Cycling Mode Share Tracks the Nation’s Heart Health

Looking over a few maps from the Centers for Disease Control recently, the pattern of hypertension, stroke & heart disease couldn’t more clearly suggest where we need to target public health intervention: the American southeast. No matter how you look at the data for health, physical activity, and penetration of health insurance, this region fares poorly on all of the metrics. Even education. The single easiest step we can take is help these folks become more active. And it is not simply about exercise; we need to get these folks moving throughout their daily lives. Have a look at the CDC data: they map the opportunities to get folks out of cars and onto bikes (with an assist from a nice infographic prepared by Kory Northrop and circulated by the League of American Bicyclists).