• Healthy employees took 9 times fewer sick days than workers with poor health
• The healthiest employees were nearly 3 times more productive than those with poorer heath (Australasian Business Intelligence)
• Fit workers make 60% fewer errors on jobs involving concentration and short-term memory (Swedish researcher)
• Vigorous exercise (such as cycling to work) improved mental alertness and productivity for four to five hours afterwards (New England Journal of Medicine)
• Employees who exercised as infrequently as once a week reduced their average number of sick days in half-from more than 10 days in the previous year to less than five sick days (Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine)

Fight Healthcare by Caring for Your Health
Staying fit not only improves employee productivity, but it helps control rapidly rising health care costs. With rising health insurance rates and the push to do more with less, the health of workers is becoming a pivotal piece in any company's productivity.

• 70% of health care costs are for preventable lifestyle diseases (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention)
• 50% of American adults are not physically active—putting them at higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention)

Ideas for a Healthier Workplace
Here are some ideas you can suggest to your company for creating a healthier workforce:

• Provide cash or equipment incentives for people to commute by bike
• Provide bike racks, lockers and showers
• Give away bikes in sales competitions or employee recognition programs
• Offer a "free ride home" service in case of bad weather
• Have a common vehicle available for employees to use at work for work-related errands
• Encourage workers to walk around the neighborhood or take a bike ride during lunch
• Have meetings in remote conference rooms that require employees to walk
• Offer classes in aerobics or other activities that promote health and reduce stress
• Make sure vending machines are stocked with healthful alternatives to junk food

When it comes to starting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, sometimes the workplace is the best place to start.

We hope to fill this blog with everything bicycle - we believe bicycles are the best form of recreation and transportation on the planet. Our chainless bikes in particular are reliable, efficient, fun, versatile, take up very little space, and have zero emissions. They can also be ridden by people of virtually every age. Bicycling offers a great cardiovascular workout with very little impact on your bones and joints. Bike rides are also as great for socializing as they are for getting away from it all for a while. So what are you waiting for? Let's ride...