During the pandemic, lots of gyms stay closed. Even if your local gym opened up again recently, you may not want to go back. You might wear a mask, but you know that’s not always one hundred percent effective.

If you’re young and healthy, you might decide to risk it. If you have an immunocompromised condition, though, you’ll probably want to stay away. Besides, gyms cost money, and you may not have much of it right now.

You want to stay fit, and biking might make the most sense for you. If you learned how when you were younger and own a bike already, this could be an ideal solution for dropping some pounds.

Let’s look at five compelling reasons why you should take up biking in 2020 if you haven’t done so already.

You Can Keep Things Casual, or Enter a Bike Race

If you’re a competitive individual, you probably know that there are all kinds of bike races every year. You may decide that you want to enter one. When you do so:

You can dominate the competition
You’ll have a goal on which to focus

Of course, you don’t have to be a competitive biker if you’d prefer not to be. There are millions of regular cyclists on the road who don’t want to do anything more ambitious than explore their neighborhoods. That’s perfectly fine as well.

You’ll Work Several Muscle Groups

Another reason why people like biking so much is that it works many of your major muscle groups at once. When you go biking, you’re working:

Your core
Your arms
Your legs

You engage the most muscles while biking if you tackle a more ambitious route. If you have several hills to traverse, that’s when you get your blood pumping and start to burn off some calories.

Biking through hilly terrain for an hour or more is every bit as challenging as any class you’d take in your local gym. As you map out and attempt longer and more strenuous rides, you’ll feel proud of yourself when you complete them.

Other Than the Bike, It’s Free

Many people have lost jobs this year, and others have depleted their savings accounts. The economy will probably recover slowly.

If you buy a bike, along with a helmet, those are one-time purchases. You can get a bike rather cheaply if you don’t get a top-of-the-line one.

A bike and helmet cost a fraction of what you’d pay for a Peloton or a Mirror. You also don't have to shell out a monthly gym membership fee if you get a bike.

With money tight this year for so many people, that’s good news. You can often get years of use out of your bike if you treat it well. The only money you might spend is on occasional minor repairs.

You Can Go Biking as a Group

You can see if you can get some family members or friends involved in your rides. Fitness is always easier if you can do it with others. You can show solidarity and motivate each other.

You can usually convince at least a few people to do it with you. If it’s not friends or family, maybe some neighbors will express an interest.

You can go biking as a group while still wearing masks and socially distancing. That’s much safer than working out as a group indoors where you’re all breathing in recirculated air.

You Can Get Out in Nature

One more reason to think about biking as your new exercise form is that you can explore some public parks. In most towns and cities, there’s a space nearby that should have some bike trails.

It’s autumn, and in many regions, you can enjoy the leaves changing colors. You might spot some flora or fauna, like deer, chipmunks, wild turkeys, etc.

This can calm you down if you ever feel anxious or stressed. It can be like therapy for you. You can pass some moments of meditative silence.

When you get back home, your problems won’t seem anywhere near as bad. You will feel calm and serene, ready to tackle the routine again.

Biking is great for fitness, camaraderie, and to save you some money in this challenging year. If you don’t know how to bike, or you’ve forgotten since you were a kid, find someone to give you a refresher course. You can always find videos about it on YouTube as well.