This morning I took the plunge, and for the first time I rode my bicycle to work. Presently I am working for a local CPA office at their front desk. Lucky for me, they also have a shower in the basement.
Bicycling is a wonderful recreation, but it’s also phenomenal transportation.
For the better part of this past decade I’ve logged around 300 – 500 miles a year on my bicycle. It’s nothing special, a 6 year old Specialized I purchased from Cycle Extreme here in Columbia for $200. Since then I’ve put around $100 more into it including tires, tubes, new petals, new seat, and routine maintenance.
You Cannot Beat Free!
In 6 years I’ve spent $300 on a transportation medium that is 99% free. It requires no gasoline, very little maintenance, zero insurance, no licensing or taxes or any other hidden fees you find in vehicles.
Push Pedals and Get Healthy
You do not have to be Lance Armstrong to ride a bike for transportation. Anyone can pedal a bike. I don’t care how overweight you are, how out of shape you are, or how little you exercise currently. Bicycles can support 500 pound people, are the easiest exercise form and make it painless for anyone to start exercising.
Bicycling is Easier and Faster than Walking
I cannot stress enough how easy it is to begin exercising on a bicycle. Bicycling is easier than walking because you don’t have a gear system to your legs. You can pedal up hills easier than walking as you just have to shift into a higher gear and make it less difficult. Bicycling is very low impact. Running, Weight Lifting, Jumping Jacks, Aerobics, and more are all very high impact. When you run weight is transfered into your joints called impact. Bicycling has no such impact, making it easier on your feet, ankles, knees, hips, back and neck. You can pedal much faster than you can walk. My personal best top speed on flat ground is 28 miles per hour. Maintaining 15 miles per hour over a distance does not take much effort, while the average person can only walk around 5 miles per hour. That’s three times as fast. This morning my commute of 5 miles took less than 30 minutes. However, I did not want to sweat much, and was not pushing myself at all. Also, there were two huge hills on my route, which I’ve found ways around.
Start Today!
I would bet money that most of you reading this article have bicycles in your garages collecting dust. If you don’t then there are hundreds of free resources on the internet to teach you how to purchase the best bicycle for you. There is also the tried and true method of walking into a store and talking to a sales person. Never purchase the first thing you look at, and make sure you go into an actual bicycling or outdoor sports store. The sales people are usually cyclists as well and have the inside track.
Save Money. Exercise. Help the Environment. What’s stopping you?
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