It all comes down to healthy living. Spending days touring on your bicycle through fresh air, with stress-reducing scenery all around and the promise of a hearty and healthy meal at the end of the road, seems to be at the top of the list of ways to lengthen your life.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. We’ll let the scientists put it plainly, for once. After studying 125 amateur cyclists aged 55 to 79 and comparing them to a group of otherwise healthy adults who do not engage in regular physical activity, the cyclists appeared to have filled their water bottles straight from the fountain of youth.
The researchers at the University of Birmingham state: “The study showed that loss of muscle mass and strength did not occur in those who [cycle] regularly. The cyclists also did not increase their body fat or cholesterol levels with age and… had an immune system that did not seem to have aged either.” Read the study.
JOIN A CYCLING CLUB
So, what’s the best way to be a regular cyclist? Commuting to work every day is one. But try telling that to a plumber with a van full of tools. Joining a cycling club is one way to get into the cycling mentality.
TAKE A GUIDED CYCLING HOLIDAY
Sara McEwen is the owner of Ontario-based Humdinger Bicycling Tours. They run seven dedicated tours along Ontario’s scenic rural roads, and also offer vehicle support and advice for self-guided outings. She and a guide, Katherine Dittmann, are both physiotherapists, with Dittmann also having a master’s in exercise physiology. They were happy to share their thoughts on the responses they’ve seen from their guests who take on their first cycling holidays, often with little prior experience.
The two say they get a lot of clients who need the security of having a guide and other cyclists to travel alongside before committing to a cycling tour.
McEwen recalls two female clients from Thunder Bay who were reluctant to venture out on the roads around Thunder Bay with no experience. “We took them out on a 110-km [68-mile] day. It was a huge challenge for them, but I remember their beaming faces at the top of one hill in particular. They were so proud of it. Their energy was palpable. That’s going to stay with them.”
McEwen says that can be the start of a path toward a long-term cycling lifestyle that people stick with.
Dittmann remembers a group of riders from two years ago who were so inexperienced they made a point of training for what was planned to be a relaxed tour. They left so bolstered by the group experience that two months later, they did an organized “century ride” of 170 km (100 miles) in one day.
“People go on a holiday, and then at the end they realize they have accomplished something new for them. It’s likely they will adopt that persona of being an athlete.”
Cycling, when done regularly, can be a whole identity a person takes on. In this way, a cycling holiday can be a gateway experience, an introduction for people who are hesitant. Once they coast through that gate, their long-term health prospects skyrocket.
