Why commute by bike?
- TCC Dan
- Mar 6, 2024
- 3 min read
It’s widely known that physical activity, in this case cycling, not only benefits your physical health but your mental health too, but can it also impact on your work and the community environment at your place of work? Let’s have a look and see, but you’ll guess because I’ve even written this post that it does! There’s two main articles that I’ll focus on to support everything in this blog, those being an article by the World Health Organisation and another by Alan Redman.
The fitness, health, and wellbeing rewards reported by so many cycle commuters appear to be the consequence of a unique combination of characteristics of riding to work;
exercise is a regular part of the routine of the day (requiring no additional, discretionary effort to make time for the gym or other activities),
the activity is conducted outdoors, generally in environments with natural features (even in the most urban settings),
and the activity provides opportunities for a meditative thinking, reflection, and stress reduction. (*2)
This shows that even looking in the broader sense of cycle commuting benefits, Trusts, Leaders and colleagues should be promoting it as much as possible, so show this blog to them and get them on board with TCC quick!
Some of the physical health benefits are astounding, even through cycling only a short distance or time on a regular basis you can gain massive benefits. Alongside this, the mental social benefits that commuting by bike brings are also clear and evidenced. Maybe most surprisingly of all, there are also complimentary benefits, those that fit into neither physical, mental or socials benefits, but are sited as being contributory factors that help to engage employees in the practice of commuting by bike and also help them justify it to themselves and others.
Physical Health Benefits
cycling for 20 minutes on most days reduces mortality risk by at least 10%;
active commuting is associated with about a 10% decrease in risk for cardiovascular disease and a 30% decrease in type 2 diabetes risk; and
cancer-related mortality is 30% lower among bike commuters. (*1)
The rewards of fitness and physical well-being are described as a significant reason for sustaining the ride to work habit, even in adverse conditions. (*2)
Mental health benefits
Cycle commuters believe that riding to work makes them feel fantastic on many levels(*2)
Stress reduction and improvements to mood (*2)
The combination of two qualities of the experience of riding to work; meditative mindset (reflective, in the moment and free flowing) and green exercise (even when not in a green environment) contribute to the positive mental benefits (*2)
Rehearsal and planning for the day ahead during the ride to work and processing and closure of events from the day during the ride home. The cycle commute therefore provides a valuable book-ending to the working day, which enhances mood and stress reduction. (*2)
Social well-being
For some participants, riding to work was normalised by the number of people they encountered at work or during the rider doing the same thing. This could also lead to opportunities for social rewards and camaraderie. (*2)
There is an issue here though where it can also be isolating, where you many be the first, or one of the first, to commute to work by bike. Accessing a supportive network or community can help to increase that engagement and motivation to start or continue to commute by bike. Meaning that communities, like TCC, and their members are important in supporting individuals to commute by bike.
Complimentary benefits
a shift from car to active travel is possible for trips up to 16 km in length, and those trips are responsible for 40% of carbon emissions from vehicles. (1*)
Being freed from the need to go to the gym (*2)
Commute is regarded as ‘free exercise’, which also made commuters feel fitter and healthier (*2)
Contributors to the research reported an increased performance at work (*2)
In summary, commuting to work by bike is fantastic for all aspects of health and well-being, complimented by further benefits that only add to the reasons to promote commuting by bike to all.
References:
Comments