Is Riding A Bike Better Than Driving?
If you’re considering starting cycling or driving your bike rather than your car to work, you may be wondering whether it’s better than driving. Cycling has become increasingly widespread in recent years. So, is cycling better than driving, and what are the benefits of taking your bicycle rather than your car?
Cycling is better than driving in many ways. Cycling is better than driving for your health, improving your physical and mental well-being and functioning. Cycling is a zero-emissions means of transport, which is far better for the environment than driving. Finally, cycling is significantly cheaper.
The more you consider the benefits of cycling, the more you will be convinced to leave your car at home. Read on to discover more about the ways in which riding a bike is better than driving – for your health, your wallet, and the planet we share!
How Is Cycling Is Better For Your Health Than Driving?
Research has found that cycling has enormous benefits for your health in various ways. These benefits include the areas discussed below but also much more. Cycling improves fitness, boosts brain oxygen levels, increases vitamin D exposure, and improves posture.
It also protects you from severe illnesses like diabetes, cancer, and obesity later in life.
Cycling Is Good For Your Heart
As many cyclists will know, there’s nothing like riding up a steep hill to get your blood pumping! This form of exercise gives your cardiovascular system a gentle but thorough workout, which has benefits including reduced blood pressure, expanding your blood vessels, and increasing elasticity in your arteries.
Considering this all, it is not surprising that a 2017 study from the British Medical Journal found that cycling rather than driving to work reduces the risk of heart disease by up to 50 percent!
Cycling Is Good For Your Metabolism
Riding your bike to work rather than driving is also very good for your fitness levels and thus your metabolism and body tone. Cycling promotes weight loss and muscle gain and boosts your metabolism for hours afterward- none of which can be achieved in a car ride!
Cycling thus promotes a healthier, leaner, and physically stronger body than driving.
How Is Cycling Is Better Than Driving For Your Mental Wellbeing?
Not only does cycling promote better physical health than driving, but it is also more beneficial for your mental health! Getting regular, gentle exercise of a type like cycling and walking releases endorphins and dopamine in our brains. These are the neurochemicals that make us feel happy and relaxed.
Cycling is thus associated with better mood and lower levels of stress. Research on the link between cycling and mental health has found it to have a positive impact on depression and anxiety.
So, particularly if your work life stresses you out, why not cycle to work to blow off steam? It’s better for keeping your calm than driving is!
Along with reducing stress, cycling can improve your quality of sleep. This benefit is because exercise like cycling helps to synchronize your circadian rhythm, leading you to fall asleep earlier. Additionally, cycling reduces cortisol (the anxiety chemical), which may keep you up at night.
Cycling has many other benefits for your mental health and functioning. Overall, it is also great for your brain and helps to stabilize and improve almost all areas of your mental functioning. The same cannot be said for driving, leading me to conclude that cycling is definitely better for your mental health!
How Is Cycling Is Better For The Environment Than Driving?
Not only is cycling good for you, but it is also fantastic for planet earth! Pollution such as carbon dioxide emissions produced by cars contributes significantly to global warming. These pollutants are also responsible for damage to our ozone layer, which has many harmful consequences.
Cycling, on the other hand, is a zero-emission means of transport which means it produces zero pollution and zero carbon emissions. In fact, research has found that the environmental impact of cars is 13 times greater than that of bicycles! Taking your bike is, therefore, significantly more eco-friendly than driving.
We all have our bit to do when it comes to the fight against climate change, and cutting down on the amount of driving we do is an easy way to make a difference.
How Is Cycling Is Better For Your Wallet Than Driving?
Another way in which cycling is better than driving is financially! As the costs of petrol increase exponentially, many people are choosing to cycle short distances rather than drive, to save some gas money.
Cycling has very few costs besides the initial payment for your bicycle and the odd bit of maintenance after that. On the other hand, cars cost you money every time you drive them!
This includes the much higher initial cost of a car, the price of petrol, road tax, charging the battery, and the more frequent and expensive maintenance. With all this taken into account, it is safe to say that when it comes to keeping things economical, bicycles are better than cars!
Cycling Allows You To Enjoy The Journey More
Finally, cycling is simply more enjoyable than driving! When you cycle somewhere, you see more of the view, the people, and the world around you than when you drive. Aside from the good feeling you get when exercising, cycling thus allows you to slow down and appreciate the little things along the way.
Cycling and walking thus allow us to discover hidden gems of coffee shops, bakeries, bookstores, and little alleys. It also allows us to slow down enough to interact with the people we meet along the way, and so it might bring you the opportunity to try new things and make new friends.
This is a very different experience from driving, where you sit in your little bubble. In this way, I consider that cycling is also better than driving in terms of our levels of mindfulness and connection to the moment.
Conclusion
There are many reasons why taking your bike is better than driving! Cycling allows you to appreciate the view more and enjoy the benefits of exercise on your physical and mental health (including decreasing your risk of heart disease, anxiety, and depression). It is thus better for you than driving.
Cycling is also far more economical than driving is, making it a far better means of transport if you’re on a budget. Finally, cycling is excellent for the planet! It produces no pollution and thus is much more eco-conscious than driving is. We all need to do our bit, so why not help save the world, one pedal at a time?
References
- https://www.umt.edu/transportation/bike/about/benefits/
- https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/fitness-and-training/6-benefits-of-cycling-to-work/
- https://play.decathlon.co.uk/articles/cycling-vs-driving-10-reasons-why-cycling-is-better
- https://keith.seas.harvard.edu/blog/climate-impacts-biking-vs-driving
- https://www.quora.com/Which-one-is-better-a-bike-ride-or-a-car-ride-and-why