10 Reasons to Love National Bike Month

fashionable-bikerWe’re already well into May – and that means it’s National Bike Month. To celebrate our favorite mode of transportation (sorry, Segway, try again next year), here are a few reasons to put feet to pedals.

Did you know…

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…that cycling is almost comically efficient? You’re getting around 3 times as fast as walking but burning the same amount of energy. You’re like a car that does 1,037 kilometres a litre. Part of it is the sensible weight ratio: you’re around 6 times heavier than your bike, compared to your car being 20 times heavier than you.

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…the U.S. government now pays you to cycle to work?

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…that cycling is free? No sh-t, Sherlock, I know – but just weigh that against the cost of your gym membership. Do you pay money to sit in a car, then pay money to go to the gym? Could you combine the two and pay nothing, all the while keeping your fashion mojo intact?

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…bikes make amazing coffee tables? And bowls?

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…that the percentage of U.S. students cycling to school or college is less than a third of what it was in 1969? Meanwhile, the child obesity crisis intensifies every year, despite an impassioned warning by the Surgeon General in 2003.

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…that America is designed for cycling, actually? As a starting point, look at the 38,158 miles of the Adventure Cycling Route Network.

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…there are even bikes you can wear?

dogscene

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…that cycling is becoming a lot more social than you’d think?

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…that this musical duo did 4,700 miles on bikes while promoting one of their albums? Check out the evidence, and our interview with them in March.

We love bikes. Maybe too much.…that bicycles are time machines?

Images: moriza, m-louis, kamshots

Mike Sowden

Mike Sowden is a freelance writer based in the north of England, obsessed with travel, storytelling and terrifyingly strong coffee. He has written for online & offline publications including Mashable, Matador Network and the San Francisco Chronicle, and his work has been linked to by Lonely Planet, World Hum and Lifehacker. If all the world is a stage, he keeps tripping over scenery & getting tangled in the curtain - but he's just fine with that.