Bicycle Riding - A Good Activity During Post Retirement Life

1. The bicycle was invented over 200 years ago and has been a major mode of transport for 140 years. Cycling is one of the best exercises for persons of all age groups i.e., from 5 years to 80+ years of age under normal health conditions. Even during old age one can continue to do cycling. One never forgets cycling once learned. Cycling is not only exercise but is also a mode of transport for short distance travel which is not only cheap but also pollution free. Parking of cycle is very easy as it does not require much space for parking.  One can do cycling on a very narrow trackway. Let us discuss about the best timing for cycling, safety measures to be taken during cycling, benefits of cycling and steps taken by few countries to promote cycling.

  2. Best Timing for Cycling: You can do cycling anytime of the day as per your convenience and comfort. But in Tropical Countries it is better to do cycling in the early morning because morning whether is comfortable and sun is less intense compared to other part of the day. Cycling in the morning is preferable because one can breathe fresh natural air and the traffic is less on the road compared to other part of the day. Riding is safer during morning. Morning ride increases your blood circulation which makes you feel fresher. Morning ride also improves your work efficiency. If you are having busy schedules during morning, then you can prefer to do cycling during evening hours when the intensity of the Sun is low.

3. Safety measures to be taken during cycling: Risk of accident is there in cycling which may cause injury. Therefore it is essential to take certain safety measures while riding a bicycle. Following safety measures are suggested for safe cycling.

(i) Wear a properly fitted helmet while riding bicycle as helmet can protect your head from injury if you fall from bicycle due to accident. 

(ii) Install a rearview mirrors on handlebars of bicycle to see the movement of traffic behind you. While changing your lane or direction please observe the movement of traffic behind you so that you can change the lane or direction safely. Before changing lane give indication well in advance to alert the traffic behind you.

(iii) Never ride with headphones. Never talk on mobile phone while riding bicycle as it may divert your attention from road traffic which may cause accident.  

(iv) Ride your bicycle on lane earmarked for riding bicycle. If bicycle lane is not earmarked, then prefer to ride bicycle on the side of the road where traffic is less without disturbing the pedestrians.  

(v) Wear reflective materials while riding bicycle on road so as to increase your visibility to the drivers of other vehicles on the road. This will reduce the risk of accidents on road.

(vi) Before riding the bicycle check the various parts and equipment of your bicycle. Ensure that your tires are properly inflated and breaks are in proper conditions. Also ensure that your chains and gears are in proper conditions and without any defect. 

(vii) Always keep your hands on handlebars of your bicycle so that you can have full control over the movement of your bicycle while riding. 

(viii) While riding bicycle on the road follow the traffic rules and make use of hand signals whenever and wherever necessary. 

4. Benefits of Cycling: Cycling is a low-cost vehicle which is pollution free as well as can be used as a physical fitness tool. Cycling is good for maintaining physical fitness. The benefits of cycling are detailed hereunder.

(i) We all know that the risk of heart disease increases with the increase in age. Cycling is a low-impact aerobic exercise that improves our cardiovascular fitness and strengthen heart muscle.

(ii) Cycling enhances blood circulation. It also reduces the risk of cancer , diabetes and kidney disease. 

(iii) Cycling helps in burning fats and building muscle especially in our legs and hips. It helps in improving our stamina.

(iv) Regular cycling helps in preserving balance and coordination. It also improve lower-body function which prevent us from falling. 

(v) Cycling helps in strengthening and protecting our joints. Regular cycling helps in preventing knee joint pain which is very common in old age.

(vi) Cycling helps in boosting our mental health. The risk of cognitive degenerative deceases increases with age which can lead to depression and anxiety. Riding bicycle outside in an open air during morning refresh your mind and also give you fresh air and good dose of vitamin D which helps in improving your mood and reducing stress level. Vitamin D is required for absorption of calcium which helps in improving bone density. 

(vii) Cycling helps in strengthening our immune system that reduces the chances of getting sick. 

(viii) During pandemic due to spread of corona virus, bicycle was the safest mode of transport due to lesser risk of infection as compared to public transport. 

5. The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) has come out with a resolution in Favour of cycling and urged countries to promote everyday cycling. European Parliament has taken a policy decision to promote cycling within the countries in Europe and aims to double cycling in Europe by 2030. They are going to increase investment in safe, separated cycling infrastructure and integrate cycling into urban framework. Copenhagen, Denmark is known as the best city in Europe for cycling. For making Germany more bike friendly, the National cycling Plan (NCP) 3.0 was launched in 2021 to boost cycling and making it more attractive and safer. The first National Cycling Plan (NCP) was launched in 2002.

