Cycling as medicine

I was riding with Zach up Gutierrez Canyon and he said, “If cycling was a pill, everybody would be taking it.” That’s a neat saying, but after pondering it for a while, I thought cycling is way more fun than taking a pill or vitamin. The benefits of cycling are proven medically effective, and the evidence keeps mounting.

The Specialized Foundation uses cycling as a tool for children to achieve academic, health and social success through their Riding for Focus program. The Foundation partners with Stanford University to better understand the effects of cycling on the learning process in children. It’s pretty incredible to see the positive results of cycling becoming more visible.

Play is a huge part of learning! Cycling play promotes mental health and overall wellbeing. As a team sport, it builds social connections and a sense of belonging. When we do high intensity intervals on the bike, the mind focuses on exercise and nothing else. The goal-oriented part of the brain gets more oxygen causing a focus-shift away from the other parts that might be stressed. This exercise-focused goal-orientation leads to mental relaxation. The following study by Global Cycling Network goes into the details more. Basically the same kind of exercise doctors prescribe for heart patients is also good for our heads, and more.

The bottom line is the value produced by cycling is so positively impactful, we’ll have to create a new economic model to measure it. The rewards to the individual and society are only just beginning to be understood. The bicycle is releasing so much human potential! Kudos to everyone making an effort to harness it more, including the people riding bicycles.