cycling and health

Use your bicycle for short trips or commuting, and get the benefits of exercise without thinking of it as exercise.

Take the wheel: Try cycling for transportation, exercise, and a better mood, all at once.

RODALE NEWS, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK—The first thing I noticed on my recent trip to this charming seaside city is people on bicycles—everywhere. It would be hard not to notice them. Here, in one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, over a third of Copenhagen’s residents bicycle to work, and more than half commute by either bicycle or moped. It's a very different picture in the U.S., where we’re in love with our cars. Fewer than 1 percent of us bike to work. Even in Portland, Oregon, America’s biking capital, only about 6 percent of the residents bike to work. (However, that number is steadily increasing, as the city expands its bike routes and increases its public education programs about biking.)

THE DETAILS: Why the big difference? There are many reasons, of course. But I think a big part of it is that most Americans think of bicycling primarily as recreation. Most Danes think of bike riding as transportation. American cyclists represent a small, albeit enthusiastic, subculture (our colleagues at Rodale.com's sister publication, Bicycling magazine, are leaders in documenting, cultivating, and participating in that enthusiasm). But in Denmark, cycling is part of the majority culture; almost all Danish children bicycle to school, and they keep riding as adults.

In Copenhagen, the government promotes bicycling with over 300 kilometers of bike lanes and steep taxes on automobiles. In addition, the city has provided 1,100 city bikes, called “Bycyklen,” that residents can borrow for free at 110 locations. The city government is continuing to build new bike lanes and bike bridges, with the aim of having 50 percent of people commuting by bike in 2015, and making Copenhagen the first CO2-neutral city by 2025.

WHAT IT MEANS: For the Danes, bicycling is a way of life that brings a host of benefits. There is less air pollution, and less automobile traffic. People in Denmark enjoy high levels of fitness and low rates of obesity. Perhaps not coincidentally, in recent years the Danes have ranked highest in the world on surveys of life satisfaction. Starting and ending the day on a bicycle outdoors lifts their spirits.