How Cycling Makes You Smarter and Happier?

How Cycling Makes You Smarter and Happier?

bikingWhether you’re from the market picking up some vegetables and fruits, or going home from a tiring day in school, cycling is obviously one of the many ways to exercise. But aside from a method of getting fit, it is also a great way to be smarter and happy. How does it make you happy and smarter?

It Gives You a Peace of Mind

Alderman conducted a 2-year large research to look at the association of meditation and aerobic workout. The people involved in the study were asked to do some combinations of meditations and exercises. They cycled using a stationary bike, then get involved in a short meditation session. The research team then examined their mental state. Within just 8 weeks, they were able to find see a change in their patients’ mental wellbeing, from clinical depression to nonclinical depression.

It Enhances Your Mental Ability

Every time you go out to cycle, especially alone, there are a lot of things that goes inside your head, consciously and unconsciously. This brain activity while cycling is a great way to keep your brain healthy. But how does it make you intelligible? While you’re cycling, you’re using your brain in different ways. While using it to keep your legs from cycling, you’re also using your brain to decide where to go or how fast to cycle.

Amongst the exhilarating qualities of several sports is the

One of the exciting attributes of many sports is the sensation-seeking opportunities they afford. Research shows that physical activity is viewed as a way to achieve our need to be excited, lively and adventurous. Risk and opportunities for a ‘thrill’ can be part of every ride – and the buzz of a fast descent, the rush of a bunch sprint, or the challenge of an off-road track or rock-garden can give us a grin that lasts for days.

Cycling Makes More Kind and Pleasant Towards Others

Whether you’re just taking a stroll downtown or bike through the trails with a friend or group of buddies, cycling makes your social life more active. A latest research concluded that sports involving groups or teams can provide a better general mental health and less stress to the people who joined.

One of the most significant qualities of a healthy brain is having a social life. It is a must to socialize with other people. Most people who get depressed lock themselves in their house and not doing anything. This greatly affects your self-confidence and self-respect. If you work out, you go out of your house and get a great opportunity to socialize with other people.

It is a Natural Anti-Depressant

You don’t have to kill your body by taking anti-depressants that will probably not work, and instead will just worsen your depression. In fact, a study was able to show that exercise, including cycling results to almost similar neurophysiological changes as clinical antidepressants. If you really want to fight off your depression, better start committing to physical activities, including cycling.


Cycling Safety Gear, Rules & Tips

Cycling Safety Gear, Rules & Tips

Safety Gear

Not buying the essential cycling safety equipment because they’re “too expensive” is an unacceptable reason, especially if you end up in the hospital with a long list of bills. Therefore, if you don’t want to keep yourself protected if ever you get into a cycling accident, we suggest you have these important safety gears.



Cycling is one of the few sports that require different types of clothing in various kinds of weather. For winter, you’d want an outfit that will keep you warm. Usually, the winter outfit includes arm and knee warmers and lightweight, compact rain jacket. Most of the times, the clothing should also be windproof.


All of the cycling helmets are made to meet safety standards. There are many arguments that it will still kill you in an accident even though if you’re wearing a helmet. But, will you really take away that opportunity to be able to protect your head in case an accident focuses its impact to your head?

Water Bottle and Cage

Even though you’re just strolling through the city, you’ll still feel thirsty. A filled water bottle, and a cage (if the cage provided doesn’t fit your bottle or if your bike doesn’t have one) is important to keep you from being dehydrated. Dehydration doesn’t just make you feel thirst, it also causes significant cramps.

Cycling Shoes with Clipless Pedals

This pair of safety equipment allows you to enhance your efficiency in pedaling by letting you pull both on the upstroke and downstroke. This method is fairly easy, you’ll just need practice to master it.

General Safety Cycling Rules


  • Ensure that you have the proper bike for the type of cycling you’re going to do.
  • Make sure that your bike is regularly maintained. Twice a year is the general recommendation.
  • Check your tire pressure several times a week and lube your chain every other week.
  • Check out the route before actually taking it.
  • Ride in groups.
  • Prepare your kit in advance.
  • Wear a comfortable and proper clothing and gear.
  • Always try to pass on the left, the same as you do with your car.
  • Use hand signals to inform other drivers/cyclists.


  • Ride a bike that is too big or too small for your height.
  • Wear yoga outfit or cotton-made clothing.
  • Overload your bike with things you don’t need.
  • Start too fast, especially in sportive.
  • Wear headphones.
  • Ignore other people using the roads/trails.

Cycling Tips

  1. Avoid hunching your shoulders so you won’t get so much soreness and fatigue.
  2. Picking the right seat to fit your anatomy. There are seats that are specifically made for women.
  3. Start slowly, especially if it’s your first time cycling, or if you’ve been out of shape for the long time.
  4. To avoid accidents in low light, wear brightly colored, reflective clothing. Or, you can also install reflective tape in your gear, and the bike itself.
  5. Avoid pedaling in high gear for long durations to avoid the increase of pressure on your knees.
Is Coffee Good for Cyclists?

Is Coffee Good for Cyclists?

Is drinking caffeine good for cyclists? Definitely! Forget the anabolic steroids or Creatine, the new cycling performance-enhancing drug can now be simply found in a cup of coffee, Caffeine. Not all might know but there is a significant relation between cycling and coffee.

There are many ways cyclist use coffee/Caffeine to improve their performance in cycling. Some say that a double espresso before beginning a cycling race will enhance your performance. There are other cyclists who will not eat anything other than a cup of coffee.

Do Caffeine have a positive effect to a cyclist’s performance?

Again, yes. As soon as you drink your coffee, it will stimulate you mentally. After a while, it will do the same to you physically. A cyclist can feel more intelligent and a little bit stronger. There were researches that showed caffeine can also enhance muscle contraction of an athlete.

Caffeine causes an effect called as glycogen sparing. It is the storage molecule intended for carbohydrates in our body. When we workout, we exhaust it. And if we don’t replace it soon, our body will have to consume more carbohydrates.

However, by consuming caffeine, cyclists can stimulate their body’s capacity to break down body fat, instead of glycogen. This makes glycogen more available for a longer period of time compared to those who didn’t consume caffeine.

There are different stages in a cycling race. In the final one, the cyclists who took caffeine prior to the race you will still have sugar from the carbohydrates kept in the liver and muscles which are reserved to be used at this very moment. Therefore, you won’t feel tired in the final stage. But instead, you’ll still have energy to pump out some leg effort.

When is the best time for a cyclist to drink coffee?

The idea of caffeine and cycling has been around for a long time. However, no one can really agree to exactly when you should consume coffee. Is it right before the race? Is it the night before the race?

Most cyclists agree that they should drink coffee 2 hours before a cyclist event or race to be able to fully benefit from it. People might think that it’s such a long gap, since most of us can feel the effect right after drinking the coffee. However, the second effect which is after two hours is the one that you should be looking for. This is when caffeine substances are already broken down into different parts of our body.

How much coffee should a cyclist drink?

Several studies suggest that cyclists should drink 3-9 cups of coffee to fully benefit from it. A lot of you would say that it’s too much, we think the same. However, because of exhausting amount of energy you will be sweating as a cyclist, this range is fairly enough.

If it is your first time trying this technique to enhance your performance, you should experiment this through an extensive training session. Get yourself a good automatic espresso maker. You can start with a cup of coffee, gradually increasing the number after a few sessions. If you feel negative effects, such as being nauseous, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean it’s not working. Your body is just taking it in a different way.