Cycling greenways and why it might become a habit

I am a utility cyclist. At least, I still like to consider myself as one. I hardly ever cycle "just for fun" or "because the weather is so nice". I cycle when it is the most efficient way of transport.

In fact, that's also why I don't cycle so much anymore. Since two months now I live only 5 min from work (by foot!) and a similar distance from the nearest grocery shop. What initially sounds great also has some side effects. I simply don't get enough exercise. Every day I feel less and less energetic and less efficient at work, but am more tired and more distracted with other things. Cycling from and to work was not just the perfect way of moving my butt, but also a good isolator between work and leisure. I am missing both of these positive effects, but am trying to replace them by something else now.

Back on track

What a day! First day after me being sick on the bike again. You must know that I live very close to my work now (only 5 minutes by foot) and don't have to cycle there anymore, so I grap every opportunity to ride my bike to places elsewhere. Today these were, all at once:

• my doctor
• a bike shop
• the Vienna University of Technology to meet a friend

Here's the story:

Setting off at home, I picked up Paula from the basement. There is a huge bike storage room in the house, but there are less stairs from our compartment in the basement to the street than from the bike storage room, so I keep my beloved there for the moment.

I even dressed up today (slightly).	Paula in the basement.

Barcelona and bike therapy

Does city life stress you? Are you fed up of being unable to unwind? Do you think cycle would help doing so? Then you need to try bike therapy!

I read about bike therapy a few weeks ago and it immediately caught my attention. I never heard about it and, judging for the little amount of information I found, it is a new practise. Mainly, bike therapy consist in combining cycling and relaxation exercises to reduce stress and gain tranquillity. The bike stroll must indeed be in a place which would favour all this.

Winter cycling

This year has been snowy and cold everywhere in Europe. I've heard news of snow in Spain and Italy, and Austria received first snow before Turku, Finland. Actually, we don't always get a good snowy and cold winter here either. A couple of years ago there was no termic winter (temperature drops permanently below zero) here at all, but that was exceptional. I have never experienced such a poor winter before, and it really sucked. However, this year has been delightfully snowy and cold, we received permanent snow cover a few weeks back, earlier than usually (I have to mention that in Turku the statistical average for that is in the Christmas Eve :D). So, considering my little winter cycling experiment, the conditions have been ideal. Apart from the raging blizzard outside as I'm writing this.

In the middle: walking on frozen Kallavesi lake, Kuopio; other images: modifications for the winter

There's nothing wrong with buying a bike in the middle of the winter

Maybe you remember my test ride on the Retrovelo Paul in November. It had a little poll in the end asking what kind of color you would choose for a Retrovelo Paula. Surprisingly enough the traffic white bike I was testing did not get any votes. On the other hand -- and that's now also the time to reveal my choice -- the pigeon blue came in first with a vast majority of 26%. I had actually already decided what kind of colors I would pick before I asked the question. However, it was really interesting to see that many people (Filigree, Carinthia, Justine, Trisha etc.) voted for the same bike and also mentioned the creamy tires and brown saddle and grips.

Well, here I proudly present my new beauty:

Pigeon-blue Retrovelo Paula (for the specs click on the picture)

I ordered the 7-speed version last week and am looking forward to receive my new bike some time in January :). In the meantime I just have to find a place to park it.

Many of my friends I told about my new steed already placed a reservation for a test ride which, of course, I will gladly offer. For the rest of you I can at least recommend Retrovelo's homepage and their catalogues (both in German and English)...

By the way, regarding benefits of cycling in the winter, I read in the news today that physical activity prevents depressions: "Bewegung beugt Depressionen vor". Psychiatrists claim that the lack of exercise leads to anergia and isolation, especially among young people. It's not only about prevention though, they also recommend physical activity, a regular day-night-rhythm etc. as part of a therapy in many such cases. The WHO tells us the following about physical (in)activity:

"Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. Physical inactivity, (a lack of physical activity) is an independent risk factor for chronic diseases, and overall is estimated to cause 1.9 million deaths globally.