In some European Union countries, there is a system of placing bicycle inside public transport i.e., trains, regional buses and trams so as to enable people to travel from door -to -door over longer distances by combining public transport with cycling. Such measures reduce the use of car to travel long distances in Europe which helps in reducing carbon emission. In some European countries backside racks on buses have been introduced so that a greater number of bicycles can be carried in such buses. 

6. Cycling is good for all age groups starting from the age of five. Our activities get reduced after retirement as we do not have nine to five schedules that we had during working life. To live a long and healthy life it is necessary to have some physical as well as mental activities. Bicycle riding is a good option for both physical activity and mental pleasure. If you have any severe medical problem, then take the advice of your doctor before starting bicycle riding. Chose bicycle which will suit your physique and comfort.  Bicycle riding is not only good for our physical and mental health but also good for our environment. 

    

 How to make post-retirement life happy and fruitful?

  

Why many persons are not happy during their post-retirement life despite having financial freedom and having no liability towards their children. Even after achieving most of the things in life and free from financial problems, persons are not happy. Let us find out the reasons why many persons are not happy during their post-retirement life.   

Let us find out the reasons for happiness: 

Before finding out the reasons for unhappiness let us find out the reasons why the persons should be happier during their post-retirement life. 

(i) The foremost reason for happiness is not having any Boss during post-retirement life. You are your own boss. You have all the 24 hours at your disposal which you can utilise as per your desires and convenience.

(ii) Another reason for happiness is reduction in stress level after retirement as you are free from job related stress during post-retirement life. 

(iii)  You are not answerable to anyone except yourself. During working life, you were answerable to your boss for your performance. You were even answerable to your client.

(iv)  During working life your plan for going to vacation tour was subjected to sanction of leave by your boss. You are now free to plan your vacation tour any time during the year as per your convenience. 

(v) You can choose to do any work as per your interest and liking which was not the case before retirement.

Reasons for Unhappiness During Post Retirement life: 

Despite having strong reasons for happiness why some persons are unhappy during post-retirement life? Generally, most of the unhappiness are mental and not due to external factors. Let us discuss the reasons why many persons are unhappy during their post-retirement life.

(i)  Having regret for non-achievement or under achievement during the past life is one of the main reasons for unhappiness. Many persons are having regret for not getting promotion, not getting reward for their performance, etc. Living in the past and continuously remembering the failures during past life makes a person unhappy in the present.

(ii)  Expectation of recognition and respects from ex-colleagues and other persons is another reason for unhappiness. Many persons expects that they should continue to get respect from their colleagues even after retirement. But that is not the reality. When a person does not get respect as per expectation, they become unhappy. 

(iii)  Many retired persons are in the habit of giving free advices to family members and friends. A person become unhappy when nobody listens to his or her advice. Habit of giving free advices invites unhappiness in one's life. 

(iv)  Spending most of the time in watching television also invites unhappiness. Watching news in television for long duration feeds negativity in our sub-conscious mind which ultimately creates unhappiness.

(v)  Excessive talking also leads to unhappiness. Many persons at this stage talk more about their own achievements during their student and working life which nobody want to listen. This creates frustration and unhappiness.

(vi)  Non utilisation or improper utilisation of free time due to lack of engagement is another reason for unhappiness. Lack of engagement creates negative thoughts in the mind which create unhappiness.

How to make your retirement life happy and fruitful? 

 If you have to make your retirement life happy and fruitful then you have to follow certain dos and don’ts. Let us first discuss about Do's and thereafter we will discuss about Don’ts. 

What you should do to make your retirement life happy and fruitful?

(i) Take Care of Your Health: It's very important to take care of your health. You can enjoy your post-retirement life if your health is in good condition. Health means not only your physical health but also your mental as well as spiritual health. Maintenance of your physical health is very much essential to do your day-to-day activities without any difficulties. It will reduce your dependency on other person and will help you in enjoying your vacation tour. As regards maintenance of good physical health, I have explained in details in my previous blog the link of which is given hereunder. You may click the link the following link to have details on maintaining good physical health during post-retirement life.

https://post-retirementlife.blogspot.com/2022/04/physical-health-during-second-innings.html

It is also very important to take care of your mental as well as spiritual health. Need for taking care of one's mental and spiritual health has been explained in my previous blogs the link of which are given hereunder.

(i) https://post-retirementlife.blogspot.com/2022/04/mental-health-during-second-innings-of.html

(ii) https://post-retirementlife.blogspot.com/2022/03/spiritual-health-during-second-innings.html

(ii) Develop Good Friend circle: It is very important to develop good friend circle near your surroundings. It is better to start developing friend circle well before your retirement so that you can have some friends after retirement for your socialisation. Friend Circle's composition should be diversified, both in terms of professional and cultural backgrounds so that you can enrich yourself with their wide experiences. Have a regular meeting and get together with them.

