On my Claude Butler hybrid
"Age is a key consideration when examining attitudes to and participation in cycling in Scotland. Despite a slight increase in the proportion of respondents over the age of 65 who live in households where at least one bicycle is owned, those in this age group were least likely to have at least one bicycle owner in their household. 90% of respondents over the age of 65 stated that they never cycled and amongst those in this age group with no bicycles in the household, their age was a key barrier to owning a bicycle." Source: "Cycling in Scotland 2005"; Scottish Executive Social Research, 2005 (Web only publication)
"Get on yer bike!"
For people of my generation, that advice is forever tainted by Norman Tebbitt's fatuous attempt to offer a solution to the unemployment problems of the early 1980s. However it's still vitally important advice for those of us waving goodbye to our fifties and sixties. The benefits and advantages of cycling are many and varied and the disadvantages are few and easily overcome. Most of the benefits apply to senior people just as much as to youngsters. Let's list the main ones briefly.
Cycling is good for your health
Reports by bodies such as the British Medical Association have pointed up the benefits cycling can bring, including reduction in the risk of heart attack and stroke, maintenance of a healthy weight and an increase in life expectancy. I would add to those the fact that cycling is satisfying and great fun, which has to be good for our mental health. NB I have to include here the reminder that cycling can involve quite strenuous physical activity and if you are considering taking it up for the first time or after a lengthy break from cycling, you must consult your doctor to ensure there are no medical conditions which might make it unwise for you to do so.
Cycling is good for your world
It's obvious that bikes produce no pollution, which is in stark contrast to motorised forms of transport. Manufacturing of bicycles involves a fraction of the energy and raw materials needed to make a motor car. Riding a bike requires no expenditure of precious fuels (other than tea and cake, of course!) Bikes do absolutely minimal damage to road surfaces. And crucially, bikes kill and seriously injure a tiny number of people compared to the carnage caused by motor vehicles every week of every year.
Cycling is good for your bank balance
The capital cost of even a very good bike is less than ten percent of the cost of the equivalent motor car and with good maintenance it will last for much longer. Annual running costs, including maintenance of the bike and replacement of associated equipment, needn't be more than about £100 (although enthusiasts like me can spend a great deal more on the latest bits and pieces!) compared to something in excess of £3,000 for an average family saloon.
Cycling is good for your soul
Riding along a country road, spinning the pedals with little effort, feeling the wind in your hair (ok guys, feeling it on your bald patch), seeing every detail of the changing landscape, stopping at a country pub for whatever you fancy. All those either on your own if you like or in company with like minded people. What could be better for your general well-being?
Cycling is a great hobby which can involve so much more than simply riding a bike, although that's clearly at the heart of it. I've ridden a cycle of some sort for as long as I can remember, from my first tricycle in the early 1950's, through a "fairy cycle" to a proper Raleigh adult bike with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub that I rode to and from school. For a long time, while the children were growing up, I had a Sun Solo 10 speed "racer" that I used for occasional rides at weekends and for one long distance tour from Berwick to Gretna along the (approximate) line of the Scottish-English border. It was only when I retired from employment that I began to look further into the benefits and possibilities of cycling.
Clearly, bikes don't travel as fast as motor vehicles and can't carry the same loads. However, it's surprising to many people just how far and fast you can travel on a bike and how much you can transport if you want to. A reasonably fit person on a decent and well-maintained bicycle can easily cover 40 miles or more in a day without excessive effort, even with luggage. So day trips and holidays are entirely within the scope of the cyclist.
But why cycle when we've reached the pleasant plateau of our senior years? Well, to prevent us falling off the other side of the plateau for as long as possible, for one thing! But as well as the health benefits, cycling offers great fun, whether as a solitary cyclist enjoying a lazy spin in the countryside, or as part of a group undertaking a mass ride for charity or a cycling club Sunday run. There aren't so many sports we can take a real part in once we're in the patronizingly titled Third Age, but cycling is definitely one of them.