All cities of the planet are seriously affected today by the high level of air pollution produced by vehicles with internal combustion engine.
The oil reserves available for mankind are enough for another 45 to 50 years (if we maintain the current level of consumption), which means that the transportation sector is pretty far away from the idea of becoming green.
Replacing all conventional vehicles with green vehicles (electric cars), is a pretty difficult and long process because the green cars are more expensive than conventional cars, and the network of charging stations for electric vehicles is not yet fully developed.
Reducing Air Pollution Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive
To reduce the level of air pollution produced by conventional vehicles in the city we have two options.
- We use an electric car (zero emissions).
- We use a bike for city walks.
If electric cars represent the expensive option here, bikes represent an option that is available to anyone.
We don’t have to pay more to reduce air pollution, we only have to replace the conventional vehicle used to travel in the city and outside the city with a vehicle with zero emission such as a bike.
Benefits Of Cycling For Your Health And The Environment
Cycling is one of the best and easiest exercises to improve your general health and reduce the level of air pollution produced by the transportation sector in the city.
Being a healthy exercise that can put an end to a sedentary life, cycling can be used by people of all ages.
1. Cycling Improves the Heart and the Lungs
When using the bike to travel from one place to another, your heart rate rises because cycling is an exercise that involves the entire body.
Your heart rate and the activity of the lungs increases, which promotes a good blood pressure and an improved health of the heart and lungs.
2. Builds Strong and Denser Bones and Improves Muscle Tone
If cycling becomes a daily routine (you use the bike to go to work), you will do a lot of pedaling and this will strengthen leg muscles by improving the knee joints, the calves, femoral biceps and the thigh.
Cycling also strengthens your abdominal muscles and arm muscles.
3. Improves Body Strength and Stamina
Cycling on longer distances will improve your body strength and will also increase your stamina.
You will become a stronger person and your energy levels will also be improved.
4. It Helps You Lose Weight
Using your bike several days per week, will help you consume a larger amount of calories than usual.
The exercise itself will increase your metabolic rate and your body will start consuming body fat, to make you more adapted to the new activity performed several times a week.
Your body will become this way more lean, and this way you will feel that biking is not an effort, but a pleasure.
5. Cycling Can Help You Explore New Areas in Nature
There are many places in nature where a car becomes useless due to the lack of proper roads, but a bike can be used in a wide variety of environments.
If you ride in the town mostly on asphalt you can use a city bike, and for the forest, you can use a mountain bike.
However, if you want to use your bike in almost every environment possible, you can use a fat bike provided by https://www.little-dragon-bikes.eu/ because the wide tires used by these bikes work very well on ice and sand, which means that you can ride over frozen lakes and deserts.
6. Cycling Reduces Air Pollution in Cities
Using the bike instead of the car will reduce your carbon footprint to zero, and this means that you will travel through the city without releasing greenhouse gas emissions.
If you use the bike to go to work, you will improve the air quality in your city and you will also protect the environment from global warming and climate change.
7. Cycling Lowers the Risk of Cancer
A sedentary life increases the risk of colon and breast cancer because your body is in bad shape due to the lack of physical activity.
Cycling every week can improve your general health and this will lower the risk of cancers or any other dangerous diseases because your entire body will be more powerful and you will feel much better.
8. Can Improve Your Memory
Cycling is a physical activity that can help your body build new brain cells in the hippocampus and improve the general activity of the brain.
This will improve your memory, your blood pressure and your oxygen levels, which keeps away the Alzheimer’s disease.
9. Cycling Can Reduce Traffic Jams
A large number of people are using their cars to go to work every morning and this creates traffic jams in the most crowded areas of the cities.
The same situation can be seen when the work schedule ends, and all these people go back home.
When using a bike to go to work or just to travel in the city, you are not affected by traffic jams because the bike can fit in very narrow spaces.
If a large number of people will start using bikes to go to work, the number of cars on the road will be reduced and this will eliminate traffic jams.
10. Cycling Reduce Arthritis
According to Dr. Max Testa, Sport Medicine Physician, people suffering from arthritis can use the bike if they have the ability to bend their knee over 100 degrees.
Using the bike several times a week, reduces arthritis and improves joint mobility.
Conclusion
Cycling is one of the easiest exercises than can be performed at any age. Keeping your body in a very good shape by using the bike several times a week, will keep you away from diseases, will reduce the amount of air pollution in cities, will help you explore new territories and meet new people.
A bike can replace your vehicle when you go to work, and can help you travel in the city and in nature wherever you want.
