10.Sleep Better
Decreases in fitness have been found to correlate with levels of insomnia in both men and women, so it’s important to stay in shape to give yourself the best possible chance of a good night’s sleep. Cycling in particular is a great way to reap exercise-induced sleep benefits since it reduces anxiety and keeps weight down, both of which are thought to contribute to insomnia.
11.Boost Your Libido
Building your cardiovascular system is a great way to increase your sex drive and counteract aging. In men, athletes can have the sex drive of non-athletes up to five years younger and one study found that men over 50 who cycle at least three hours a week are 30% less likely to experience impotence. In women, cardiovascular exercise can delay menopause by up to several years.
12.Heart Healthy
Hopping on a bike can drastically cut your risk of heart disease. One study found that cycling regularly can decrease your chance of developing heart problems by 50%, while another study found that those who ride just 20 miles per week have half the heart disease risk as people who don’t exercise.
13.Work Those Lungs
Regular cardiovascular exercise can help to keep your lungs healthy by teaching them to move air more efficiently. Breathing hard actually forces the muscles that expand and contract your lungs to work harder, which can decrease your risk of losing lung function as your age.
14.Improve Your Cholesterol
Aerobic exercise, like cycling, is one of the best ways to boost your HDL cholesterol – the good cholesterol – and decrease your LDL cholesterol – the bad cholesterol. Just two months of regular cycling at an intensity that raises your heart rate, but doesn’t leave you breathless, is enough to raise your HDL cholesterol by 5%.
15.Fight Cancer
Exercise in general can reduce your risk of cancer, but studies have honed in on cycling in particular as one of the best sports to reduce cancer risk. One study in particular looked at bike commuters, and found that cycling to work can reduce your chances of developing cancer by 45%.
Cycling To Work Can Reduce Your Chances Of Developing Cancer By 45%.
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16.Control Diabetes
People with Type II diabetes often experience poor circulation in their lower body, which can lead to swollen feet. Cycling is a great way to help enhance blood return from the lower body, reducing swelling and foot pain. Because cycling uses up glucose in your muscle cells as well, it can also help people with diabetes regulate their blood sugar.
17.Boost Your Brain Power
Cycling doesn’t just build blood vessels in your leg muscles – it also builds them in your brain. As a result, hopping on a bike regularly can improve blood flow through your brain which can help replenish the neurons involved in thought processing and memory.
18.Eat Frequently
Cycling can burn through your body’s fat and sugar reserves quickly, requiring you to eat small portions frequently to replenish your energy during long rides. That same habit of eating small portions frequently, rather than stomach ache-inducing large portions all at once, can help your digestive tract function more smoothly off the bike, too.
19.Improve Your Blood Pressure
Any physician will tell you that high blood pressure is a risk factor for having a heart attack. They’ll also tell you that cycling is one of the best exercises for lowering your blood pressure since it helps your body circulate blood from your legs back to your heart.
20.Get Addicted
For some people, cycling is more than just a fun sport – it’s an addiction. But cycling is a positive addiction, one that can help to replace or stave off developing other, less benevolent addictions and that can add significant satisfaction to your daily life.
21.Be In Tune With Your Body
Cycling, especially at a competitive level, requires you to understand all of the nuanced signals your body gives you about mood, fatigue, stress, and exertion. Tuning yourself to recognize these signals can be helpful in assessing and adapting your daily life, for example to stress at work or illness.
22.Look Younger
A study from Stanford University found that cycling regularly can reduce signs of aging by protecting your skin from harmful UV rays. The secret is that increased circulation allows your skin cells to gain nutrients and flush out toxins – just remember to lather on the sun tan lotion when you go out for a ride.
23.Regulate Your Digestion
Cycling also works the muscles inside your body – the ones surrounding your digestive tract. Cyclists have more frequent bowel movements. That may not seem like a benefit, but it actually reduces feelings of being bloated, can result in softer stools that are easier to pass, and can reduce your risk of digestive tract cancers.
