What’s an argument you’re sick of having?

One of mine is the link between bike riding and weight loss.

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE BIKES.

Painting on a building of a stick figure person painted in black lines hanging from a heart painted in red.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

I think our cities need more cycling infrastructure. I think safe cycling is a disability rights issue. I think low car cities are feminist cities.

For me, the best holidays involve bikes.

Riding my bike puts a smile on my face.

And I think cycling is good for the planet. Cars are dangerous and polluting the planet. We’d all be better off if people rode and walked more and drove less.

But one of these things is not like the other…

I don't know about you but I'm really fed up of cars. As I walk past queues of cars, I wonder how many of these people could have cycled or walked instead? Climate change, obesity, pollution etc – these are problems that could be mitigated by there being fewer cars in the world.
— Sarah Bannister (@scb_planning) October 9, 2021

Fewer cars won’t make people lose weight. In fact, what we need to get more people on bikes is a more inclusionary cycling culture. It’s not all thin men in lycra. Sometimes it’s chubby middle aged women in lycra. And sometimes there’s no lycra at all.

Here’s our posts about the lack of a connection between bike riding and weight loss:

Reasons to Ride a Bike (That Don’t Include Weight Loss)

The benefits of exercise are many, but long term weight loss isn’t (necessarily) one of them

“On yer bike” for oh so many reasons, but weight loss isn’t one of them

Big Women on Bikes

“Pretty fast for a big girl”: Notes from the road, #2

(Updated) Plus sized endurance athletes, we exist!