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BIKE TO WORK BOOK
Amsterdam. Few in bike friendly Copenhagen cycle in Spandex. Mikael Colville-Andersen, author of the Copenhagen Cycle Chic blog, publishes photographs showing “normal people riding bikes wearing normal clothes.” Lycra is out, Louboutin heels are in. “We don’t have cyclists in Copenhagen, we just have Copenhageners who get around on bikes,” said Colville-Andersen. If you have a long commute and prefer to ride to work in cycle-specific clothing, do what many long-distance commuters do: keep spare work clothes at work. Ship them in once a week, perhaps in a bike trailer or, heaven forefend, during a start-the-week car commute. Or patronise a dry cleaners that will deliver your freshly-pressed clothes to your workplace. Cycling is chiefly an aerobic activity, one that uses great gulps of oxygen. The heart and lungs work together to bring oxygen and nutrients to the muscles: the lungs expand to bring as much oxygen into the body as possible; the heart beats faster to transport this oxygen around the body. A strong heart and powerful lungs are the building blocks of general fitness. Even if you only cycle a few miles per day, your muscles will feel and look stronger. The main muscle groups used when cycling are the upper thigh muscles (quadriceps); the backside gluteal muscles (including the gluteus maximus, the biggest and strongest
“I want to get fit but I don’t want thunder thighs!”