Benefits of Biking

Biking delivers powerful benefits for your health, our environment, and your wallet. Explore the highlights below.

Health

Cycling is one of the healthiest, low-impact forms of exercise—meaning it causes less strain and fewer injuries than most other workouts. It’s a hobby you can enjoy throughout your life. Even if you ride hard, the blood pumping and wind in your face are exhilarating. And you don’t need to “train” to earn the benefits—casual riding still pays off.

Riding your bike:

Burns calories
Builds strength
Increases balance
Builds endurance and stamina
Increases flexibility
Defines shape and muscle tone
Increases cardiovascular fitness
Improves joint mobility
Improves coordination
Decreases stress levels
Reduces anxiety and depression
Makes you feel good and boosts energy for the rest of the day
Reduces the risk of certain diseases and health problems, such as heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes
Increases blood flow, oxygen, and nutrients to your brain—supporting gray matter (biking literally makes you smarter!)

Environmental Impact

Air Pollution & Emissions

The U.S. Census estimates about half of Americans live within five miles of their workplace. If everyone who lives < 5 miles from work biked instead of drove one day a week, greenhouse-gas emissions would drop by 5 million tons/year—like 1 million people giving up their cars—and save over 24 billion gallons of gas.
More CO₂ is emitted by the United States’ transportation sector than any other nation’s entire economy (except China).
Motor vehicles produce > 30% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, > 80% of carbon monoxide, and about half of nitrogen oxides each year.
60% of transportation pollutants are produced in the first few minutes of a trip (“warm-up” period). Short car trips—which are easiest to replace by bike—are the dirtiest per mile.
Manufacturing footprint: ~14,000 lbs CO₂ per motor vehicle vs. ~530 lbs for an average bicycle. With a typical U.S. diet, riding ~400 miles “pays back” a new bike’s footprint. Ride 2 miles/day, 5 days/week, and you’re carbon neutral in < 1 year. Used bikes are even better.
Fewer cars = less idling and less congestion = healthier air.
Energy efficiency: the energy to move a car 20 miles can move a person on a bike about 960 miles.
Airborne pollutants don’t just affect the air; they fall with precipitation and can pollute groundwater and farmland.

Habitat & Sprawl

Bikes reduce the need for parking lots. One car space can fit roughly 6–15 bikes.
Paving for parking introduces chemicals that pollute air and groundwater and removes trees that absorb CO₂.
Paved surfaces increase the urban “heat island” effect, driving up energy demand and emissions. Smaller bike parking footprints help mitigate this.
Cars encourage longer highway trips; bikes encourage people to stay local and support nearby businesses—strengthening compact, walkable town centers and reducing sprawl.
As of 2010, the U.S. had ~800 million car parking spaces, totaling ~160 billion sq ft of concrete and asphalt.
Bikes are quieter than cars (less noise pollution) and reduce roadkill—good for wildlife and habitats.

Deforestation & Mining

Bikes use far less rubber and lubricants than cars and buses, helping reduce deforestation for rubber plantations.
Metals for vehicles are mined, which can devastate landscapes, remove forests, and pollute air during extraction.
Water contamination from mining is severe; even small-scale mining can leave land barren for years—removing trees that help cool the planet.

Cost $

Road wear: heavy vehicles drive most resurfacing costs. A “heavy” bicycle (~30 lbs) is < 1% the weight of a Toyota Prius and < 0.4% of a Hummer H2—so bikes cause far less damage. More biking = less tax money on repairs.
Parking costs: building one paved car space ≈ $2,200; one space in a garage ≈ $12,500. A two-bike rack can cost around $100.
Ownership costs: AAA estimates owning a car at about $8,876/year. A bike? With community resources (like Free Cycles), owning and maintaining one can be very low-cost or even free.
Road lifecycle example: a typical asphalt road in a city like Missoula needs resurfacing roughly every 7 years due to heavy vehicle wear and tear.