I just moved to my own apartment (about time, I’m 26).
This means I won’t always have access to my mom’s car anymore, which means I need something to get from A to B.
So…. I bought myself a bike, a Trek 7.2 FX:
I am LOVING it.
I haven’t owned a bicycle since my early teens and since I got a drivers license 9 years ago I have barely touched one.
I’m pretty fascinated with my new bike and I thought of some great benefits it has compared to a car.
Obviously many people really do need a car. They need to commute long distances every day, drive their kids to school, bad climate, etc. etc.
But for those who don’t, here are 6 reasons to ditch your car for a good bicycle:
1. You Will Save Money. Lots of it.
Cars cost a fortune and maintaining them can be even more expensive.
At first, you need to pay a hefty amount of cash to buy it (or get a car loan, even more expensive down the line). Second, you need to constantly spend money on gas, insurance, new tires and repair.
You can get a great bicycle for a fraction of the cost of a mediocre car, and maintaining it is so cheap that it isn’t even comparable.
A years worth of maintenance for a bicycle might add up to 2-3 weeks worth of gas for a car.
Basically, you save money. Big money.
2. You Will do Cardio Every Day.
I can tell you right now that I hate doing cardio. Hate it.
The only type of cardio I enjoy is walking, and for some reason I constantly manage to put it at the bottom of my priority list.
With my bike, I am forced to use it because otherwise I’m stuck at home. Cycling is a decent cardio workout, especially when going fast.
This will improve your endurance, your heart health and overall well being. It will also burn a few calories, if that’s your thing.
3. Your Legs Will Get Strong.
When cycling, you’re using power generated in your legs to propel yourself forward.
Depending on your speed, the evenness of the terrain, direction of the wind and whether you go up hills or not, cycling will require you to engage the muscles in your legs.
Your quadriceps will get a decent workout, as well as the hamstrings, glutes and calves.
4. You Will See More of Your City.
One of the main things I enjoy about cycling is the fact that I get to see way more of the city than I used to when driving. Instead of having one or two options for the best way to get from A to B, I have dozens.
This means I see places I never would have in the car.
5. If Travelling Short Distances, You Might Even be Quicker.
I’m pretty lucky with where my apartment is located. It is close to the gym, the pool, the mall and my school so I never have to travel very long distances.
I didn’t expect this would be the case, but I actually get there much faster on the bike, especially if there’s a lot of traffic on the street.
6. Good For The Environment.
Honestly I’ve never paid much attention to what I’m doing to the environment. I know that it’s important but it definitely doesn’t keep me up at night.
If you care about the environment, then rest assured that you’re doing the right thing by parking your car. Bicycles don’t pollute. At all.
Maybe I’ll Change my Mind
I live in Iceland.
The summers here are awesome. Warm. Bright. Sunny. As good as it gets.
The winters are… well, not as awesome. Not as awesome at all.
Chances are that I will change my mind about all this when the winter comes. Maybe you’ll see a “6 reasons not to use a bicycle” in November.
Some good points Kris, but I would struggle to carry a computer tower or my p.a. system on a bike….. ;-)
Congratulations on your new bike!
I predict that you’ll get so hooked on riding that you’ll either winterize your bike when the time comes, or you’ll add a Dutch/Danish bike to your collection. By Dutch/Danish I mean a steel bike with lights, racks, fenders, chain case, wider tires and mudflaps for the winter. And if you’ve never ridden a Dutch bike before (such as Gazelle) you are in for a treat! I ride my road bike half the year and the Dutch bike in the winter, and I love that having a sturdier bike keeps me riding all year long, even in the snowiest weather. Have fun!
I tried the bike – but I live in Atlanta where it gets to 1,000,000 degrees in the summer with 40,000 % humidity. I would ride my bike somewhere and it would take hours to stop sweating.
It would look like I had taken a shower with all my clothes on…but didn’t smell as nice.
Awesome! I used to bike to work all the time but sadly have gotten out of the habit recently as I moved and am now further away from work. However, that’s still not an excuse. Although I think you missed #7 – It’s a great stress reliever at the end of a hard day.
I’m with you on the stress relieving point!
I did a self hypnosis course a few years ago and decided to set one of the course outcomes as having new business ideas every time I got on my bike. And boy did it work, until I started to listen to audiobooks every time I rode…
I’m pretty fortunate that we don’t really have a difference between summer and winter in Manchester (uk, not connecticut) and this summer has definitely been wetter than winter, with practically no diff in temp!
I have slimline sks mudguards, clip in crank brothers pedals (once you get used to being fully clipped in you won’t go back), a really decent set of lights and nice waterproofs (I’ve just got a new pair of waterproof shorts, as I almost never wear waterproof trousers as I get too hot in them, and my feet end up soaked anyway, so shorts deliver the upper leg dryness benefits whilst keeping me cool).
I wouldn’t swap my bike for my car 95% of the time for my journey to work, and it makes the occasional journey in the car a real treat, which is how it should be IMHO.
Yours in biking,
George
Good decision Kris. Make good use of it when the weather is good and maybe buy some snowshoes when the snows come.
-kelly
Kris, Your new bike is looking very good and nice and I can understand you’re using it towards your health and you’re loving it. Very glad to look at it. By the way I’ve started my controlled diet as cornflakes or cheerios in my breakfast, vegies and salads in lunch, oat meal in dinner, regular usage of exercise bike and burning 300 calories a day (in a moderate speed) and noticed some improvement in my weight loss. Thank you very much for your articles. Thank you once again.
Great points, Kris.
I also love cycling and also think about cycling to my work place, however the distance is too long for me. And I’, only able to cycle on weekends. :)
Kris,
I also haven’t owned a bike since my teens. I live close enough to everything to be able to manage without a car, but I also live in Florida where it’s ridiculously hot and I’d rather not be drenched in sweat every time I go to work… maybe when I retire, though! A lot of people that live near the beach own bikes and are constantly riding them around instead of driving cars.
Alykhan
FWIW, I get less hot riding my bike than I do walking around.
Partly because of the extra wind passing over me, partly because of the time/distance involved, and partly because I use a pannier instead of a rucksack, so my back has plenty of air passing over it. I also make sure I have clothing that supports moisture moving away from my skin quickly (I.E. I wear shorts pretty much all year round, even in sub zero temps! And I am a massive fan of Merino Wool shirts and t shirts, they shift sweat better than anything else, and take days to get smelly!)
My 2c,
George
Reasons to keep my car:
1. Almost everything is over 70 miles away: the shopping mall, my doctor, etc.
2. There are no bikes with air conditioning and it was 107 degrees yesterday.
3. Kind of hard to load up the kids on a bike.
4. Kind of hard to carry the groceries for an entire family on a bike.
Don’t get me wrong, I still ride a bike sometimes. When it’s not crazy hot outside (being Texas, it’s crazy hot half the year). If it’s just myself. If where I’m going is close enough to realistically ride my bike to, and if I don’t have a lot of stuff to lug around.
I just noticed that “November” part. That’s funny, cos in Texas November would be like the best time for bike riding… better than in the summer, unless you’re trying to die or end up in the hospital.