Whether taking a cycle on your own or with a friend, for leisure or as part of a regular cycling team, the sport has proven to have long lasting effects on our mental and physical health as well as being a much better mode of transport for discovering and exploring our beautiful environment.

If you haven’t been on a bike for years, or whether you’re thinking of taking up the activity again for fun or fitness, there are many ways that cycling can be a positive element to your life and those around you.

A recent article in psychologies magazine, documented that getting on your bike and cycling in the great outdoors, whether just around town, or on a proper cycle path can have several positive effects on us. Advice and guidance from sports therapist Katie Higginbotham and world duathlon champion and mindset and performance coach Suzie Richards pointed to benefits including improved sleep, better awareness, a sense of connection with the community and the outdoors as well as boosting brain function and giving the rider precious alone time. The article also claimed that taking to cycling can increase confidence and add to our adventurous and explorative side.

Cycling weekly recently noted that a study by the YMCA recorded that people who have a physically active lifestyle had a wellbeing score 32% above those who were physically inactive.

“There are so many ways that exercise can boost your mood: there’s the basic release of adrenalin and endorphins, and the improved confidence that comes from achieving new things (such as completing a sportive or getting closer to that goal).

Cycling combines physical exercise with being outdoors and exploring new views. You can ride solo – giving you time to process worries or concerns, or you can ride with a group which broadens your social circle.

Former Hour Record holder Graeme Obree has suffered from depression through much of his life, and told us: “Getting out and riding will help [people suffering with depression]… Without cycling, I don’t know where I would be.”

The cycling magazine also noted that the activity could benefit your immune system, promote weight loss, build muscle and cut the risk of heart disease and cancer.  They also state that it can build your social circle too.

Lets not forget that cycling can be a fun activity. You can explore anywhere that you like and it also takes approximately half the time that it would to walk the same route. You can go as far as you want to and we now have the added option of choosing an e bike, to make those hills that bit easier and assist your cycling to gain control and strength in the long run.

In 2020 the BBC reported on the “great bicycle boom” which was kickstarted thanks to the Covid 19 lockdowns and the need for people to keep fit and to find an activity to keep them occupied and to have fun with family while they were spending more time at home. In June 2020 the government reported that biking activity increased by 200% since the lockdown. Secretary for transport Grant Shapps said,

“’Despite fewer people travelling over the last few weeks during this crisis, we’ve actually seen around 100% increase in weekday cycling and at weekends that increase has been up to 200%, compared to the pre-Covid-19 levels. We want to use this recovery to permanently change the way we travel, with huge levels of investment.”

This year the Welsh government pledged to fund a pilot scheme in Wales to accelerate the uptake of bikes.

The biggest sale was among e-bikes, a sector which was already thriving before the introduction of the lockdowns and the article noted that this may also be due to the e bikes making it easier to commute to work.

With bikes in such high demand Brompton Bikes company, based in the UK, saw a new opportunity: providing nurses, doctors and physicians with bicycles so that they could commute to hospitals and avoid public transportation. Brompton raised £375,000 for its Wheels for Heroes campaign, which supplied nearly 800 bicycles to more than 3,000 health workers in the UK. Brompton also boosted production by 30% and has plans to recruit nearly 200 workers within the next year.

Manorbier based Pembrokeshire E-Bike Hire provide the perfect opportunity to explore the South Pembrokeshire coast on power-assisted wheels, with continuous access to the county’s stunning views, with castles, coastline and countryside. Owner Simon also provides great value guided tours of the area for those who aren’t familiar with local routes, plus there’s delicious food and drink next door for the peckish at the Beach Break Tea Room.