Cycling has to be one of the most fun ways of getting around.  And it’s cheap. AND it helps to keep you fit and healthy. So, what are you waiting for?

Some cycling facts
Health benefits

• Cycling at least 20 miles a week reduces your risk of heart disease by 50%.
• Want to look ten years younger? Then cycle regularly. If you cycle on a daily basis, you’ll be as fit as a person ten years your junior.
• A 2000 survey by the commuters in Copenhagen, Denmark concluded  that people who commute by bicycle are so healthy that they’re 39% less  likely to die (of any cause) than those who don’t ride bicycles.
• On a bicycle you can have your cake and eat it. A moderate half-hour each-way commute will burn eight calories a minute, which is the equivalent of 11kg of fat in a year.

Environmental benefits

• When riding a bicycle, you consume only half of the amount of oxygen a motor vehicle requires during a trip of the same distance. Not only that, but you don’t expel any pollutants, either!
• Driving 4km less a day reduces driving by 1460km a year
• Bicycles use 2% as much energy as cars per passenger-kilometre
• On a bicycle you can travel up to 1037kms on the energy equivalent of a single litre of petrol
• You can fit between 12 and 20 bicycles in a single car parking space.

It saves time

• On a bicycle, you can travel three times faster than you can walk, for the same amount of energy.
• When time travel is measured from door to door for trips up to 5km on congested roads, bicycles are generally faster than any other mode of transport. People do not factor in walking to or from the car or bus stop.

Benefits to the economy

• Calculating all internal and external benefits of cycling together and adding the turnover of related industries, the European Cycling Federation estimates cycling to be worth well above € 200 bn annually to the economy of the EU or more than €400 for every person that lives in the EU. By far the biggest single chunk is on the health side; we could achieve over € 110 bn annually in savings if we all cycled more!

Where in Co. Monaghan can I buy bikes and cycling gear?

Carrickmacross    –     Carrick Cycle Centre,   Monaghan Road    Tel 042 9690950

Castleblayney –     Monaghan Hire, Monaghan Road    Tel 042 9740875

Monaghan –  Monaghan Hire, Dublin Rd    Tel 047-74444

Castleshane Cycles   Tel  086 8528049

Ballybay  –    Treanor Trophies,  Castleblayney Road   Tel 042 9741481

Emyvale   –  George’s Cyclosport,  Enterprise Centre   Tel  087 9355625

Why not dig our your High Nelly and bring it in for an MOT?  All of the above stores will give your bike the once-over FREE OF CHARGE.  So, you really have no excuse not to get on yer bike!