Regular physical activity – such as walking, cycling, or dancing – has significant benefits for health. For instance, it can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis, help control weight, and promote psychological well-being. Everyone should engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day. More activity may be required for weight control."

From my personal experience I can also tell that that cycling makes me a happier, more efficient and well-balanced human being (see "Is cycling addictive?"). I also see that many people don't care enough about their physical health which also effects their mental health in a negative way.

I'm curious if you have similar experiences to mine, especially if you only started everyday cycling recently. Did you notice a difference in your overall way of life?

Cycling makes you more intelligent!

Well, this isn't something I have cooked up. I read it in the news today: "Sich bewegen bringt doppelt Segen" (to take exercise is a double blessing). The article is based on a scientific study carried out in Sweden and claims that sport increases intelligence and slows down aging.

by Kevin Saunders

For more details see the article "Cardiovascular fitness is associated with cognition in young adulthood" (2009, abstract, full text). I just copied some of the results:

"During early adulthood, a phase in which the central nervous system displays considerable plasticity and in which important cognitive traits are shaped, the effects of exercise on cognition remain poorly understood. We performed a cohort study of all Swedish men born in 1950 through 1976 who were enlisted for military service at age 18 (N = 1,221,727). [...] Physical fitness and intelligence performance data were collected during conscription examinations and linked with other national databases for information on school achievement, socioeconomic status, and sibship. [...] Cardiovascular fitness, as measured by ergometer cycling, positively associated with intelligence after adjusting for relevant confounders [...] In contrast, muscle strength was not associated with cognitive performance. Cross-twin cross-trait analyses showed that the associations were primarily explained by individual specific, non-shared environmental influences (≥80%), whereas heritability explained less than 15% of covariation. Cardiovascular fitness changes between age 15 and 18 y predicted cognitive performance at 18 y. Cox proportional-hazards models showed that cardiovascular fitness at age 18 y predicted educational achievements later in life. These data substantiate that physical exercise could be an important instrument for public health initiatives to optimize educational achievements, cognitive performance, as well as disease prevention at the society level."

So let our young people cycle (to school)!

Is cycling addictive?

I'd say cycling is addictive. Even though I've been cycling all my life the bicycle really only became my favorite mode of transport in the past few years. Before I lived on the countryside and although cycling was quite practical to get around and to the next town, most distances were too far to cycle. I mainly used public transport and it worked fine for me.

In Vienna I realized that the bicycle is really the fastest way to get around in a city. But not only that. It's also the healthiest and most enjoyable one. During the day I just sit around but my bike rides provide me with both, a good start in the day and distance from work in the evening. Plus, it's recommended to do at least 30min of exercise (not to be mixed up with sport!) each day in order to keep well and fit. It's great to feel my body and to feel good in it.

But cycling is more. It's fun. Apparently, although I don't know if that is true, cycling produces endorphins (and exercise in general). And endorphins make us happy and are a boost for our self-confidence. Although I also have my lows, I'm in a much better mood after cycling. Yes, one could say that I'm an endorphin junkie. It might be a myth though, but in that case cycling is a wonderful placebo.

I don't mind cycling in the winter or in thunderstorms, in fact I even love it. It's class to know and feel the weather and to learn how easy it is to cope with basically anything. It happens a lot that I don't dress appropriate if I walk or take public transport, as cycling generally requires less clothes in the winter and more in the summer. By the way, I love to feel the wind in my hair. Nothing compares to that.

Morover, it happens that whenever I do walk I usually walk along my bike routes. Seemingly this also occurs to my cycling colleagues and we laughed a lot about our recent discovery. Somehow I have the feeling that the city is all mine when I'm on my bike. I can get anywhere anytime I want to. In that respect cycling means freedom to me: freedom of mobility (particularly important for children), freedom of space (no search and waste of space for parking) and independence from others (no dependence on fossil fuels from unstable governments or brutal dictatorships). Yes, I also like the environmental aspect, but in fact it's only really a positive by-product.

So if you still ask yourself why cycling is good for you, then you probably haven't tried it yet. Just do it, it's easy. My personal conclusion is that everyday cycling is addictive and that it makes me a happier and balanced person. What about you?