24.Keep Disease At Bay
Aerobic exercise can be a significant boost to your immune system thanks to the boost in circulation it provides. One study found that people who exercised five days a week were more than 40% less likely to get the common cold compared to people who didn’t exercise, and when they did get sick they reported symptoms as being 30% less severe compared to non-athletes.
25.Improve Bone Structure
Resistance exercises are one of the best ways to improve bone density and fight osteoporosis as you age. Pushing and pulling on the pedals on the bike works the muscles in your legs, which in turn work the bones and signal your body to keep up bone structure.
26.Live Longer
By reducing your risk of some of the most common killers – car accidents, heart and lung disease, and cancer, cycling can actually help to stretch your lifespan. Numerous studies looking directly at lifespan have found that cyclists tend to live longer than non-athletes, by an average of an extra five years for men and four years for women.
Cyclists Tend To Live Longer Than Non-Athletes
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27.Treat Arthritis
Cycling involves a low impact motion that makes it a great option to strengthen muscles even when most other sports cause pain. One recent study found that because of this, cycling can both slow down the development of arthritis and reduce its effects on patients who experience arthritis pain in their knees.
28.Your Newborn Will Thank You
Exercising during pregnancy has a number of benefits for both mothers and their newborns. Several studies have found that exercise can reduce the risk of caesarean sections and dangerous complications during childbirth, like preeclampsia. Children of parents who exercise also have a 50% lower risk of obesity.
29.Stay Hydrated
Good hydration can promote cardiovascular health, keep your joints and muscles in working order, and help regulate your body temperature. Cycling is a great way to make staying hydrated part of your routine since performing at your best on and off the bike forces you to drink lots of water.
30.Wake Up
Studies have found a strong link between regular exercise and reduced fatigue. In one example, study participants who cycled at low intensity for 20 minutes daily reported feelings of fatigue 65% less often than participants who did not exercise. While the mechanism for this isn’t clear, researchers believe it may be because the stimulation provided to the nervous system lasts longer than the workout itself.
31.Improve Posture
Correct posture is a big deal when cycling. It affects not only comfort during long rides, but also speed on the road and your risk for developing injury. While developing good posture on the bike takes some practice, that posture improvement will translate to all aspects of your life and can reduce your risk of back pain.
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Let’s face it – cars aren’t great for the environment. They produce noise pollution and air pollution, and are one of the largest contributors of man-made greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But since bicycles don’t run on diesel, they can be an environmentally sustainable alternative to cars.
Catalyze The Change
It's often said that one person switching to cycling won’t make a dent in the number of cars on the road, but switching to cycling can encourage friends, family, and even strangers to trade their cars for bikes. And the more bicycles that replace cars, the better these benefits get.
32.Save on CO2
Even a short commute of around 5 miles to work each day can quickly add up to more than 100 gallons of gas over a year, and correspondingly contribute to carbon dioxide emissions and global climate change. Biking to work doesn’t require fossil fuels and can help to reduce your personal contribution to climate change.
Biking To Work Doesn’t Require Fossil Fuels And Can Help To Reduce Your Personal Contribution To Climate Change.
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33.Reduce Smog
Cars are among the largest contributors to air pollution because they emit not only carbon dioxide, but also pollutants like nitrogen oxides and particulate soot. Cycling doesn’t produce any of these pollutants and can help to keep city air clean to breathe.
34.Cut Noise Pollution
Compared to a car engine, bikes are basically silent. Reducing noise pollution, especially in crowded cities, can drastically reduce noise complaints and make for a more pleasant environment. In addition, reducing noise pollution can actually have physical health benefits since long exposure to moderate noise levels can cause auditory damage.
35.Use Less Space
A single parking space for a car can fit up to 12 bikes, which on the scale of a city can be a ton of real estate converted to uses other than parking. In fact, cities often subsidize the cost of parking – so that taxpayer money is being used to pay for people to drive.
36.No Idling
Idling in traffic can suck up gas, producing carbon dioxide emissions and contributing to air and noise pollution. Not only do bikes not contribute to these problems when they’re stopped – they also require you to stop less frequently because you can weave through traffic or use a designated bike path.
