Cycling is an increasingly popular form of sports as well as commuting. In Singapore alone, the number of cyclists doubled from 5% in 2019 to 10% in 2020.  With entry level road bicycles costing $390 from Decathlon, the barriers to start cycling is as low. Other than the avid cyclists hitting the roads at top speeds, many have also started cycling as a form of commute, especially with COEs hitting a high of $99,999. On top of being friendly to the pocket, cycling is environmentally friendly as well, with per kilometre carbon emissions 13 times lower than driving a car.

 

Fig 1: Car emissions

Despite its accessibility and the low carbon footprint of bicycles, does cycling bring more harm than good for the cyclist? Although cyclists benefit by burning off up to 350 calories in a 30 minutes ride, riding in the heavily polluted cities might actually cause adverse health effects. Roads with heavy traffic are heavily polluted with metals such as copper and zinc, which is highly hazardous when breathed in. It is ironic that many cyclists actually started cycling to improve their health and well-being but end up unknowingly bringing more harm than good. In order to fully reap the benefits of cycling, much has to be done to reduce the number of vehicles on the road in order to reduce emissions that are harmful for one’s health.