Health benefits-
There are many health benefits in biking, including building stamina, decreased body fat, cardiovascular fat, decreased stress levels, and much more. Biking can serve as a fun way to lose weight by doing a exercise that is physically demanding but not to the point of it not being fun anymore. Steady cycling can burn about 300 calories (about 24 minutes of running) per hour. It can also help with many diseases, such as bowel cancer, type two diabetes, osteoarthritis, depression, etc. Also, biking can be entirely controlled by you. You can dictate how far you go, how fast you go, what kind of bike you want to use, the terrain you want to ride on, etc. It may not be as good at burning calories as swimming or running, but there are some distinct advantages and disadvantages that make either a viable option.
Running vs Biking
Running is a terrific way of exercising muscles in your lower body, such as your hamstrings and glutes, and does not take as much equipment as cycling does. Also, because of the impact of running on the knees, running can be a better way to burn calories, especially for people with more weight. However, on the other hand, running can be worse on your ankles and muscles if you overexert yourself, and could potentially lead to joint injuries. Cycling has much less impact on the joints, and still uses the same muscles groups used in running, but does not burn as much weight and calories, and requires much more equipment. However, both are dependent on the environment, unless you have or go to an indoor gym, which can be expensive, so neither are perfect options for any environment. Running especially, though, is dependent on the environment. In my experience, in extremely hot weather, running is awful outside, and carrying a water bottle is impractical and uncomfortable. Cycling, however, will allow more wind to hit your face, and, if you have a special attachment, allows you to carry a water bottle. This makes cycling better for more environments, but more expensive because of this. And in the winter, running can be a wonderful way to heat up, because of how much heat is generated by physical movement, or kinetic energy, which speeds up the atoms in your body and leads to an exergonic release of heat energy.
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