37.Use Less Resources
Bikes do require materials and their manufacture has some environmental negatives, but the manufacturing footprint for bikes is minimal compared to cars. That’s even more true when accounting for batteries, leather seats, and the sheer amount of industrial materials required to put together a car compared to a bike.
38.Leave batteries behind
All cars, even environmentally friendly electric vehicles, use large batteries that need to be replaced every few years. These batteries produce toxic waste that is hazardous to dispose and can’t be recycled. Bikes don’t require any batteries.
39.Save trees
All tires use rubber, which typically comes from rubber plantations planted over rain forests that have been clear-cut and burned. But the skinny tires of a road bike use far less rubber than car tires, which helps to reduce demand for rubber and can save rain forests from being converted to plantations.
40.Reduce Water Pollution
Motor oil, brake fluid oil, and antifreeze all leak from cars, and thanks to the number of cars on the roads have become a major source of water pollution and contain a variety of toxic substances. Bikes, on the other hand, don’t require any oil – so riding a bike can help to keep the water we drink clean of toxins.
41.Save Animals
The number of animals killed by cars each day is staggering – it’s estimated to be in the tens of millions globally. While bike-animal collisions can happen, the slower speed of bikes make these collisions much more avoidable and far less dangerous to both humans and animals.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Everyone wants to save money, and cycling is one way to keep more of your hard-earned paycheck in your pocket. Owning a bike is far cheaper than owning a car thanks to parking, insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs. And while a bike can be a significant initial investment, the money saved by switching from a bike to a car can quickly pay that back.
Bikes Help Cities, Too
Cycling can also have an economic benefit that reaches beyond your own pockets. Cities generally lose money on giving up real estate for parking spaces and cars can cause significant road wear that has to be fixed. All of these things cost cities money, which in turn means higher taxes for everyone. So switching to biking can save your entire community a little dough.
42.Bikes Are Cheaper Than Cars
If you need a way to get around, from a purely economic standpoint choosing between a new bike that costs a couple hundred dollars and a new car that costs several thousand dollars or more is a no-brainer. Even after spending money on accessories to enable your bike to carry gear and ride in any weather, you’ll save by opting for a nice bike instead of a cheap car.
43.Use Public Bikes
Although far cheaper than a car, a new bike comes with its own price tag as well as additional maintenance costs over the life of the bike. Many cities offer bike-sharing programs that you can use for a low monthly cost, saving you even more money while still meeting most of your transportation needs.
44.Save On Gas
Commuting 5 miles to work by car every day can use up more than 100 gallons of gas, not to mention the additional gas spent on running errands around your neighborhood. Using a bike for these trips instead can save a ton of gas, which in turn saves you hundreds to thousands of dollars per year – enough to recoup investing in a bike and accessories in just five months.
45.Save On Parking
Parking your car in many places isn’t free – expect to pay a meter or invest in an expensive parking pass. Parking a bike, on the other hand, is almost always free. Even buying a reliable bike lock is far less costly than paying daily parking fees.
Buying A Reliable Bike Lock Is Far Less Costly Than Paying Daily Parking Fees.
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46.Drop Your Insurance
Car insurance can cost many hundreds of dollars per year, more than the cost of a nice new bicycle in many cases. While cycling more may not allow you to drop your car entirely, driving less and cycling more can save you money by making pay-as-you-go insurance contracts more economical.
47.Get Around Faster
Time is money, as the saying goes. In many cities, choosing to bike instead of drive can actually get you to your destination faster when traffic is bad. Biking can also save you time since you don’t need to search for a parking space when you get to your destination.
48.Support Local Businesses
Let’s face it – you’re not likely to travel as far or as fast on a bike as in a car. But that provides an incentive to shop locally whenever possible – which keeps cash in your local community and supports local small businesses.
49.Learn To Be A Mechanic
Even if you make a habit of bringing your bike to the local shop when it needs maintenance, owning a bike will teach you some simple mechanic skills. These skills can be translated to doing other simple mechanical maintenance around your home, which can save you money since you can fix more things on your own instead of calling in an expensive expert.
