Northern B.C. health organization promotes Bike to Work Week, cycling in general
As you were on your way to work this morning, you may have seen a lot more cyclists on the streets with you, all pedalling their way to work. It’s Bike to Work Week on the super, natural streets of British Columbia, and it’s not just a Vancouver or a Victoria thing. Communities across the province are joining the progressive, healthy fun this week.
The communities of northern B.C. are among them, including Fort St. John. As well, local organizations with an interest in healthy living, namely Northern Health, are sounding the call for people—experienced cyclists or otherwise—to make every week a Bike to Work Week. Active transportation, executive director Dr. Anne Pousette said, can and should be a linchpin of a healthy lifestyle all summer long—and beyond, as long as the snow allows.
“We, as adults, need to think about it, and choose to make it a part of our lives,” Dr. Pousette said, addressing the idea of active transportation in general. “Think about where you can walk or use a bicycle for some part of your commute. For children, find ways to encourage them to safely bike and walk to school.”
For cyclists, the benefits of riding as opposed to driving, or even taking the bus, are an open-and-shut matter, of course. Among those who ride 5, 10, even 25 km to work are those with some of the least stress in their lives, the best health, and even at the end of a tiring, trying work week, a smile still on their faces when they think about Monday. Still, it can’t be denied that for beginners, even novices, the prospect of lining up at a stop sign alongside heavier, more mechanized traffic can be a bit daunting—especially in places without much civic cycling infrastructure, such as northern B.C. For communities participating in Bike to Work Week this week, showing that it can be done is about effectively doing away with those concerns. One way to do it, organizations like Northern Health are showing, is to demonstrate the clear, measurable health benefits of cycling as a mode of transportation.
The result, Pousette suggested, is a wealth of boosts to personal health and wellness: reduced risk of diabetes, improved cardiopulmonary function across the board, a mitigated risk of obesity, and others. For communities, though, the benefits are measured in other, more collective ways: reduced road congestion, saving money on gas, and so forth. In other words, things that cyclists have known for a long, long time, but for novices or beginners, facts that may carry greater sway when spoken by a leading health professional.
Another professional under the Northern Health umbrella agrees. “When done safely,” said Northern Health injury prevention co-ordinator Shellie O’Brien, “cycling is a great way to get active.” But if this is your first week rolling out as part of your commute, she said, be sure to do it safely. Know the rules of the road; use hand signals; ride with the flow of traffic; and, of course, wear a helmet.
O’Brien also issued a warning to drivers on northern B.C. roads, now that the sun is back and the bikes have returned: in short, keep your eyes open. “Motorists need to remember they are a lot bigger than cyclists,” O’Brien said, “so if you hit them, they are not going to do well.”
