Just Bike It: The Many Benefits of Bicycling

Want to bicycle but having a hard time getting motivated? Getting inspired is easier than you think.

One of the most positive impacts of bicycling is improved health. Healthy People 2000, a report published by the U.S. Public Health Service, outlines many health benefits of bicycling:

• Those who exercise regularly live longer than those who do not.
• Regular exercise not only enhances quality of life as we age, but it also helps maintain our functional independence.
• School children who exercise regularly enjoy better health and better grades.

  Another way to think about exercise is to consider the impact of NOT exercising. Physically inactive people are more than twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease as those who exercise regularly.

  In short, moderate exercise such as bicycling can offer major health benefits.

  Beyond physical health, bicycling helps to relieve stress; to fight off depression and anxiety; and to enhance your sense of well-being.

  There are many other benefits of bicycling. Here are just a few:

  Bicycling is fun
  It does not matter if you like to go fast or slow, to go cross country or next door, to travel by yourself or with others, to get out every day or once a month. All are possible by bicycle. And all are FUN.

  Save money
  Every time you bicycle rather than drive, you save money by not having to buy gas and by putting less wear and tear on your car. In fact, you save about 26 cents for every mile you choose to bicycle, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Bicycling three miles each way to work for a year saves $390 -- enough to pay for a new bicycle and a new helmet.

  Save time You are probably thinking, "What? I can't ride my bicycle as fast as I drive my car." True. However, it is not the maximum speed that counts, rather the total time from door to door.

  If you consider the time it takes to find a parking space, trek across a parking lot and go to the gym to work out (necessary since driving is essentially sedentary), bicycling is very time-efficient -- especially for trips shorter than five miles.

  Less traffic-related stress
  The stress and elevated blood pressure that result from driving in congested traffic are well-documented. Just mention congestion and your blood pressure likely rises.

  Nothing is quite so satisfying as riding in a bicycle lane past cars stuck in a traffic jam. Also, you can choose to pedal on streets with less traffic than the main thoroughfares and maybe avoid the congestion altogether.

  Just as congestion is created one car at a time, it can be alleviated one car at a time. Whenever you bicycle there is one fewer car on the road and, therefore, less congestion.

  Parking is no problem
  When you bicycle you can almost always park closer to your destination than when you drive a car, saving time and frustration. Bicycle parking facilities are compact. In fact, eight bicycles can park in the space required for one car!

  Create clean air
  Bicycles do not emit pollutants into the air. On the other hand, motorized vehicles are responsible for 70 percent of the carbon monoxide, 45 percent of the nitrogen dioxide, 34 percent of the hydrocarbon and 18 percent of the particulate emissions that humans produce, according to the National Bicycling and Walking Study.

  About 60 percent of the pollutants from a typical car trip are given off in the first few minutes of operation, reports the World Resources Institute. Each time you choose to bicycle rather than to drive a car, you make a valuable contribution to improving air quality. Although Wisconsin is not California, much of southeastern Wisconsin does not meet federal air quality standards, and Madison fails to meet these standards several days a year.

  Freedom to travel
  Bicycles provide a way to travel wherever and whenever you want.

  Bicycles allow youth a degree of independence not realized when mom or dad has to drive them. The freedom, of course, also extends to the parents, who no longer have to chauffeur their brood.

  Happy employers
  Employers have great incentives to support employees who bicycle. The National Bicycling and Walking Study reports that, compared to those who drive, employees who bicycle tend to have greater job satisfaction, to be more productive and to miss work less often due to illness.

  Ms. Putnam has a master's degree in landscape architecture and specializes in urban bicycling.