Ten Good Reasons to Get on Your Bike This Summer
We all know cycling is good for us but that still doesn’t give us anywhere near enough of an incentive to go out, identify and buy the bicycle that would be best suited to our travelling, fun, fitness and transport needs.
Here are ten top reasons to encourage you to get on your bike this Summer.
1. Transport bosses have recommended raising the cost of parking on city centre streets by up to a third. The decision to increase the cost of parking in city centre streets will be taken on 3rd June 2010 and affects a lot of cities in which we work, live and play. Are we to see another 40% hike in parking fees?
2. The average price for an adult bicycle in the UK in 2001 was A�107 (Source: Mintel, Bicycles 2001).It’s likely to be much lower now, perhaps as low as A�80.
3. There’s the fitness angle. Did you know a 130-pound woman burns about 715 calories riding 17 miles in one hour. If she slows down to 13 mph, she burns only 468 calories per hour. If she goes mountain biking, which burns about 3.9 calories per pound per hour, she burns about 507 calories. Working on a 30 minute cycle to and from work each day, she’ll be quite trim!
4. It seems our Government is keen to get us all on our bikes with the increase in funding for cycling initiatives and the expansion of the Cycling Towns Programme where over 2.5 million adults and children will benefit from levels of investment equivalent to the best European cycling cities.
5. Cycling is addictive! Like other regular exercise cycling stimulates the pleasure centres of your brain so, the more you cycle, the happier you should be.
6. You can join the ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme and get your new bike for 50% less than the retail price or simply order one online.
7. The London Cycle Hire Scheme goes live this July in time for Summer excursions in the mother city – great for a family day out.
8. British Cycling wants to get 125 000 more people cycling once a week and 1 million more people cycling once a month by 2013. To do this they are working with Sport England and Sky which means more initiatives and more cycling offers.
9. Bicycles are green. If you cycle instead of driving you’re helping save the planet or, at the very least, your immediate environment.
10.There’s a bicycle for everyone including people with hip pain! From folding, mountain and racing to children’s, tandems and electric. Bicycles are now available in just about every size, colour and for every type of body. Cycling is great for all the family and encourages family togetherness, fitness and fun.
There are a lot more points we can add to this list but you know most of the reasons why bicycling is good for you. Cycling is gaining in popularity in the UK month on month so why wait?
Go on, get on ‘yer’ bike!