Get on two wheels and gear up for surprising benefits!

To clear up any confusion; by ‘two wheels’ I wasn’t referring to taking your car around a corner at high speeds and the ‘surprising benefits’ wasn’t that you impressed people by being able to drive you car on two wheels.

Hopefully by the pictures, you would’ve guessed this Exercise Your Potential post is about Cycling.

I’ll start with the bad – Firstly, airbags and ABS braking are yet to be introduced to bikes which may lead to around 30-40 deaths per year on Australian roads. Although most would agree that the lack of safety equipment is usually not an issue unless a terrible driver is put into the mix. Secondly, although it can be done, a longer commute of say, an hour driving, which many people do in a vast city like Sydney or Melbourne is a fairly impractical bike ride.

BUT THAT’S IT!  

Now for The good -

• Cycling is GREAT for your health – low impact on joints, continuous aerobic activity and getting out in the sun with the wind in your face can be an excellent way to recharge the mental batteries.
• Low cost – the amount you pay on fuel, servicing and maintenance, let alone the actual cost of the car in the first place, you could buy and maintain 5-10 decent bikes and accessories! That’s one for every occasion, style or terrain you might want to attack.
• Great for the environment – while motorists are using fuels that will take another trillion years to be replaced, cyclists can use the fuels that they can replace at dinner or even stock up on with dessert.

And the ones you may not have known:

• Cycling creates more jobs and is good for the economy. A new University of Massachusetts study shows that bicycle lanes create 46% more jobs than car-only road projects. The study examined 58 infrastructure projects in 11 states, and found out that cycling projects create a total of 11.4 local jobs for each $1 million spent, while road-only projects generate just 7.8 jobs per $1 million.
• Anti-poverty – Bikes are actually helping people in Africa cut down long distance trips to create easier access to food, schools and employment: Pedal to Prosperity

And you too could be as proud as the guy above, taking the kids for a family outing!