this calculator estimates your ‘life gain’ based on the frequency of your bicycle rides and how much of your life you’ve been an active rider. While it can’t be proven it’s an intriguing consideration – and no harm done bringing more attention to our life extension tag of relevant content!
Biking is healthy – that’s a no-brainer. It’s way cheaper than riding a car and even using public transportation, it gives you flexibility (you clearly cannot be late for your own bike ride!) and a chance to actively spend your commute or a free afternoon. That’s why in a lot of places the number of cyclists on the streets is growing rapidly every year and in some biking has already become the main way of daily commute for locals.
The Netherlands are one of the best examples and if you ever had a chance to visit Amsterdam or any other Dutch town you clearly will know what we’re talking about. To get more scientific data about effects of regular biking a group of researchers at University of Utrecht’s Healthy Urban Living program ran an interesting research. They gathered data about the transport choices of 50,000 people living in the Netherlands. Across this group people ride a bike for an average of 75 minutes per week and they concluded that it equates to living longer for about 6 months. Because of this healthy habit around 11,000 premature deaths are prevented every year in the country.
Awesome!