7/31/2019 Bicycles Win the Race
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Bicycles Win
the RaceT here is a commonobservation abouthow wonderfully
Indiahas passed directly tomobile phones, andskipped the buildout
ofa landline infrastructure.Could we take similarshortcuts to other
difficultaspects of development?
The prevention of heartdisease through such astrategy poses an
immensechallenge. Why? Thefundamental driver ofheart disease is the
way adeveloped society organ-
ises central aspects oflife. Heart disease, in
any population,follows from1) the produc-tion, distributionand
consump-tion of food;2) the organisa-
tion of time;3) the design of
our living, workingand leisure space; and
4) methods of transport.One of my fondest
memories of a summervacation in India is of ridinga bicycle from
the town ofHoshiarpur to visit a villagewith a stately
mangoorchard. We got caught ina delightfully warmmonsoon shower on
ourreturn home, which onlyadded to the pleasure.
Health Benefits
Studies consistentlyconfirm the health benefitsof biking. The
combinationof aerobic and resistancetraining that cycling entailsis
particularly good forinsulin sensitivity. Womenwho bike control
obesityand weight more easily.Bicycling is associated withlower
mortality.
If carving out time forexercise from your busyschedule is an
issue, use abicycle for your dailycommute to work or to the T O
P :
P H O T O G R A P H B Y :
B E N N G R O V E R
, E D I T O
R P R O C O R
.
market for grocery. I findthat my travel time fromhome to office
is about20 to 25 minutes by car,
while biking at thatsame hour takes about35 minutes. In my
calcula-tion, this means I get35 minutes of exercise for10 minutes
of extra timespent. What a bargain!
The Road Forward
The safety of bicycling willbecome a big concern inIndia as
vehicular trafficincreases. But safetyissues can be
addressed.Denmark and Netherlandshave high bike usage butlow
cycling fatalities. Thekey is urban planning andurban redesign.
Whilethere are many pro-bicy-cling traffic and landscapedesigns for
cities aroundthe world, the bestapproach is to build sepa-rate
cycle tracks thatprotect cyclists from fastmoving traffic andits
pollution. And whatbetter time to build bicyclelanes than at the
begin-ning of a national road-building campaign?
Im sure there is nobicycle lobby as such inthe halls of
Parliament.
Most architects and urbanplanners have their handsfull with the
basics of citybuilding. But here is
another historical momentwhen leapfrogging pastother countries
is possible.
Why shouldnt thedesigners of roads andpublic spaces seek
theconsiderable commonground between economichealth and public
health?How can India maintainthe presence and value ofbicycle
culture before theentire populace of itscities, forgets? City
plan-ners need to be encou-raged by thoughtful Indi-ans to work
towardpreserving the humblebicycles place in society.We need a
social move-ment, but what we reallyneed is a creative consen-sus
that makes bicyclingsexy and fashionableor,at the very least,
equalisesits prestige value withthose big cars sitting intraffic
that cyclists canpass on the way to work.
In the end, the real taskis to forge completely newideas about
living, workingand moving that do notborrow from the West,but
supersede it.
How cycling benefits your health andsaves the planet.
There are cyclingorganisations andclubs throughout
India. All of them havemotivated members
and can provide infor-mation about cycling
in your city.
00 JULY 2012 PREVENTION
health right now
D r VIKAS SAINI is aclinical cardiologist and researcher at
Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of PublicHealth. He is
president of the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation inBoston.
Write to him at [email protected]
00PREVENTION JULY 2012
FROM THE HEART DOC
Dr Vikas Saini biking for health
