Have you got a bicycle? According to government statistics, if you’re an adult there is a one in three chance that you have. But even if this is the case, chances are pretty high that it will spend most of its time in the garage, or wherever else it is locked up. What a pity. It’s National Bike Week this week, and it’s worth taking the opportunity to look at a few statistics.
The bicycle is one of the most efficient machines man has ever produced. Think energy. It takes the energy of an average-sized egg to propel an average-sized cyclist a distance of three miles. It would take the equivalent of seven dozen eggs to propel the same person the same distance in a car. And there are no polluting and global-warming inducing carbon emissions, either. 26% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from transport, most of which are from combustion engines. 40% of car journeys in the UK are less than three miles in distance. Most of them could easily be done on a bicycle. There’s no noise pollution, either, unless you have squeaky brakes.
Cycling is pretty good for you, too. We are recommended to do at least 30 minutes exercise a day. It is easy, if you cycle to work, to get most or all of that done while you are travelling. And it’s fun: chances are the journey to work will be the best part of your day, rather than the worst. The joy of whizzing past a traffic jam cannot be underestimated. Cycling is therapeutic for the body, as well as the mind. People who start cycling to work instead of driving lose an average of 13 lbs in their first year.
Sick of petrol prices going up? Sick of getting parking tickets? Sick of your car breaking down, and needing expensive maintenance costs? Sick of getting stuck in traffic? Sick of road rage? Of course you might not be able to get to work on a bicycle, or even use it for part of your journey. But if you can use a bicycle, even once a week, we believe it will do you and the people around you a lot of good. Think about it. Enjoy the week…