Taking up cycling could be one of the best decisions you ever made regardless if it’s just for fun, environmental issues or a pleasant way of spending your time with family. Why? Here are 30 major reasons that will convince you to pick up new lifestyle patterns that involve riding your bike of course...

1. You’ll get to places faster
A research by Citroen shows that commuting by bike in cities will help you get anywhere in half the time of cars. Plus it will make you feel much better having to exercise before work each morning.

2. You’ll sleep more deeply
Stanford University School of Medicine researchers asked sedentary insomnia sufferers to cycle for 20-30 minutes every other day. What was the result? The time required for the insomniacs to fall asleep was reduced by half, and sleep time increased by almost an hour.
“Exercising outside exposes you to daylight,” pointed out Professor Jim Horne from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre. “This helps get your circadian rhythm back in sync, and also rids your body of cortisol, the stress hormone that can prevent deep, regenerative sleep.”

3. You’ll look younger
Scientists at Stanford University have found that cycling may protect your skin against the harmful effects of UV radiation and reduce the signs of ageing. Harley Street dermatologist Dr Christopher Rowland Payne pointed out that: “Increased circulation through exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to skin cells more effectively, while flushing harmful toxins out. Exercise also creates an ideal environment within the body to optimize collagen production, helping reduce the appearance of wrinkles and speed up the healing process.

4. Boost your bowels
According to experts from Bristol University, the benefits of cycling extend deep into your core. “Physical activity helps decrease the time it takes food to move through the large intestine, limiting the amount of water absorbed back into your body and leaving you with softer stools, which are easier to pass,” said Harley Street gastroenterologist Dr Ana Raimundo.

5. Increasing your brain power
A five percent improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness from cycling led to an improvement of up to 15 percent in mental tests according to researchers from Illinois University. That’s because cycling helps build new brain cells in the hippocampus – the region responsible for memory, which deteriorates from the age of 30.

6. You can beat illness
Forget apples, riding your bike every day will keep the doctor away. According to Cath Collins, chief dietician at St George’s Hospital in London: “Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active, so they’re ready to fight off infection,”

7. You’ll live longer
“Those who exercise regularly are at significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, all types of cancer, high blood pressure and obesity,” stated Dr Lynn Cherkas, who conducted a research at King’s College London. Why? Because: “The body becomes much more efficient at defending itself and regenerating new cells.”

8. You can help saving the planet
It seems that twenty bicycles can be parked in the same space as one car. Also, it takes around five percent of the materials and energy used to make a car to build a bike. However, a bike produces zero pollution.

9. You can improve your sex life
According to health experts in the US, being physically active improves your vascular health, which has the knock-on effect of boosting your sex drive.

10. It is good breeding
A research from Michigan University in the US shows that mums-to-be who exercise on regular basis during pregnancy have an easier, less complicated labor, recover faster and enjoy better overall mood throughout the nine months.

11. Heal your heart
Studies from Purdue University in the US have shown that regular cycling can cut your risk of heart disease by 50 percent. Also, according to the British Heart Foundation, around 10,000 fatal heart attacks could be avoided each year if people kept themselves fitter.

12. Your boss will love you
A study of 200 people carried out by the University of Bristol has shown that employees who exercised before work or at lunchtime improved their time and workload management, and it boosted their motivation and their ability to deal with stress.

13. Cycle away from the big C
There’s whole lot of evidence that any exercise is useful in warding off cancer, but some studies have demonstrated that cycling is especially good for keeping your cells in healthy working order.

14. You can lose weight in the saddle
Many people who are interested in losing weight should start out on a bike instead of going for a jog. Why? Well, most of your weight is taken by the saddle, so your skeleton doesn’t take a battering. Running can wait…and you’ll be left with a healthy, slim body.

15. You’ll make more money
Researcher Jay Zagorsky, from Ohio State University, analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in order to see how their obesity and wealth changed over that period. Zagorsky concluded that a one unit increase in body mass index (BMI) score corresponded to an £800 or eight percent reduction in wealth. So, shed a few BMI points on the bike and start earning.