50.Cut Your Healthcare Costs
Biking is great for your overall health, reducing your risk of heart and lung disease and cancer as well as everyday illness. That in turn benefits your wallet because it means less doctor visits and can reduce the cost of your health insurance policy.
51.Spend Less
Biking can provide an extra barrier, mental and physical, to making unnecessary trips – like eating out or visiting a ton of stores and ending up with things you don’t need. The savings can add up quickly, especially if the restaurant you love is just out of range of an easy ride.
52.Reduce Road Wear
Cars cause significant wear and tear on roads over time, which can cost cities – and in turn taxpayers – tons of money to repair. But this road damage is correlated to the size of the vehicle using the roads: it would take an extremely heavy bicyclist 17,000 trips to cause the same road damage as the average car!
53.Improve Tourism
People enjoy cities that have a big biking culture because they’re less crowded, smoggy, and loud. Plus, many cities are discovering the economic benefits of bike tourism – as they build infrastructure for residents to cycle, tourists are flocking to bikes when they visit as well.
54.Get A Cash Bonus
Some employers have implemented programs to pay their employees a bonus for biking to work as an incentive. Employers win because they can reduce their parking lots and employees are more creative at work and healthier. You win by getting more money in your paycheck.
55.Cut Your Tax Bill
If your employer pays you for cycling to work, you can actually claim that income without having to pay taxes on it later.
56.Drop Your Gym Membership
Switching to cycling as a way to build fitness can also allow you to cut another expense: your gym membership. Even if you don’t like to cycle for exercise in the winter, you can still save during the summer as many gyms will allow you to suspend your membership for a few months.
SOCIAL BENEFITS
Life is about finding happiness, and having great friends along for the journey can make all the difference. Cycling is a great way to not only make new friends, but to form deep bonds and memories that last a lifetime.
New Friends Can Change Your Life
Having different friends can dramatically change your life. For example, a friend you found through cycling may bring along other hobbies or opportunities for you. Or maybe you meet your significant other through a cycling club. The social benefits of cycling can have a far-reaching positive impact on your life that can be hard to predict when you first start out.
57.Make New Friends
Cycling can help you develop deeper bonds with existing friends who cycle, or it can be a gateway to making tons of new friends. Many cities and towns have local cycling clubs full of people eager to ride with new cyclists, and it’s easy to walk away from a bike race with a handful of new cycling friends.
Cycling Can Help You Develop Deeper Bonds With Existing Friends Who Cycle
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58.Belong To A Club
Cycling teams and clubs welcome cyclists of all ability levels, and they offer a ton of benefits both on the bike and off. For cyclists interested in racing, they offer potential teammates, while for more casual cyclists they’re a ready supply of potential friends to bike with and can provide a critical sense of purpose to your rides. Many clubs also offer discounts on bike gear.
59.Spend Quality Time Together
Nothing brings people together like adversity, and it’s relatively easy to manufacture difficult adventures on a bike – just target the biggest hill you can find, or a long route. Time spent cycling together is also spent disconnected from your phone and the outside world, and it can be the foundation of lasting friendships.
60.Create Memories
Tackle a massive route with big views or plenty of beer stops, and you’re sure to remember it forever. Cycling is a great way to enjoy experiences with friends that will turn into lasting memories and stories that you can share for years to come.
61.Teach Others
Being a mentor feels good – and it’s a possibility that cycling can open up for you. New cyclists are constantly joining the ranks (because they find out there are so many benefits to cycling!), and it takes an experienced cyclist to teach them the local routes, bike handling, and gear.
62.Make It A Family Affair
The bonds that cycling can build also apply to your family, since cycling is accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Cycling can also instill a sense of adventure and physical ability in your children, which will serve them well throughout their entire lives.
63.Support Charity
Cycling can be bigger than just you. Many race or organized ride entry fees directly benefit charity, and other rides require you to raise money for charity from family and friends. Best of all, you can pick and choose rides based on the charities you want to support.
