Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a faraway country called Childhood, there was a magical machine called a cycle. It could entertain you, show you places you hadn't been, introduce you to your friends, take you far away from your home and back again, and was more fun than anything you had ever experienced in your young life.

Then, you grew up. You discovered public transport, parents car, boyfriend's bike, own scooty, own car… and the cycle, like old friends, faded away.

But it's time to bring it back into your life, and here's why.

Our favorite word of the year, Recession. All those short little trips to the ATM, sabzimandi, kirana, nearby friends, etc add up to a lot of fuel. Pedal chalao, paisa bachao.

Jump the traffic

Traffic doesn't apply to the cycle - jam ahead? You can wriggle through gaps that scooters, bikes, and even just-got-their-license autos can't dream about trying. Too tight? Just dismount and wheel on pavement.

Traffic rules don't apply either - no need for a license, helmet optional, no PUC, no one-way streets, and easy parking.

Not only do you lose weight, but you get toned legs and a killer ass.

For every time your car scraped it's 75,000-rupee-transmission over a dug-up road, for every u-turn you took that added an hour to your commute because the municipal corporate was digging for gas / water / sewage / gold / oil / fun, remember that the bike can be picked up and jumped across, while the others go green with envy.

Burn those calories

How much do you pay for an auto to the gym, only to sit on an exercycle and madly pedal the same distance - and then get charged for gym fees? A month's gym+auto costs will buy a kickass bike!

A bike's a symbol of fitness, activity, and a healthy, adventourous lifestyle. It's not a struggling-with-weight, loser symbol like the exercycle, and less than a third of it's cost. And you can still dry your clothes on it like you do with the exercycle!

It's cheap. 2K to 9K will get you a very good bike. A little more, and you get the best in class.

Make new friends

It's social. Think biking clubs, common interests, conversation starters and icebreakers… groups of you can get together and organize biking trips to places around… and as a side benefit, all the guys you meet this way will be fit, and living close by, too! Did I mention you lose weight?

Cycling's a lot less punishing as an exercise compared to a lot of other stuff - no ligament damage, joint pain, torn muscles. It's a gradual, yet intense, burn that automatically adjusts to your fitness levels. And it gives variety, unlike that closed, boring gym - every day can be a new road!

Fits anywhere

Easy to store, unlike most exercise machines - under a cover in the parking lot, in the balcony / window-box, on the terrace, even under your bed or hung on a wall...

And the best reason is saved for the last - nothing compares to that feeling of riding on an empty street in the early morning, feeling the wind in your hair and the sun on your face… the carefreeness of childhood coming back, washing out the stress and worries of life...

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, bike off more than you can chew!

Source: iDiva.com

Pic: Leszek Nowak