Cycling For Health
It’s no secret that a couple of laps around the velodrome will get your ticker twitching. Some cyclists clock up hundreds, some just enough to break a sweat, and some just try and complete as much as they can muster. There may be a difference in ability and expectation amongst the riders, but everybody who straps on their helmet for their session will tell you that health benefits are one of the reasons they choose to cycle.
No matter how old you are, hoping on your bike is a solid way of keeping fit, but as you get older, it becomes that little bit more important. There is no shortage of elderly folk at the Hawthorn velodrome — there will often be a pair of grey-haired legs popping through a pair of lycra bike shorts. “I might as well do it while I still can”, noted one man as he stopped for a rest. “That and I can’t stand running”. He’s not alone in saying so. The general consensus amongst the riders at the velodrome is that cycling provides a thrill that running doesn’t, all while keeping you fit and healthy — not to mention ‘it’s easier on the knees’.
Sometimes the luxury of choice passes on, and cycling remains the most effective mode of exercise left. For Stewart and Jenny Williams, cycling because the only way to maintain a relatively healthy lifestyle within very saddening limitations.
After leading an active and healthy lifestyle all his life, Stewart was forced to stop after contracting terminal cancer. Amongst the dozens of ailments brought on by the degenerative disease, Stewart lost mobility in lower half of his left/right leg, limiting his exercise capabilities. “Had a look on the net — you can either buy an electric bike or a conversion kit. We already had the bike, so…”. The conversion kit is a motor attached to the bike that can be turned off and on at the riders choice. Stewart prefers to cycle manually, but notes “If I get to a hill or I get too tired, I can still exist”.
“However far you go out you have to come back”, Jenny mentions. This might seem a moot point to most people, but for people like Stewart it is a very real issue. For two people who have been active their entire lives cycling remains as rare opportunity to maintain that lifestyle to an extent, even when faced with tremendous adversity.
