Can cycling cure depression
and relieve crippling anxiety?
HELL YES.

My Story.
Back in 1994(ish)  I found myself very depressed.
The in bed, nearly hopeless kind of depressed.
My doctor at the time did a full checkup, found nothing wrong.
Some basic questions from the Doc revealed that I got no exercise.
NONE.
EVER.
The wise doctor prescribed walking.  “Do something – get moving”.
(At that time in my life I would have driven my car from the sofa to
the fridge to get snacks if I could have).

Walking.
The doc said if “all you can do” is walk around your block, “do that”.
So, I did.
After a few weeks of walking, I went from suffering to make it around my block to easily walking several loops around the block.

Biking.
One evening as I was retiring home, through the garage my old Sears 10 speed caught my eye.
Sitting for 15 years, covered with grime and dust, with two flats yup that bike.
That bike that I rode EVERY day, for miles as a kid-till “the license”.

(Old, heavy and YELLOW)

Covered under 10 years of dust resided my abandoned
Sears Free Spirit ten speed raod bike.
Biked dusted off, air in the tires, I hit the road.
A few minutes into that first ride something happened.
I felt alive!
Wind in my face, fresh air, a feeling I had forgot existed!
The old bikes warped wheels shaking , almost no brakes, I didnt care!
I found a dirt trail and took that road bike (with its really thin-bald tires) for a run.
Being on a dirt trail, in the woods felt totally amazing.
After several w near death experiences (riding a road bike OFF road),
I bought a cheap mountain bike….At Toys R US. Seriously.
This bike weighed as much as a small boulder but was sort of made for the terrain.
The brakes worked, the wheels were not warped. It had off road knobby tires, and a warning sticker that stated that the bike was not rated for off
road riding (ah, store bikes!).
I put 700 miles on that crappy bike that summer.
Most of those miles off road!

Depression
(What depression?)

That summer, I was biking every day for at least one hour.
I was losing weight, gaining energy, confidence, AND feeling so positive.
By mid summer the debilitating depression had literally vanished!
Wait.
Cycling did all this for me?
YES, Yes it did!

——

Since 1994 Ive continued to cycle.
Cycling serves as my gym, transportation, therapy
and enables great moments of mobile meditation.

GETTING OUT OF YOUR CAR DOES SOMETHING MAGIC….
More on that coming up in Part 2.

-Scott

Welcome  to the R3volution.
(You are NOT alone!)