Cycling ... therapy for the mind. LSR an opportunity lost!

We all know cycling is good for your health, our environment and economics.  In a much earlier post, I observed that if the drug companies could put all the benefits of cycling into a pill, they would be fabulously wealthy.

The New England Journal of Medicine posted a video showing the dramatic influence of cycling on those with Parkinsons.  The first portion of the video is incredibly difficult to watch, painful!  The 58 year old man, suffers the classic symptoms known as "freezing gait," a shuffling unbalanced attempt at walking.

However, on his bicycle he shows no evidence of Parkinsons.

Quoting from the article in Atlantic Cities, "These experiments on bicycling and brain function, along with other studies about the connection between exercise, mood, and concentration, are clearly in their early stages. But they raise profound questions about the way our preferred mode of transportation affects our cognition and mood.

What effect has our dependence on the automobile had on our collective mental health? What role does passive transportation play in mood and attention disorders, especially for children? What therapeutic effects could a shift to more active transportation modes have for people who suffer from these disorders? What are the social costs of an environment that enforces auto dependence? Does cycling have special benefits that other exercise modes don’t?"

Not only does cycling help your physical health, it aids your mental health as well.  

Of course, bike lanes on Lakeshore Road are not a panacea for health issues, but they were one vital step in building a connected bike network in Burlington that was lost when council rejected the proposal.  Studies from around the world indicate, if you add bike lanes, more people use them.  Maybe some of the people who live in the condos on LSR would get out on their bikes if they realised how good it is for them.