Cycle for health and fitness

Cycling - the healthy option
Cycling is healthy, both for you as an individual, and for the community you live in. That's the conclusion of the British Medical Association's report, 'Cycling: Towards Health and Safety'.

1. Cycling regularly will improve your fitness and can help you live a long and healthy life.
2. Riding a bike can help you maintain a healthy weight.
3. Three quarters of all personal journeys are less than 5 miles long - that's half an hour on a bike.

Switching these short journeys from car to bicycle will benefit your health and your community. You'll be helping to reduce noise and air pollution as well as traffic congestion.

What's In It For You?
More cycling is good news for the environment and your local community. But the biggest benefit is for you as an individual.

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

Lowering Risk of Heart Attack

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

Shedding Excess Weight

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

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

Better Bicycling » Getting Started

If you are new to bicycling or want to rediscover it as an adult, you'll find it a great form of recreation. It's fun, healthy, social and good for the environment. Bicycling is good exercise at any level of intensity; it can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want; it can be done in a group or done alone; and it can provide local transportation. As recreations go it's quite democratic: it can be done regardless of whether you live in the city or countryside, whether you are rich or poor, young or old, even liberal or conservative.

Getting started requires a bicycle. Some people inherit one from older sibling, some find one at a garage sale, and some buy it at a store. If buying a bike, the first thing to consider is the type of bicycle most suited to your needs: racing, mountain, comfort, etc. Any good bicycle shop can assist if you need help deciding.

However you come by your bike, make sure it properly fits and carries all required safety equipment. A properly fitted bicycle means having a frame of the appropriate size and having the adjustable features (such as seat height) set to accommodate the rider's body dimensions. Again, a good bike shop will help you with this, member shops . A properly equipped bike is the responsibility of the owner. In New York, the law requires bicycle stores to assure workable brakes and needed reflectors are on any bike it sells. The owner, however, needs to add a bell or horn and, if driven at night, a headlight and taillight. A helmet is required equipment for children.

At this point you are ready to ride, and the first order of business is to make sure you ride safely. If you are a parent or guardian, this includes making sure your child rides safely too. The next page in this Better Bicycling section - "Riding Safely" - can help you do this.

Now all that remains is for you to enjoy riding your bicycle. Get into the habit of regular bicycling by riding when weather permits. Invite friends to ride with you. If you are more serious, join one of the many cycling clubs through the state. They offer regular rides at various distances and levels of ability. The "For Families" page on this site will give you some ideas on enjoying bicycling.

The full potential for enjoying your bicycle will come over time. Some make bicycling a hobby. They learn to make bicycle adjustments, minor and even major repairs by themselves. Others enjoy honing their bicycling skills and sometimes entering competitive events. Still others make bicycling part of family tradition, going together on annual events.

Whatever your eventual level of commitment to bicycling - an occasional jaunt or fervid daily workouts - you'll find many bicycling resources on the web. The NYBC website has some of them and can lead you to others.

Happy Bicycling!