This column is written as correspondence between Byron the Bicyclist and Maddie the Motorist
Dear Byron the Bicyclist.
In your letter to Paddy the Pedestrian, you told her many European countries pay employees to bike to work. Interesting.
You mention that cycling improves cyclists’ health. I suppose there is some scientific study to prove that. Or is that the people in better health are the ones cycling?
Signed Maddie the Motorist
Dear Maddie.
It is probably true that cyclists are healthier or they wouldn’t be cycling. But it is also true that cycling makes you healthier.
Some years ago, my brother Bryan and his family went to the Netherlands. They visited our 75-year-old aunt, a retired nurse. She suggested they go for a bike ride.
They borrowed a few bikes from friends of my aunt and cycled for well over an hour. The route was mainly along a canal so was quite level. Barely 20 minutes into the ride Bryan and his family started to get tired. This included their teenage children. But our aunt didn’t seem tired.
They pushed on but had to take a few breaks to rest and “sight see.” I don’t know how often my aunt rode her bike but the distance was normal for her. At 75, she was in better condition that the next two generations from Canada.
I know this is just one case but it does back up the health benefit of cycling. In the Netherlands, 30 per cent of trips are by bike. Some trips are a combination of travel modes. To get to work, an economist I met in the same city biked to the train station, parked the bike and continued by train to Amsterdam. This is quite common there.
Get fitter. Try to make it a habit to bike and walk more. Your cardio will improve.
Signed: Byron the Bicyclist
Bert Groenenberg is a pedestrian, cyclist and motorist.
