Particularly in congested urban areas, using your bike to commute can bring you all sorts of benefits.

Saying goodbye to restricted parking zones, irregular public transport, the last bus home and grid-locked traffic. On a bike you can be flexible and spontaneous, make an unplanned visit to a shop, a park, meet a friend, etc.

If you are currently spending as little as £1.20 a day on fares or petrol, changing to cycling could save over £200 a year - money which can be spent on other things. If the commute costs more the savings are even bigger!

Gentle regular exercise - just 20 miles a week (i.e. only two miles each way for a five day working week) can halve the risk of heart attack(6). You will arrive at work with a clearer head ready to go without the need of a coffee pick-me-up. Longer term you could expect to firm up, lose weight, and improve your heart rate.

Just try it and see how much fun it is. You can make it a social ride to work by “buddying up” with another cyclist on the commute. The BikeBUDi scheme is simple and free to use. It simply matches individuals with others cycling the same way so they can ride together.

No waiting in queues for the bus or the car park. It is amazing how much faster than motorised traffic one can be cycling at an average of just ten miles an hour - cutting through the congestion. You will arrive on time and often before those in a car.

Once you have researched and tried out your route, you will find that your journey time is predictable - bringing peace of mind rather than driving and arriving at work stressed out.

Most major towns and cities now have published cycle maps.
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