Biking Life Gain
Biking is healthy - that's a no-brainer. That's not its only benefit; it's way cheaper than taking the car or public transport, gives you flexibility (you can leave whenever you like, and don't need to worry about missing your bike ride) and is a chance to actively spend your commute or free afternoon. For these reasons, and many others, the number of cyclists has been growing every year in many places, and, for some, cycling has already become their top choice when commuting to work.
The Netherlands are one of the best examples of this phenomenon, and if you've ever had a chance to visit you will know what we're talking about. In an effort to get more scientific data about the effects of a regular cycle, a group of researchers at the University of Utrecht's Healthy Urban Living program ran an interesting study. They gathered data about the transport choices of 50,000 people living in the Netherlands. Across this group, people that rode a bike for an average of 75 minutes per week were found to extend their lives by about 6 months. Because of this healthy habit, around 11,000 premature deaths are prevented every year in this country.
Another, perhaps, more interesting conclusion from this study is that for every hour of biking we live for around an hour longer. Although this is only an estimate, and actual results may vary depending on your country or personal disposition, we thought we'd base this tool on this very equation to show you how choosing a bike can impact your life. To get your result you'll need to input the following information:
- Time spent cycling on an average day.
- How many days you cycle for every week.
- How many months you cycle for every year.
- At what age did you start regular cycling (or when are you planning to!)
Please note that the research was ran on a group of amateur bikers, who cycle mostly for their daily commute. Although our tool allows you to insert any numerical value, the results won't be as accurate if you're a pro and spend most of your day on a bike, as the hours gained experiences diminishing returns (although we do wish you could live 20 years longer!).This calculator takes into consideration the average speed of a commuting cycler in the Netherlands, which we assume is somewhere between 12 and 20 kmph (7-12 mph). If your rides are more intense than that you'll probably live even longer, so good for you!
Feel free to also adjust your country's life expectancy to get you the most accurate result.