Just in time for the warmer weather, National Bike Month is celebrated in May every year. This is when people who are already cycling enthusiasts celebrate and others discover the benefits and fun of bicycling. Whether you bike for your health, to help the environment or just to get around, it helps to discover your friendly neighborhood bike store. They’ll help you get started with good advice on everything from the right bike frame to bike bags.
How to celebrate National Bike Month
Yes, it’s official: May is National Bike Month. It was established in 1956 by the League of American Bicyclists and is celebrated across the country. It’s a time to start bicycling for fun, for your health, to see the sights, or to get to work or the grocery store. In fact it’s a good time to start discovering all the reasons why bicycling is good for you.
In fact, bicycling is also good for the environment. For all of these reasons, more and more people are taking up bicycling every year. By 2017, as many as 66.21 million people had been cycling during the past year. So this May just might be your chance to start and explore all the possibilities. Make sure you have the right bike frame and you’re good to go.
Why we bike: the environment
It’s good for your health and it’s good for the environment. Both are very strong reasons to take up bicycling, and join the more than one billion bicyclists around the world. One of the best things about bicycling is that it combines mobility with exercise and an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Bicycle users save up to 2.38 billion gallons of gas every year. Not only that, bikes get you where you want to go without adding to harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Studies in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin have shown that if just one fifth or 20% of all short trips in these three states were replaced by bike trips, it would avoid emissions of 57,405 tons of carbon dioxide. The proof of devastating climate change is all around us, and everyone wants to slow it down and prevent further harm. Bicycling is an easy way to do your part, and there are many practical benefits as well.
Bicycling is good exercise
Besides helping to prevent further environmental damage, bicycling is good for your health. In fact, it’s one of the best forms of exercise. Studies have shown that if you commute to work on your bike, you will be burning as many calories as if you spent 40 minutes at the gym five days every week. Bicycling keeps you fit and also helps to reduce the risk of serious disease.
A study by Glenn Stewart, a researcher at Brunel University in London, found that cycling can reduce the risk of cardiorespiratory diseases by about 40%. Overall, it can reduce the risk of premature mortality by as much as 30%. Kids can learn cycling as early as five years of age, and it’s a great way to teach them healthy habits for a lifetime.
Should you bike to work?
Millions of people and the League of American Bicyclists think so, and National Bike to Work Week is also celebrated in May. You don’t even have to own a bike to try it out; many cities now have bike sharing programs where you can borrow bikes for free for a specified number of hours.
If your office is a reasonable distance away, you can skip the traffic jams and delays and get some healthy exercise instead. So long as you have the right bike frame, you can just breeze past all the cars stuck in traffic.
When it’s time to buy your own bike, you should find your own bike shop that can help you with your purchase and all future maintenance and repair work. You’ll need expert help in finding everything from the right bike frame to toe clips for you. Your friendly neighborhood bike shop can also be your source for all parts like track chains, brake levers and toe clips.