64.Be More Interesting
When you meet someone at a party, do you think they would rather hear about your 9-5 job or your latest cycling adventure? The adventure that is an inherent part of cycling, along with the friendships you make along the way, can make you a more interesting person and help you attract even more friends.
65.Get More Dates
According to one survey, people are 23% more likely to go on a date with a cyclist than any other type of athlete – and you can better your chances of having a second date by riding for charity since 80% of potential dates think that’s an impressive feat.
According To One Survey, People Are 23% More Likely To Go On A Date With A Cyclist Than Any Other Type Of Athlete
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TRANSPORT BENEFITS
Cars aren’t always the best way to get around, and they certainly don’t have the versatility that bikes offer. Cycling can help you get places faster, take you to places a car couldn’t or wouldn’t go, and teach you something about your local community in the process.
Every Car Off The Road Matters
Switching to bikes can also make the roads better for everyone, since every car taken off the road is one less car contributing to congestion. That can make it easier for everyone to get around, improve quality of life in crowded cities, and even contribute to the environment by reducing idling.
66.Learn Local Roads
Let’s face it, not every ride can be a long ride - and the roads that you normally drive around your neighborhood may not be ideal for cycling. As a result, cycling forces you to explore the roads around your home that you don’t normally drive and may help you find a shortcut that you didn’t know existed.
67.Avoid Traffic
It’s often easy to get around time-consuming traffic on a bike that would be impossible to escape in a car. For example, you can walk your bike on the sidewalk to go around a jam, or hop on a bike path to avoid a congested area. In fact, cycling is faster than driving during rush hour in many cities.
Cycling Is Faster Than Driving During Rush Hour In Many Cities.
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68.Improve Your Navigational Skills
Being on a bicycle forces you to find your way, since checking your GPS requires you to actually stop and get off your bike – something that most people would rather not do. Practicing your navigational skills on the bike can help improve your sense of direction so that you may not need to check your GPS on your next car trip, either.
69.Explore New Places
Long bike rides can force you to get out of your geographic comfort zone and explore new roads and areas that might offer the perfect pavement. Cycling can also be a great motivation to check out streets that you wouldn’t ordinarily drive down. Best of all, there are numerous lists of amazing places to bikearound the world that cyclists can add to their bucket lists.
70.Access To Bike Paths
There are a growing number of bike paths both in cities and rural areas, and in many cases they offer much more spectacular views than nearby roads as well as the promise of zero traffic.
71.One Less Car On The Road
Taking your bike instead of a car means there will be one less car on the road. And while one car may not make a huge difference, people switching to bikes in large numbers can dramatically reduce traffic. That means less congestion for drivers and safer roads for cyclists – a win for everyone.
SPORTS BENEFITS
Cycling doesn’t have to be your only sport, or even your primary sport. But the training that cycling provides is an excellent way to increase your fitness and athletic prowess, setting you up for success in whatever sport you choose.
Work Your Mental Game
Cycling can impact not just your physical fitness for other sports, but can also reach your mental athleticism. The best athletes have the mental fortitude to push through difficult portions of a competition, and cycling can radically change the way you react to a burning sensation in your leg muscles.
72.Injury Prevention
For non-cyclists, adding a day or more of cycling per week can go a long way towards preventing injury. For starters, simply switching out your normal sport for cycling can help to prevent overuse injuries. In addition, cycling targets and stretches specific muscles like the hip flexors and glutes that many other sports, like running, can stress.
73.Cross-Training Is Key
There are a ton of benefits to trading out your normal sport for a day of cycling once a week or more. Cycling can teach aerobic efficiency because of the nature of spinning your legs at a high rate, as well as provide an alternative to the monotony of training a single sport day in and day out.
Cycling Can Teach Aerobic Efficiency
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74.Recover From Injury
Taking up cycling can be a great way to keep in shape while fighting injury that affects another sport. Peddling uses different muscles than running and many team sports and is low impact on joints and other sensitive areas, so there’s a good chance pre-existing injuries won’t be sensitive to cycling.
75.Tailor Your Intensity
Bikes come with a series of gears that make it easy to choose the intensity of workout you want. Have a rest day? Go with an easy gear. Looking for a resistance training workout or to reap the benefits of building strength in your legs? Drop the chain into your most difficult cog.
