The bicycle should be considered the ultimate vehicle in the quest for fitness. In the first place, the bicycle is a useful vehicle - it can be used to get somewhere. So your exercise time is not exclusive: while getting fit, you can get places, see things, and move about at an acceptable rate: Half an hour's cycling can convey a trained cyclist over a distance of 16 Km or more. That way, you can start at the front door and vary the site of the exercise from day to day. And you can do some useful or entertaining things on the way.

A second advantage of cycling is that the body is partially supported, eliminating most of the static loads on the body.

And even when you stop pedaling, you neither stop nor fall over. That is the main reason cycling can be maintained for a prolonged period at the desired output level and speed. Where as half an hour's jogging may seem to take a heavy toll, it is no problem to cycle several hours on end at the same output level.

In the third place, when done correctly - and this site wilt help you to do so -, cycling does not produce unacceptable loads on joints, muscles, and ten- dons. This makes cycling possible even when other forms of exercise may be too hard. And it allows cycling to be continued up to a venerable age.

Finally, and to me most importantly, cycling is fun. I think anyone who has learned to cycle effectively will enjoy the speed and silence of propulsion, the graduality and grace of movement, the oneness with the environment that can be enjoyed more in cycling than in any other form of exercise. All in all, there are plenty of good reasons to ride your bike for fitness.