Riding Your Bike = Fun and Fitness!

Most of us relegate our bikes to the garage the moment we attain a driver’s license; and there they sadly sit, gathering dust.  Yet, there are so many benefits to riding a bike that we often end up coming back to our trusty two-wheelers later in life and wondering how we ever could have left them by the wayside in favor of gas-guzzling, emission-spewing, majorly expensive cars.  So if you’re thinking of taking a spin on your old Schwinn, attaching a kid seat to cart your baby to the park and the farmer’s market, or even training for a triathlon, here are just a few ways in which getting back on the bike can offer you both fun and fitness benefits.

Do you remember pedaling your ten-speed to school, doing tricks on your BMX, or hitting the trails on your mountain bike as a kid?  There was a feeling of exhilaration and freedom that came with grabbing your bike and heading out into the unknown adventure of each day.  And all you have to do is dust off the seat and lubricate the chain to regain those youthful days.  Plus, you don’t have to do it alone.  Although there is something sort of fantastic about getting up early to cycle down to the coffee shop and watch the sun rise by yourself, starting your day with a little Zen, you might have more fun if you take a picnic and a few friends and cycle to the park for some nosh and a game of frisbee.  In short, there is more than one way to enjoy your bike.

But that’s not all cycling has to offer.  There are also plenty of health benefits to be had when you opt to ride your bike on a regular basis.  If you’ve been out of the loop on exercise for a while, biking to work (if you work close to home), to the grocery store, or to other local spots you’d normally drive to can offer you a way to shed a few pounds, strengthen and tone muscles, and improve cardiac and respiratory function.  Do you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or the beginning stages of heart disease or diabetes?  Riding your bike can help with all of these.  And it’s a low-impact exercise that may suit you better than jogging, for example, which can be pretty hard on the joints.

But there are still more rewards to be gained from biking.  For one thing, it’s a lot cheaper than driving a car.  A bike needs no gas, no registration, and little maintenance.  You can park a bike anywhere for free and you’ll skip the major expense of automobile or motorbike insurance.  But you’ll also avoid a steep cost to the environment, since bicycles lack the carbon emissions that come from most cars.  As a bonus, this too is good for your health.  Less greenhouses gases in the environment equal cleaner, greener air, water, and soil for the future, not to mention less toxic waste entering your body.  So hop on your cruiser and start feeling better today!