Why Stationary Bikes Exist
Stationary bikes exist for a bunch of reasons, but one of them is because there is no safe place to ride one’s bike on the streets. Even most neighborhoods are extremely dangerous and/or uncomfortable to ride around in because cars scare the living daylights out of us. We want and need subjective safety.
So, the first part of this answer is to get cars under control. That is, slow cars down, create real bicycle infrastructure — physically-separated bike paths, traffic-calmed neighborhoods, etc.
Then, for our older peeps, we get them on recumbent trikes - like we talked about here.
Not being able to exercise leads to health problems - heart problems, depression, etc. We need to allow people to get out of the house. Here’s the thing to remember:
Even people who cannot walk easily may still be able to easily ride a bike.
It’s also important to note that moderate exercise can produce big health benefits. We don’t have to even ride a lot - just some. We need to get the heart pumping, the blood flowing, etc.
Gym memberships are expensive, and sitting on a crappy stationary bike sucks anyways - let’s let people get outside and get some fresh air and connect with humanity a little bit.
It’s important that we advocates ingrain this ‘bikes-instead-of-or-in-addition-to-walking’ in our heads because, at least to me, it’s not at all intuitive. Most folks who can’t comfortably walk will think that there is no way they could possibly bike - but that’s just not true. Walking requires more energy than bikes. And biking is much easier on the joints, and the body overall, than walking. It’s one of the reasons I bike - my leg/back/hip/ass injury sometimes gets painful - but I can always ride a bike. One guy started riding his bike when he was 500 pounds - it was too painful for him to even walk - but he could bike (more) (blog).
Leave comment (0)[p.s. The Forums are open for participation.]
