Riding a bike is "NEAT"

I will have to start this Post with a with a somewhat strange statement. I hate exercise, there is nothing more pointless in my mind then to run, jog or ride for not other reason then to get the "exercise" from it. I just don't get it! Don't get me wrong being fit and active I value highly but doing an exercise that could be otherwise incorporated into ones everyday activities just seams so pointless. Exercising for exercises own sake is just plain stupid to me!

On Monday SBS aired a very interesting doco titled "The Truth about Exercise". I have to say it said a lot of things that as an individual I already knew, never the less it was good. One of the things discussed but I had never heard named before was "NEAT". "NEAT" stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis which basically means using everyday movements to stay healthy, such as walking to a college to discuss some project instead of phoning, or riding and walking to do tasks. I have to say I was surprised that this had finally been studied, what it showed was little changes throughout the day made a big difference.

I have to say I have been banging on about this basic concept for years with people I know & work with. People never quite understand me when I say I'm lazy. The common reaction is but you ride to work and are fit. People don't quite understand that because riding to work is "exercise" I am being lazy because I am doing two things at once or as I now know "NEAT". This just seams so much common sense it is ridiculous.

A couple of years ago a workmate told me how he was doing "bootcamp" each morning before coming to work. Now to do this he was getting up at 4.30 in the morning, doing the bootcamp where he was getting yelled at to exercise going home to shower and coming to work by train. Me being the practical one asked
how are you getting to the station?
Car
why not walk?
it's 2 kms.
then why not ride you already have a mountain bike?
Oh I will get all hot an sweaty!
Now this bloke was already getting all hot and sweaty because due to his size (morbidly obese) he was getting hot and sweaty just getting from the train station to work. He was getting sweaty anyway! I knew I was banging my head against a brick wall that he had constructed. While being a nice bloke he could not see through the wall to the common sense or "NEAT" of incorporating small amounts of activity into everyday life.
There is no doubt in my mind that making this small change would have had a far more long term benefit then just doing "Bootcamp" for 2 months or so. Don't get me wrong doing group exercise gets things done in the short term but lets look at the long term eg years. Doing a short ten minute ride twice a day, five days a week to and from a train station adds up to an hour & 40 mins a week etc and is far cheaper. I am talking about behaviour change the thing that keeps you healthy!

Gyms & group training is all good but riding a Bike for utilitarian reasons of going to work, shops etc is "NEAT"

PS. I do attend a gym for weights training but never for cardio, that I get by doing everyday activities!

Citycycle - One helmet problem resolved

Last year the Brisbane Times ran an article about how 2/3s of the Citycycle Courtesy helmets that had been placed out had been stolen or lost. At the time I pointed out that is was partly due to two factors in my opinion

1. Helmets are not clearly & permanently Marked as Citycycle Helmets
2. Helmets are not always locked to the bikes.

To the second point for a short period after the Brisbane Times article ran I did note that helmets were being locked to bikes more often with less left in the baskets. However as time as pasted it seams that has slipped back the way it was (as shown by the photo) with one bike I pass having two helmets sitting in it's basket at the moment.

That said the first point seams to of now been resolved. As can be seen from the above photo Citycycle has decided to make the markings on there new helmets more prominent and almost permanent. The first thing is that it stands out now. I have not used Citycycle for months so was not looking at the bikes as such but caught my eye as I walked past a station. This is how it should of been from the get go even with the stickers, catchy!  What is far more important from the outset was that the labelling was permanent and for the most part now it is. The writing and the symbol are embossed in the helmet casing itself. The chances of someone nicking off with one of these helmets has to be greatly reduced.

While I welcome this improvement I have to say it is a little late, bad press from even a paper such as Brisbane Times has to be seen as a wake up call. While I understand doing it to the first 500 helmets put out would of been a waste due to it being a trail, every other helmet after that should of had it done to it, that was over 1000 extra helmets. It would of been plane common sense! Now all we need is for the helmets to be locked correctly, and the staff to enforce it, mind you I wont be holding my breath.

Women scared Riding, We Know That!

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/women-too-scared-to-cycle-survey-20130403-2h73g.html

Image sourced from www.brisbanetimes.com.au

The Brisbane Times this morning ran an article that to many stated the bleeding obvious, Women are scared from riding a bike because of the fear (real/perceived) of being injured. This has been a thorn in the side of making cycling an everyday activity again for so long that it is getting ridiculous.
We all know that corridors have to be not only safe but also perceived as safe yet facilities continue to be built that do not meet this simple requirement.

What was a disappointing fact out of the article was that women are lagging further behind men in Brisbane compared with the other state capitals. In Brisbane women only make up 18% of bike riders for commuting trips compared with 23% with the other capitals. While 5% does not sound like much when you change it to a ratio it is a big difference. It basically means in Brisbane only 1in5 are women compared with 1 in 4 down south. Now that is a big drop.

While some of this can be put down to climatic conditions of Brisbane a lot has to be levelled at the poor infrastructure. We need better bicycle infrastructure that on arterial corridors is separated so everyone is safe but is also wide enough to allow one to overtake or be overtaken in complete safety. It is has to be considered a complete joke that the elected Council members such as Peter Matic claim that council is doing all they can. The fact is the Council is not. Council currently does not have the Political "testicles" to even extend the George St Separated Bikelanes a few blocks up to Anne St, or to have provided Separated bikelanes along Sylvan Rd even though the cost would of been minor and the safety increase would of been high.

We know what needs to be done to encourage more women to ride a bike we just need the politicians to have the Political Testicles.