Keep fit
Being fit means having a healthy, strong heart and being able to exert muscles for an extended period. It means having some strength in muscles but, depending on what exercise you do, it doesn't necessarily mean strength in all of them. To have a healthy, strong heart, you have to get it working and then let it rest. Working at half your heart's capability is good, but exercising it at 70 to 80 per cent of your is when you start making a real difference.
Cycling is one of the best kinds of exercise for keeping fit. It always raises your heart rate, and you can vary how much your heart works simply by how fast you go or the kind of cycling you do. After you've been riding for a while, you find you can do certain things more easily — maybe ride over a hill or chase after someone on a road bike. You're less out of breath and don't feel so exhausted after such activities. This change comes about because your heart becomes stronger, delivering more oxygen-filled blood with each beat (or pump), and your muscles have grown, too, and can now do more work.
Gaining this extra strength and experiencing less suffering with exertion is all a part of fitness. When you become fit, you can produce sudden bursts of energy — perhaps running for a bus or fleeing from a rhinoceros — without any bad effects. So, the more you ride your bike, the fitter you get and the less likely you are to be caught by mad rhinos.
Being fit gives you feelings of both mental and physical confidence: it makes you feel good. When you get fit, you can feel proud of the efforts you've made and the level of fitness you've achieved, you feel more in control and your body is able to relax more when you're resting. You keep feeling better all the time — and all you have to do to get this feeling is ride your bicycle.
Have fun
Everyone needs to have fun, but having fun isn't just about idle merriment. The more fun you have when you do something, the better you're likely to do it. If you don't have fun, you become alienated. If you don't have fun at work, you won't do your job as well. Fun is one of the most important aspects of your life. It turns ordinary activities into things you can enjoy. Fun is pleasure with excitement.
And one thing anyone who rides a bike will tell you is that cycling is fun. Cyclists start riding a bike and enjoy it — it amuses somehow and continues to do so always. So enjoy the pleasure of cycling.
Make friends
Cycling is not like driving. Riding a bicycle is a happy pursuit. It puts you in a good frame of mind, open to ideas and ready to meet people. When you ride on your own, perhaps humming a happy tune, and you find yourself rolling along next to some other contented pedaller going your way, if you don't speak first, that other cyclist is bound to speak to you.
Like hikers meeting on a country path, the natural human response is to greet another person and pass the time of day. Most cyclists do it, and saying 'Hello' is not just a cute, rustic thing — you know you've got something in common with this other person so you're already off to a good start.
If you don't happen to make friends when out riding, joining a cycling group will certainly expand your social sphere. Once again, you've all got a shared passion, but with a specialised cycling group, this passion becomes more than just riding bikes. If you join a group that does some particular kind of riding, you start off with even more in common. It may be riding along country trails, riding fast on roads or hurtling through narrow gaps between trees, but you all love it — and what better way to bond?
See the world
Travel around the planet at high speed and you tick off an awful lot of places — but ride a bicycle and you see and experience far more. When you practise a bit and build up your fitness, you can cover long distances on a bicycle. All you need to see the world is the right bike, a map and time.
Bicycles can go practically anywhere. They aren't terribly good in deep water, but bikes can take on just about any kind of land. And as you ride along, you see all the little details that make up a real world. You see how people live and work. You see what plants are growing, and your quiet progress may enable you to slowly creep up on timid animals and shy birds.
Travel to the great cities of the world and you see bicycles everywhere. And as you pedal past them all, you'll know that when you went out to see the world, you really did — because you saw it on a bicycle.
Save money
The price of fuel is going up and up. During the recent global financial crisis, oil prices reached record highs. And the government is slowly but surely increasing duty on fuel to encourage the use of more efficient vehicles (and to raise lots of tax). Unpredictable — and not so unpredictable — events can have a terrible effect on your personal finances if you rely too much on fuel.
Saving money now by using your bicycle instead of your car