Pros and cons of cycling: You should know
Pros and cons of cycling: You should know
Cycling (also often referred to as cycling or biking) can be defined as the use of bicycles in all areas of our daily lives, including exercise, entertainment, and transportation purposes. In the past ten years, cycling has become very popular. However, there are also some problems related to bicycles. Accordingly, the article will tell you about pros and cons of cycling.
Cycling can be exhausting, especially if you ride fast. However, it is good to exercise some muscles. If you start cycling now, you will soon find that you will be healthier than before. Conversely, the improvement of health level will usually translate into the improvement of all aspects of our daily life, because you will have more power to complete the things in life.
A suitable alternative to the gym
Since cycling can improve your overall health, you may no longer need to go to the gym. Although many people go to the gym regularly, very few people really like to go to the gym. Most of us actually hate going to the gym. Therefore, if you are one of those people who don’t want to go to the gym at all, cycling may be a great option to maintain a high level of fitness without the need to exercise in the gym.
Cycling can improve your overall health
Another benefit of cycling is that it can also significantly improve our health. All kinds of exercise are good for our body and brain, and too many people do not exercise enough. Therefore, over time, they often experience overweight or other problems. By using bicycles more frequently, you can significantly reduce the risk of such health problems, so your overall health will be much better compared to people who don’t exercise at all.
Suitable for decompression
In today’s society, many people complain about work or family pressure. Especially if you are engaged in a demanding job and have worked for a long time and have family members, you may be under extremely high pressure, which may turn into a serious health problem in the long run. Therefore, it is essential to relieve this pressure in some way. Many studies have shown that physical exercise can significantly reduce stress levels. The same goes for cycling. If you feel stressed, try to use your bike more often. In the long run, you may feel better and less stressed.
Alleviate psychological problems
Many people also suffer from mental health problems. Due to stress or genetic factors, people are often at a loss in their daily lives. The information overload brought by our smartphones also provides an additional source of stress and mental problems. However, although our daily life is stressful, there are some measures you can take to reduce mental stress. Cycling in a forest or park may be a suitable measure, because you may be able to get rid of everything that bothers you and free your mind.
You don’t need a parking ticket
Another advantage of cycling is that your bike does not require a parking ticket. After arriving at your destination, you can park in many places nearby. This is a huge advantage compared to traveling by car, because you may need to find a parking space for a long time, and you may also have to pay a lot of money. Therefore, in terms of parking, bicycles are definitely more popular than cars.
Cheaper alternative
Cycling is also very cheap. In fact, apart from the initial purchase price, there are not many costs associated with cycling. Yes, you need maintenance from time to time, but you spend very little money on these inspections. You also don’t have to spend any money on fuel. Therefore, you can save thousands of dollars every year by riding a bicycle instead of driving.
You won’t be stuck in traffic
Traffic congestion is a serious problem, especially in big cities. Many people spend a lot of time every day to go to work and go home. However, by cycling to and from get off work, you can skip traffic jams. Therefore, by riding a bicycle, you can not only exercise and improve your health, but you can even save a lot of time when your colleagues may be stuck in traffic.
May be faster than a car in a short distance
For short distances, bicycles are an excellent alternative to cars, and using bicycles is usually much faster. This is especially true during peak hours or if you live in an inner city. Therefore, in the long run, you can not only save a lot of fuel costs, but also save time for other interesting activities.
It’s easy to learn to ride a bike
It is also easy to learn to ride a bicycle. If you learn to ride a bicycle when you are young, you will be able to master it quickly. In fact, cycling is one of the easiest sports to learn, and compared to driving, you don’t need a driver’s license. Therefore, bicycles are especially suitable for teenagers who are too young to drive or children who want to go to school or return to school.
Family travel fun
If you have children, cycling trips may be fun for all of you. Especially if you live close to mountains or national parks, you have perfect conditions for this type of trip. For you and your spouse, these bicycle trips will be very beneficial because you can reduce work pressure. For your child, this may also be very risky. Therefore, every member of the family may enjoy such a trip, which may also improve your connection with your children.
Reduce emissions and particulate pollution
By leaving the car at home and riding a bicycle, you can also significantly reduce emissions. Conversely, the level of particulate pollution can also be reduced. This, in turn, may improve people’s overall health because of the many adverse health effects associated with particulate pollution, including serious lung diseases such as asthma or lung cancer.
Improve air quality
Cycling can also improve the overall air quality of the city. Especially during rush hours, when many people use cars, the air quality is often very poor. In some large cities, severe smog can form during those times of the day. Therefore, in order to improve the air quality in cities, we must find alternative ways to use cars. Cycling is one of the environmentally friendly options because it means zero emissions.