16. Avoid pollution
Researchers found that passengers in buses, taxis and cars inhaled substantially more pollution than cyclists and pedestrians.

17. Enjoy healthy family time
Cycling is an activity the whole family can do together.
Studies have shown that kids are influenced by their parents’ exercise choices. Therefore if your kids see you riding the bike, they will think it’s normal to do so and will want to follow your example.

18. It means guilt-free snacks
This gives you the perfect excuse to munch on crisps and other salty foods you might normally avoid. The sodium in them helps protect your body against hyponatraemia - a condition caused by drinking too much water without enough sodium that can also lead to disorientation, illness and worse.

19. Get better at any sport
A recent medical study from Norway carried the title Aerobic Endurance Training Improves Soccer Performance, which makes it pretty clear that the knock-on benefits to other sports and activities are immense.

20. You’ll make creative breakthroughs
According to studies, just 25 minutes of aerobic exercise boosts at least one measure of creative thinking. Credit goes to the flow of oxygen to your grey matter when it counts the most, sparking your neurons and giving you breathing space away from the muddle and pressures of life.

21. You’ll be helping others
Many cyclists turn their health, fitness and determination into fundraising efforts for the less fortunate.

22. You can get fit without trying too hard
According to the National Forum for Coronary Heart Disease Foundation in the US, regular cyclists enjoy a fitness level equal to that of a person who’s 10 years younger.

23. Boost your bellows
As you may already know, the lungs work considerably harder than usual when you ride. An adult cycling generally uses 10 times the oxygen they’d need to sit in front of the TV for the same period. Also, regular cycling will help strengthen your cardiovascular system over time, enabling your heart and lungs to work more efficiently and getting more oxygen where it’s needed, quicker.

24. Burn more fat
Sports physiologists have found that the body’s metabolic rate is not only raised during a ride, but for several hours afterwards. “Even after cycling for 30 minutes, you could be burning a higher amount of total calories for a few hours after you stop,” declared sports physiologist Mark Simpson from the Loughborough University.

25. You’re developing a positive addiction
William Glasser, author of Positive Addiction, suggests replacing a harmful dependency with a positive one. The result will be that you’ll be a happier, healthier person.

26. Get (a legal) high
University of Bonn neurologists visualized endorphins in the brains of 10 volunteers before and after a two-hour cardio session using a technique called positive emission tomography (PET). Comparing the pre- and post-run scans, they found evidence of more opiate binding of the happy hormone in the frontal and limbic regions of the brain – areas known to be involved in emotional processing and dealing with stress.
“There’s a direct link between feelings of wellbeing and exercise, and for the first time this study proves the physiological mechanism behind that,” explained the study coordinator Professor Henning Boecker.

27. Make friends and stay healthy
University of California researchers found that socializing releases the hormone oxytocin, which buffers the ‘fight or flight’ response.
A nine-year study from Harvard Medical School also found that those with the most friends cut the risk of an early death by more than 60 %, reducing blood pressure and strengthening their immune system.

28. Be happy
“Any mild-to-moderate exercise releases natural feel-good endorphins that help counter stress and make you happy,” defined Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation.

29. Feeling tired? Go for a ride
It may sound counter-intuitive but if you feel too tired for a ride, the best thing you can do is go for ride. A review of 12 studies on the link between exercise and fatigue carried out between 1945 and 2005 found that exercise directly lowers fatigue levels.

30. Spend quality time with your partner
Many couples make one or two riding ‘dates’ every week. It is a fantastic idea and it also makes sense: exercise helps release feel-good hormones, so after a ride you’ll have a warm feeling towards each other even if he leaves the toilet seat up and her hair is blocking the plughole again.

Convinced yet? Get your bike and enjoy the perfect ride whether it’s alone, with family or friends… Guaranteed you’ll feel amazing after each ride!