One change of habit that I noticed in the CMC campus, during our stay this time, is the number of people who use bicycle for physical exercise or going to work. I have noticed a bicycle parked in the car park, attached to almost every campus house. There are more younger children bicycling in the evening for sports activity.
I heard from one of the post graduate trainees that cycling has become a habit for some. There are cycling groups who cycle daily and go for long trips during the week ends.
Apart from the enormous benefit it has in conditioning our body and keeping us fit, there are some other advantages that I have recently discovered.
It enhances our attention, decision making and problem solving. In that it has a therapeutic effect.
For a nature enthusiast, cycling offers the opportunity to explore the neighbourhood. There are some terrains, we cannot use any other form of transport. In cities there are cycle parks form where we can hire cycles and leave them after our use in another park elsewhere in the city. Many tourists take advantage of this to tour city sights with the help of GPS.
For those interested in photography, it is an unobtrusive way of being present in situations where activities of interest take place.
The bicycles are manufactured with advanced technological benefit that they are custom made to the needs of the users- so there are cycles for children, sports rider, mountain rider, speed racer, office goer, etc.
Our life style is changing rapidly with more tending towards affluent and indulgent way of living. Its immediate effect is stress accumulation. There is evidence now that, cycling has a de-stressing effect and lowers blood pressure. Among the exercises suggested for regulated weight reduction is bicycling. Although brisk walking is equivalent to this, cycling saves time with an equal effect of brisk walking for a longer period.
Those who prefer walking should continue the habit; those who want a change of exercise, let me suggest bicycling! That is what I am preparing to do now.
M. C. Mathew(text and photo)
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