CDPHP Cycle!: A Healthier Mode of Transportation

Ever get sick of your daily routine? You wake up, grab a cup of coffee, and then probably sit in traffic trying to get to work. Repeat this five days a week for 50 or so weeks a year, and you’ve got the recipe for a truly boring – and unhealthy! – schedule.

You might have heard by now that CDPHP^® partnered with CDTA to launch CDPHP Cycle!^SM, the Capital Region’s first-ever bike-share program. Available in Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, and Troy, CDPHP Cycle! is offering more than a cute green bike with a handy purple basket. It’s giving folks a much healthier way to get around town, to commute to work, or to explore the area that they may have called home for a while now, but have never really taken the time to discover.

The CDPHP Cycle! bicycles are equipped with some pretty cool technology. For one, they have GPS, so we can keep tabs on how many are being used at once, where people are riding, and it enables us to send help to a person’s exact location, if necessary. They also track distance traveled, calories burned, and the amount of money you saved by not driving. How great is that??

There are 160 CDPHP Cycle! bikes in circulation today, distributed among 41 locations in each of the cities mentioned above. Next year, the program will likely double. Want to find out if there’s a station near you? Just visit the website or download the CDPHP Cycle! app from your app store. You’ll get real-time information about where stations are located, how many bikes are available, and how to rent one.

You might be thinking that commuting to work via bicycle isn’t a feasible option for you, and that’s OK – it’s not for everyone. But consider instead substituting one of these trips in your car with a healthier trip on a CDPHP Cycle! bicycle:

• Meeting friends for brunch in downtown Albany
• Checking out Free Fitness in the Park in Troy (Bonus points for exercising on your way to exercise!)
• Taking a ride along the newly revitalized waterfront in Schenectady
• Pedaling through Congress Park in Saratoga Springs

We’ve written some previous posts on the health benefits of biking to learn more about why you should consider giving your car a rest for a day and renting a bike instead. Check them out!

• The Health Benefits of Biking in New York
• Cycle the Erie Canal: A Bike Trek for the Whole Family
• Outdoor Fitness For All

If you’re traveling to the Capital Region, or to a city with a bike-share system, you may want to consider renting a bike instead of walking, taking a taxi, or fighting through a crowded subway system. You can plan out your route ahead of time for maximum sightseeing and calorie burning!

Your bike is waiting…happy cycling!