Hello all. In my efforts to try and at least show that I'm interested in getting a little more exercise this year, I thought I'd share with you some of the many benefits that I've found riding a C5 could have on one's health.
1. It improves health
Regular cyclists (possibly C5 users) have a fitness level equivalent to someone ten years younger, according to the BMA report Cycling Towards Health and Safety (1995). Regular cycling can improve health through increased fitness, lower the risk of heart attack, help to shed excess weight and reduce stress.
2. What about traffic fumes?
Because C5 users are aware of exhaust fumes doesn't mean they are worse off than car drivers. On the contrary, research by the Environmental Transport Association has shown that air quality is often poorer inside cars where pollutants tend to concentrate and cannot escape. Moreover, C5 users can often use quiet back streets where the air is cleaner while getting the health benefit of moderate exercise.
3. It can be faster
The average speed of cars in town centres is often around 8mph! Most C5 users can easily average 12mph.
4. It's cheaper
C5 users save money by going by this form of transport. So do all taxpayers, because providing for cycling is thousands of times cheaper than providing for motor cars. Compare the £67m cost of the 1,500 mile London Cycle Network with the £101m cost of the 8 mile Newbury by-pass.
5. It's friendly to the environment
Air pollution levels in some places already breach safety guidelines set by the World Health Organisation. Poor air quality is increasingly blamed for various respiratory complaints, including the alarming rise in childhood asthma, from which one child in seven is now a sufferer. By using a C5 instead of driving, riders are part of the solution rather than contributors to the problem. When you decide to ride your C5 rather than use your car, you're doing a public service!
6. It's more fun
A sense of achievement results from getting there under your own steam, and from whizzing past gridlocked traffic to get to the destination on time. Satisfaction comes to C5 users, who realise they are using the most energy-efficient transport system ever devised by man, equivalent to doing 1,600 miles to the gallon!
Of course, having said all this, I don't know anyone who would be willing to give up their car to drive a C5 all the time. However, in principal, the idea works. I think had the C5 been more reliable, we may well have it still on the production line today. What do others think?