Cycling and its great benefits

I was reading an article the other day that made me think about why I first took to two wheels.

I started cycling to save money. A business I owned at that time wasn’t doing very well, so instead of driving to the office each day I decided I’d fix up and use an old bike that someone had left at our house some time before. It was about three miles to where I worked, and I soon discovered I enjoyed this more physical start to the day much more than sitting in traffic. I found that I arrived at work better prepared to deal with the stresses of the day, and I would look forward to the ride home after work as a way to wind down.

Researchers from the University of Illinois found that a five percent improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness from cycling led to an improvement of up to 15 percent in mental tests. That’s because cycling helps build new brain cells in the hippocampus — the region responsible for memory, which deteriorates from the age of 30.

As my daily exercise made me fitter I began to take less direct routes to and from my destination, and soon my three-mile journey became an enjoyable five. One or two friends at that time followed my example and soon we were cycling together on much longer distances at weekend and other time off work. I have to say that cycling helped me through some difficult times back then, and a bike ride these days still helps makes me feel much better when I have problems to think through, or difficult decisions to take.
“Any mild-to-moderate exercise releases natural feel-good endorphins that help counter stress and make you happy,” explains Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation.

Too lazy or need more inspiration of why to start riding a bike? There are a lot of pretty interesting articles that can re-state the reasons you maybe already know.