Originally Posted by
Biker395
Yup. Mother nature doesn't suffer fools.
I find the subject fascinating. We ALL have habits and things we do that we know are self-destructive to some extent, but we do them anyway.
There are members of my family that think my choice to ride 8,000 miles a year represents a foolish risk. I see it instead as a choice between a high probability of a gradual decline in health balanced against the small but not insignificant probability of a sudden and violent death (along with the healthy dose of fun, of course).
I've decided to take my chances. I guess that's the point ... we makes our choices and live with them.
Have you read Joe Friel's Book," Cycling past 50?" He discusses much of this very issue. He has graphs and charts in the first part of the book showing the aging process between competitive and post competitive men and women and between active and sedentary men and women and surprise, surprise the sedentary people had higher body mass, higher blood pressure and a high resting heart rate.
I have been in both groups over the years. I worked and commuted by bicycle for ten years but as I got more successful in my job and started to raise a family I switched to motorcycles and finally small compact cars. Time became a problem because of work, after school programs and community commitments and I believe that has a lot to do with the under 50s sedentary lifestyle, on top of the other things I listed. But still considering how few Americans cycle commute compared to the Netherlands and Denmark a spread of 1 to 2 years between them and the US seems pretty small.
After all doesn't Denmark have a cycle commute rate in the 35+ percent rate compared to our 1 to 5 percent rate. Doesn't seem like cycling verses cars makes all that much difference if the life expectancy rate is only 1 or 2 years apart. I am sure it made a good story for someone at the NYT but it was a bit weak on relivance compared to the effects of a bad economy on the mental health of a group that is in the peak earning years of their life.
But still it all comes down to personal choices, we can choose to cycle or sit on the sofa. It doesn't seem like the government has been able to figure out how to get a couch potato off of the couch so I can't see our government having a big effect on public responsibility for their own choices. Those of us in this forum are not just Lucky, we have made a decission that has helped us get to where we are and unlike the popular statement that we didn't do it on our own I say then just who gets me out of bed on on my bike, dang sure it isn't my congressman and isn't the president.