Give your wellbeing a lift by cycling to work

Driving really does stunt your concentration levels

Hurray for researchers at the University of East Anglia and the University of York!
They've found ditching your car for the journey to work and cycling instead gives your sense of wellbeing a well deserved boost. 
Commuters who indulge in an active journey to work can concentrate more easily and feel under less strain than those trapped in their little boxes on wheels, according to the study carried out at Norwich Medical School and the Centre for Health Economics.
Even using public transport gives people a better psychological lift than carving your way through nose-to-bumper tailbacks in a car. 
Good news indeed. 
So, presumably we can all wake up tomorrow and discover a fantastic network of traffic-free cycle lanes for the happy commuters created overnight by our benevolent Government? Hmm. Dream on!

Even the likes of former Olympic gold medalist and British Cycling's policy adviser Chris Boardman can't seem to shame the Government into action, despite his best efforts before the transport select committee earlier this year. 

So why with such irrefutable evidence about the benefits of cycling is the Government not doing more?

Well, this study holds one tiny clue.

Choices: The transport methods used by commuters

The research was based on data from nearly 18,000 adults. From this group, they found 73% went to work by car and 3% cycled for their commute. The rest walked or used public transport. And there's the rub: 73% v 3%. 
With politicians chasing majorities lately like their very livelihoods depended upon it, it's perhaps no wonder facilities for cyclists are few and far between. 

Just imagine what the M1 would look like if it was a typical cycle path. It's total length would be four miles, even though on paper it connects London with Leeds. The rest would be just what ever backroads and byways happened to be knocking around in the general vicinity painted a nice shade of motorway blue - which of course would disappear on certain stretches for no logical reason. There would only be one junction with some minor B-road nowhere near London or Leeds. And as for places to stop and leave your vehicle securely! Well, you get my drift. 
A motorway like that could never be allowed to exist by whichever Government was in charge because those 73% of drivers would vote for anyone else who promised to deliver a better option.  
So what do we do? 
Tempting though it is to fall back on cynicism and wail "we're all doomed", the answer has got be: do not give up. 
OK, there's a mountain to climb. (Frankly, it's more like a cliff face with several overhanging roofs!) But that's the challenge. The groundswell will only come once the 73% is woken from its slumber to the advantages of cycling as a real alternative to the daily commute. All we cyclists can do is bang on and on about it, praising the lifestyle benefits, the pleasures and, dare I say this, the sense of freedom. 
Then maybe that 73%-3% split might begin to even out a little. Now there's something that would be worth celebrating.

Resources 

Click here to watch the BBC's video report on the UEA's study 

Click here to read the UEA's press release about the study 

Or, if you are very brave, click here and read the study. Be warned, this is technical and not for the faint-hearted 

Get on your bike and ride

Biker Hack's very first cycling blog

Hello and welcome to my blog. 
My name is Biker Hack and for the past 10 years I've enjoyed cycling around the wonderful Essex seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea. 
I like to think I know a thing or two about life on two wheels (some of which has been learnt the hard way).
Hopefully, a little bit of my enthusiasm for cycling will rub off and inspire you to saddle up and head out there. 
Now before I go on, I feel the need to clarify exactly what I mean by cycling. 
I'm not a Lycra-clad speed fanatic who revels in a time trail on a country road.
Neither am I mud-spattered mountain biker who delights in downhill thrills. 
I'm just a bloke who cycles to and from work in our ever-growing urban world. In my mind, that makes me an urban cyclist.
Don't misunderstand me, I've got no axe to grind with what I call racing bike enthusiasts or off-roaders. 
Southend is served admirably by cycling societies, which promote the pleasure of riding. If you want to know more about them, then see this link and this one. if I've left anyone off, sorry! It's not deliberate, honest!
What I'm more interested in is finding quiet routes away from busy roads and getting around where I live without using a car. 
It's green and good for you, and I should know. My only exercise is the cycling I do around town. I don't go to the gym and I pretty much eat and drink what I like. And I stay relatively trim - I'm working on the belly - from just a little bit of gentle exercise. 
So if you're feeling it's time to turn over a new leaf, then come and join me as I explore the ups and downs of urban cycling.