76.Build Explosive Strength
Racing bikes takes explosive power in your legs, since the pack can break away at any moment and you must be able to reel them in quickly. That same lower body strength can also help you accelerate from a run to a sprint, making you an asset player in any other sport.
77.Improve Your Endurance
Cycling, especially over long distances, takes grit and endurance. It requires your legs to be able to meter out power steadily, and to train your ability to recover quickly. And that lower body endurance isn’t specific to biking – you’ll find yourself lasting longer on runs and in team sports as well.
78.Practice At The Redline
In any sport, the difference between good athletes and great athletes is the ability to recover quickly after a hard, draining effort. Cycling can help your muscles adapt to hard efforts and active recoveries, which can boost your fitness and performance in any sport.
79.Get Faster
Cycling can make you a faster runner thanks to the high cadence of pedaling. The best runners have cadences of 180 steps per minute, which is difficult to achieve for many runners. But cycling forces you to aim for 90 large rotations per minute, which teaches your feet and legs to turn over quickly.
80.Train Without Injury
Any sport that involves running can wear down your joints if you’re practicing every day and increase your risk of injury, but every day without practice your fitness is at risk. Cycling as a form of cross-trainingcan allow you to train with a low injury risk because it has a very low impact on your knees and hips.
81.Build Aerobic Capacity
For any sporting events that last longer than a minute, your aerobic capacity – your body’s ability to move oxygen to your muscles - defines how long you can play at your best and has been directly linked to performance in soccer. Cycling is one of the best exercises to improve your aerobic capacity because it combines endurance with intervals of hard efforts.
Cycling is one of the best exercises to improve your aerobic capacity because it combines endurance with intervals of hard efforts.
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82.Create A Training Plan
Learning to craft a training plan is an important skill for training for competition in any sport. Cycling is a great way to learn how to create a plan because there are so many resources out there, including premade training plans that you can tailor to your needs.
83.Stay In Shape Through The Winter
Many runners fall out of shape during the winter months because they’re hesitant to go outside in cold and wet weather. But cycling can easily be done inside by putting your bike on a trainer stand, which mimics the feeling of biking on the road and can help you stay in shape ahead of nice spring riding weather.
84.Get Competitive
Cycling can be a fun and welcoming introduction to the world of competitive sports, since there are many races that cater to beginners and pros alike. Racing can in turn encourage you to become a better cyclist or athlete in another sport, which only enhances many of the health, social, and exercise benefits from cycling.
85.Balance Better
Bikes don’t simply stay upright by themselves, so the simple act of cycling and focusing on keeping the bike steady teaches your body and mind to balance. The resulting improvement in balance can rub off on every other movement you make throughout the day, of which balance is an important and often underrated element.
86.Learn To Use Your Body Weight
Cycling is a technical sport – there are descents, corners, and sudden stops and accelerations. Staying upright on two wheels requires understanding how to move your body weight around to adjust to the bike’s motion. While training this might feel specific to cycling, you’ll notice the benefits in many sports through improved agility and coordination
87.Build Mental Fortitude
All sports are mentally demanding, and cycling is a great way to train for that. Long hours of solitude, freezing your fingers off during a winter ride, or dripping water from your whole body after riding through a rainstorm all build mental fortitude that can help carry you through any challenge, whether in sport or in life.
All sports are mentally demanding, and cycling is a great way to train for that
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88.Get In A Training Rhythm
Training for cycling requires dedication, endurance, and the willingness to create a plan and stick to it. That same training ethic and the skill of building a training plan is crucial for nearly any sport and can be easily translated.
89.Improve Reflexes
Situations can change fast on the road. In a race, changes in speed can be sudden, while even during daily rides it’s important to be able to shift and clamp down on the breaks quickly. Because of this, cycling can help you build reflexes in your hands and legs that can increase your quickness in all parts of your life.
PERSONAL BENEFITS
Cycling can also have some unexpected benefits that are hard to measure, but that any experienced cyclist knows to be real.
