Transition Island Blog

Using your bike to commute can bring you all sorts of benefits.

Independence
Saying goodbye to restricted parking zones, irregular public transport, the last bus home and grid-locked traffic. On a bike you can be flexible and spontaneous, make an unplanned visit to a shop, a park, meet a friend, etc.

Lower travel costs
If you are currently spending as little as £1.20 a day on fares or petrol, changing to cycling could save over £200 a year - money which can be spent on other things. If the commuting costs are more, the savings are even bigger!

Health and fitness
Gentle regular exercise - just 20 miles a week (i.e. only two miles each way for a five day working week) can halve the risk of heart attack. You will arrive at work with a clearer head ready to go without the need of a coffee pick-me-up. Longer term you could expect to firm up, lose weight, and improve your heart rate.

Fun
Just try it and see how much fun it is. You can make it a social ride to work by “buddying up” with another cyclist on the commute. The BikeBUDi scheme is simple and free to use. It simply matches individuals with others cycling the same way so they can ride together. For more information, visit http://www.sustrans.org.uk/scripts/ntlinktrack.exe?http://www.bikebudi.com/

Saving time
No waiting in queues for the bus or the car park. It is amazing how much faster than motorised traffic one can be cycling at an average of just ten miles an hour - cutting through the congestion. You will arrive on time and often before those in a car.

Safety is important!

Most news articles concern accidents to cyclists so be careful!
Wearing something fluorescent or bright during the day and something reflective at night ensures you are seen by both pedestrians and motorists.

Lancaster City Council’s Cycling Demonstration Town Project (CDT) Team have given away more than 110 free high viz vests to help local cyclists stay safe this winter.

do good too!

Almost £18,000 has been raised for charity in a sponsored cycle ride in Jersey.

It was the sixth year of the event which raises money for Jersey Hospice. Eighty three people took part, cycling on exercise bikes to music for as long as they could.

Action:
Start planning a bike ride - to work, in the country, with the kids, for charity…

 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Eco-News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.