As the weather warms up, it is a great time to think about riding your bike more. Have you ever considered riding your bike to work? If that is too far, think about riding you bike to a closer designation like a local store to run an errand. Increasing how often you ride your bike can be good for you and good for our environment. - 5 reasons to bike your drive
- The average person loses 13 pounds their first year of commuting by bike.
- 40% of all car trips in the U.S. are made within 2 miles of home.
- 60% of the pollution created by autos happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively.
- Just 3 hours of biking per week can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%.
- The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gas a year by boosting bicycle trips just half a percentage point: from 1% to 1.5% of all trips.
REI recently put up a new page on their web site that offers good advice on increasing your bike riding. It has everything from safety tips, to cycling myths, to bike maintenance, and of course what kind of gear to consider. It is a great resource to look at if you have considered riding more, you can find it at: http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/getting+into+biking.html#Before_You_Ride
If your biking route includes parts of Fairfax County, Virginia there is a relatively new set of maps that show all the best bike routes. Your can download these maps at:http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot/bike/bikemap.htm
And of course I would not be doing my job if I did not mention that one of the best bike routes in the world is the W&OD Trail that stretches for 45 miles through Northern Virginia. As a former rail road bed it is relatively flat and straight, which makes for great cycling.
Happy cycling!
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