(iii) Have a vacation tour, picnic and other amusement: Plan for vacation tour at reasonable frequency with your spouse. Have both short tour and long tour at certain interval which is comfortable to you. At least once in a year you should go for picnic with your friends and family members. Have a visit to nearby museum, park and other amusement centres for your recreation. 

(iv) Make daily contribution to your life: Please make an endeavour to make value addition to your life. Please remember one thing that your scope for progress doesn’t stop on retirement date. There is a scope for progress even after retirement. There is always a scope for progress till you are alive. Ensure daily contribution to your life for making it meaningful. Extend your helping hand to your spouse in day-to-day routine household work. If you have a long-term plan for making some value addition to your life, ensure to make daily progress in that direction. For example, if you have decided to author a book which may take one- or two-years’ time to finish, then make a strategy to have a quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily target to ensure consistent efforts in the direction of your goal. 

(v) Pursue your hobby: Every person is having at least one hobby which one could not pursue during working or professional life. It is better to pursue your hobby during post-retirement life which will make your life happy and meaningful. It will also give you meaningful engagement.

(vi) Pay back to Society: From childhood to adult stage most of the investments were made for our personal development. During our working and professional life, we worked for our livelihood for the development and welfare of our family. This is the time to pay back to society when we don't have any liability towards our children and passive income is sufficient to take care of our expenditure. You may pay back to society by doing some charity or philanthropical work which will give you peace of mind. 

 

(vii) Mix with the persons of all age group: There is a general tendency of a person to mix with the persons of having same age group. It is advisable to mix with the persons of different age groups so that you can enrich yourself with the varieties of experiences of persons of different age groups. Persons of younger age group may also be benefitted by enriching themselves with your experiences. Mixing with young generation will abreast you with the latest development and trends in the society.

 (viii) Develop your listening skill: It has been observed that with the growing age a person is in the habit of talking more and listening less. Please develop the habit of talking less and listening more. Talking more without listening to other person antagonise the other person and you miss some useful information which that person wants to convey. If you talk less and patiently listen to other person then your image gets uplifted in the heart of that person and you get enrich with the information provided by that person. Please remember every person wants that he or she should be listened patiently by others. If you also want the same then you have to develop the habit of listening to others with patience. 

 What you should not do during post-retirement life 

(i)  Never give free advices to anyone even to your family members. If you are in the habit of giving free advices then you will be ignored and avoided by other persons including your family members. Such situation will bring unhappiness in your life. Never give advice to anyone unless someone seeks your advice.  

 (ii) Never permanently stay with your Children's family. Avoid staying with your Children's family because your independence may get compromised to some extent. If they request you to stay with them for some time which may be helpful to them then you may stay with them to extend your helping hand. During your stay with your Child's family maintain arm length distance and never interfere in their family matters. Give them their personal space so that you will also have the personal space for yourself.

 (iii) While talking to your children and grandchildren never say ‘during our time’ because today's time is also yours since you are living today. Live in present instead of living in the past. Never glorify past at the cost of present. There is a general tendency of many old age persons to glorify the things in the past and criticising the things in the present. Please remember that human civilisation progresses with the passage of time. With the passage of time human civilisation rectify the mistakes done in the past. Therefore, in general the present is always better than the pasts.

 (iv) Never visit your previous office for mere socialisation. If you do so you will get frustrated and demoralised. If you have any personal work for which you need to visit your previous office then you should restrict your visit to that purpose only. Please remember that in whatever position you might have been retired but your presence in the office after retirement is not welcomed. 

 (v) Never boast yourself in a friend circle about your position and importance in the office before retirement. Nobody is interested to know your position and importance in the office before retirement as we all know that the brand of a fused bulb is hardly matter to anyone. Please remember you will be judged in your friend circle based on your attitude and behaviour at present. 

 (vi) Never be overenthusiastic in knowing what is happening in the office after your retirement. I have seen some persons who are very enthusiastic to know what is happening in the office after their retirement, who got promotion, who did not get promotion, etc. These are none of your business. Your over enthusiasm to know the present happening in the office may diminish your image amongst your friends who are still working in the office.

 (vii) Never bother about the persons who are ignoring you. Instead of focussing on the persons who are ignoring you it is better to focus on your family members and friends who are taking care of you. Never give undue importance to the persons who are ignoring you. It is better to ignore such persons who are ignoring you.

By following certain dos and don’ts as explained above one can make post-retirement life happy and fruitful.