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Cycling can also reduce our overall greenhouse gas emissions. As we all know, our greenhouse gas emissions are the main driving factor of global warming, and climate change is one of the biggest environmental problems facing mankind today. Therefore, we must take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One way is to ride a bicycle instead of driving a car, because you don’t emit any greenhouse gases related to the burning of fossil fuels.
Protect our natural resources
Our natural resources are very precious commodities, and we must do our best to protect them. This is especially true when it comes to our fossil resources, because they are non-renewable and will be exhausted sooner or later. Therefore, by reducing our consumption of fossil fuels such as petroleum, which is needed to produce automobile fuel, and changing to cycling, we can significantly reduce the problem of resource depletion.
Good exercise for weight loss
In addition, if you are overweight, cycling may be a good exercise to keep you losing weight. If you have severe obesity, you may not be able to do a lot of exercise due to your physical condition. However, even severely overweight people are often able to use their bicycles to some extent. Therefore, if you plan to lose weight, in addition to a proper diet, cycling can also greatly support your efforts.
Cycling as a social activity
You can decide for yourself whether to ride alone or travel with a friend or colleague. If you choose the second option, you will have many opportunities to socialize, get to know your colleagues better and meet new friends. Therefore, cycling can also be a good social opportunity. In addition to the many advantages of cycling, there are also some related problems.
One disadvantage of cycling is that it puts you at risk of serious accidents. It is true that you may also be involved in an accident while using a car, but you get much less protection when riding a bicycle, so the chance of a fatal accident is much higher. Therefore, if you want to go by bike, make sure to wear a helmet and pay attention to traffic to minimize the risk of being hit by a car.
You may have overestimated your abilities
Especially for children or young people, overestimating their abilities will also put them at great risk of serious accidents. This may include traffic accidents, but also accidents related to activities such as mountain biking. Therefore, if you plan to participate in these activities with your children, be sure to educate them about dangers to minimize the risk of serious accidents.
Cycling can be tiring
Cycling is also very good for improving physical fitness. Cycling is also very tiring. Sooner or later, many people will lose the motivation to ride a bicycle, because it is easier to move too much without riding a bicycle in the car. Therefore, continuous use of bicycles also requires a lot of motivation, and many people may not have this kind of perseverance.
Not suitable for people with disabilities
Due to the physical disability of people with disabilities, they may not be suitable for cycling. These people have to rely on public transportation or other means of transportation because they are physically unable to move bicycles at all.
May not be suitable for the older generation
In addition, for the older generation, cycling may not be the best idea, because they often can no longer pay close attention to the traffic situation, so compared with middle-aged people, their risk of serious traffic accidents is much higher. people.
Therefore, if you are old and feel unsafe about safe navigation in traffic, you should consider taking public transportation instead of riding a bicycle. Some cities lack good bicycle infrastructure. Some cities are also more suitable for cycling than others. Many cities still lack the appropriate infrastructure to attract bicycle travel.
For example, in order to protect cyclists from car collisions, the introduction of bicycle lanes may be one of the most important tasks. Therefore, in order to make bicycles more attractive, many cities must significantly improve their bicycle infrastructure.
Bicycles can be expensive
Another disadvantage of bicycles is that they can be very expensive. If you want to buy a high-quality bicycle, you may spend more than $1,000. However, compared with using a car, the price of a bicycle is quite low. Therefore, if you live in an area where bicycles can really replace driving by car, then investing in a good bicycle may still be worthwhile because it saves a lot of fuel.
Your bike may be stolen
Especially if you own a high-quality bicycle, sooner or later your bicycle will face a huge risk of being stolen. The thief knows exactly which bicycles are valuable and will focus on those high-quality bicycles. Therefore, always keep in mind that your bicycle may be stolen. Therefore, it may be a good idea to obtain proper bicycle insurance in order to financially protect yourself from these thefts.
Problems with your insurance company
In some countries/regions, you may also have a conflict with your insurance company regarding insurance related to accidents related to the use of bicycles. Therefore, before using your bicycle, please make sure that you have properly insured it to avoid any unpleasant financial obligations in the event of an accident.
May not be suitable for long distances
Another problem with cycling is that bicycles are generally not suitable for long-distance riding. Yes, in theory, you can drive several miles. However, in practice, using a bicycle for long distances can be annoying, and sooner or later you may lose the motivation to do so. Therefore, for most people, bicycles are a good choice for short distances, while using cars has its advantages over long distances.
The fun factor of cycling depends on the weather
If the weather is very bad, you may not have much fun by cycling. Especially if you commute to get off work and you don’t want to get there to be soaked by rain. Therefore, the suitability of a bicycle depends largely on external weather conditions, which may limit your level of flexibility.
In conclusion
We can conclude from the previous analysis that there are many benefits to riding a bicycle. However, cycling also has some disadvantages. Whether you want to use a bicycle depends on your personal circumstances. At least, you should give it a try, because only after you have fully experienced cycling will you know if cycling is right for you.