“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike”. John F. Kennedy
Cycling is THE most efficient means of transport, including walking. That is good news if you are not as physically efficient as you would like to be due to injury, age or overweight. It is a fantastic way to feel engaged with your surroundings, only its a good deal faster than walking. Cycling is fun, fast and easy way to enjoy the outdoors, see the world and stay physically active.
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Riding a bike is fun
Most of us can remember with fondness when and where we learned to ride a bike. The thrill of breathing in the surroundings coupled with the sensation of speed and feeling of freedom.
Cycling is social and is an activity for the whole family to share. Its a wonderful way to spend time with friends. Ride to a favourite spot and enjoy a meal, drink or swim at your destination.
Arriving in a new city. Get an overview of the highlights while meeting a few like minded new friends on a city cycle tour.
Experience new regions or new countries by bike, be it as an independent traveler or with a group and guide. It is a great way to turbo charge your adventure with fun.
Need for Speed
If you are planning a holiday, a cycling tour allows adventure travelers to cover more ground in the same period of time. We all love to hike for the engagement you get with your environment. Smells, sounds, wildlife and the feel of the air on your face fully appreciated while walking. Cycling also offers intimate engagement with your surroundings, but a good deal faster. Want to experience a new city? A cycle tour offers a great overview of the highlights. Be it a guided bike tour complete with rental bikes or self guided tour following local bike trails and roads.
Low Impact
Cycling is low impact exercise. If you have joint issues cycling is a great way to get cardio exercise and spare your joints from jarring. Many of us who have had an active youth and now have problematic joints. It maybe a result of injury or just age. High impact activities like running or a lot of walking, often aggravate these conditions.
If you are overweight, riding a bike is a great way to get back into shape as the low impact is easier on the joints which are under strain with additional weight. And, of course, it is a fantastic way to lose weight.
Mix it up
Repeating the same type of exercise everyday can put a strain on specific areas of the body. By changing up walking with other activities, such as cycling your body will thank you and your fitness will only be enhanced.
If you are an avid hiker, mixing in some cycling into your week will improve your fitness, improve overall muscle strength and provide variation and therefore maintain momentum in exercise habits.
Very different muscles are used hiking and cycling. the alternating rests one set of muscles while strengthening another. Hiking is an impact activity while cycling is relatively low impact.
Great for the knees
A few years / decades ago I blew out the ligaments in both knees. My orthopedic knee surgeon said there were 3 exercises I should work on: cycling, cycling and cycling. Riding a bike is a smooth and rhythmic motion with very little load bearing. It builds the muscles around the knees, specifically the quads. These muscles aid in knee support and therefore take the strain off the ligaments and cartilage. If you are recovering from knee strain of injury cycling is a way to stay active and maintain fitness.
All that being said, dedicated cyclists do have knee issues from riding a lot or with poor form. The casual cyclist should not experience knee issues if attention is paid to seat height and position.
See the world on 2 wheels - the lazy way
Cycling is the perfect activity to add to almost any holiday. Be it a weekend away, a city escape or a round the world trip. Cycling a little or as your principal mode of transport, it allows those a little heavy, unfit or otherwise physically compromised folk to experience the location up close and personal. Fast enough to see a lot or cover a lot of territory but slow enough to smell the roses, hear the birds and feel the sea air on your face.
You can pick up the guide book / map and do a self guided tour or you can join an organised tour. Organised tours maybe for as little as 2 hours or as long as a month. And there is no right or wrong. Some destinations, like Amsterdam, lend themselves perfectly to a day tour. Traveling through Asia a multi-day guided tour can take you through the highlights. Most tours travel about 50 to 80 km per day, which depending on the terrain etc. can cover around 500 km in a week. This is compared to 170 km or so on foot.
Most multi-day tours will have a Sherpa service for bags, so there is no need for pannier bags or heavy packs. After a long day in the saddle your arrive at your accommodation and your bags are already there leaving you free to explore the area on foot or just chill and enjoy the view or meet the locals.
City breaks
If I have arrive in a new city I love to hire a bike or take a guided bike tour. Many cities now have amazing bicycle networks and this is growing the world over.
Many cities now have share bike networks where rental bikes can be taken out for 30 minutes or all day from a network of stations across the city. You can stop for lunch, drop your bike at the station and grab another one after lunch. These are popping up all over the world. We recently enjoyed Toronto by share bike. it is inexpensive and a great way to see a lot of the city and single out places to return to on foot.
Electrify your cycle experience
I love my e-bike. I live at the top of a steep hill. Its a free wheel to the bottom with a heart-breaker hill back home. We rented for a day in Montreal and I had one shipped to me. These are the ultimate way to make cycling more available to those not Lance Armstrong bike fit.
Make no mistake, there is plenty of workout to be had on an electric bike. The motor on most does not kick in unless you are peddling. You just go faster and it takes the burn out of hills.
Depending on the bike you choose, how hard you peddle and the terrain, you can go about 80 km on a full battery. These bikes are heavy.
Cycling is THE most efficient means of transport, including walking. That is good news if you are not as physically efficient as you would like to be due to injury, age or overweight. It is a fantastic way to feel engaged with your surroundings, only its a good deal faster than walking. Cycling is fun, fast and easy way to enjoy the outdoors, see the world and stay physically active.