Change Your Outlook
These benefits reach beyond your body to your mind and outlook on life, and can play a huge role in how you choose to live and your quality of life.
90.Find Inner Peace
Long rides can seem monotonous at first, but after enough hours on the road staring at your front wheel it’s easy to enter another, higher mental state altogether. This zen state isn’t “runner’s high” – instead, it’s a relaxation and acceptance that can only come from cycling long distances.
91.Rep Your Style
Riding a bicycle can be a statement of your lifestyle and values in itself, but you can also make a serious style statement with your choice of bike. Those who believe that life should be lived in the fast lane can pick up a racing-style road bike, while more easygoing people can ride a beach cruiser or mountain bike.
92.Be More Resourceful
Unfortunately, things won’t always go right on the road. You may get a flat, find yourself lost on a new road with a dead phone, or run out of food or water. Cycling teaches you to be resourceful when you’re out on the road by yourself, and that same resourcefulness can help you solve problems that crop up in all aspects of your life.
Cycling Teaches You To Be Resourceful When You’re Out On The Road By Yourself
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93.Be More Adventurous
Cycling encourages exploration, and not just of your local roads. There are tons of amazing rides that other cyclists have compiled, and one of the best things about biking is that it almost always rewards taking a map and drawing out a new route from scratch.
94.Don’t Waste A Nice Day
There’s nothing worse than giving up a sunny day because you don’t know what to go outside and do with yourself. Cycling can be your go-to activity for nice days to feel the wind in your face, catch the sun on your skin, and enjoy the beauty of your surroundings on a blue-sky day.
95.See The World
Traveling the world is on many people’s bucket lists, and cycling offers a great excuse to make it to far-flung destinations that you wouldn’t otherwise see. Many tourist-friendly cities now offer bike tours, while many countries have developed Tour de France-like routes intended for cycling vacations packed with sightseeing and amenities.
96.Improve Your Productivity
Numerous studies have found that people who cycle to work are more productive than their non-cycling peers. Opting to bike instead of relying on public transit or sitting in traffic can leave you feeling refreshed and energized rather than feeling stressed and potentially late for work.
Numerous studies have found that people who cycle to work are more productive than their non-cycling peers.
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97.Boost Creative Breakthroughs
While your heart rate may drop soon after you hop off the bike, the benefits of boosting blood flow to your brain can last through the remainder of the day. Exercise has been shown to increase problem solving abilities and can encourage your creative juices to flow freely.
98.Learn Self-Sufficiency
Especially on long rides, anything that can go wrong, will. That’s why cyclists have to be self-sufficient, carrying everything they need to fix a flat, find their way, and fuel themselves throughout a ride. That capacity for self-sufficiency translates well to other activities, like traveling on your own or even work around the house.
99.Snack More
Eat more salt? Probably not what any non-athlete would hear from their doctor, but increasing salt intakecan actually be beneficial for frequent cyclists to avoid hyponatremia during long rides. That means getting to enjoy more of the snacks you love that aren’t necessarily the healthiest.
100.Drink More Beer
Let’s face it, many cyclists are just in it for the beer. Finishing off a big ride with a beer is an essential partof the celebration and recovery. And best of all, cycling will help your body burn the calories from that beer so you don’t have to worry about gaining weight from it.
101.Have More Fun
Cycling has a ton of benefits, any of which could be motivation enough to hop on a bike. But at the end of the day, it’s the fun of cycling that will keep you coming back – ask any biker how much fun cycling is, and an hour later they’ll probably still be listing all of the cool adventures they’ve had on their bike with friends.
Those who don't cycle wonder why cyclists risk life and limb doing what they love. The answer lies in the fact that cycling could be the one and only addiction that gives you a lasting high that is actually good for you.
The afterglow lasts the whole day. I'd have to say that a good cycling workout is as satisfying as good sex. Those who have not tried it should give it a go.
The afterglow lasts the whole day. I'd have to say that a good cycling workout is as satisfying as good sex. Those who have not tried it should give it a go.
I am a long distance swimmer and runner. Hahaha
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