I've been asked a number of times if pedometers work when you're riding a bike. The answer is 'no'. However, because cycling is such an excellent aerobic activity Speakwell decided to create P•E•Dal Canada to record and reward your cycling activity. Based on our popular Circle Canada P•E•D, this 'Pedalling Enhancement Device' will allow you to record the kilometres you ride on your bike on each day and then show the calories you've burned, and how far around Canada you would have travelled. You don't have to be Canadian to tour Canada and we welcome the world to P•E•Dal Canada.

You'll find a map of Canada that shows your progress with a little red line that snakes from city to city as you increase your kilometres logged. On arriving in any of the major stops along the way, you can click to have a popup window take you on a graphically illustrated visitor's tour of art galleries, restaurants, famous residents, biking and hiking trails and into the history of some of Canada's tumultuous past.

Regular cycling produces all the benefits we have come to associate with aerobic exercise. It decreases the likelihood of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Cycling is an excellent way to burn calories and an asset to any weight management program. For example, a 15 minute bike ride to and from work 5 times a week burns off the equivalent of 18lbs of fat in a year. Pedaling improves your mood and just makes you feel better. Moderate aerobic exercise such as cycling has been found to reduce levels of depression and stress, improve mood and raise self-esteem.

A Department of Transport study found that it didn't take a lot of cycling to attain significant gains in aerobic fitness.

Use P•E•Dal Canada to track your kilometres and calories and to reward yourself for every mile you ride.

If you ride a stationary bike that's fine but don't cheat yourself by setting the resistance too low. Try to simulate the feeling of a regular bike ride outside.

Many factors can influence how many calories you might burn per kilometre but a good rule of thumb is 25 calories per kilometre (40 calories per mile). If you live in the USA and are used to recording in miles, just multiply by 1.6 to convert them to kilometres. In our calculations we are using 25 calories per kilometre.

You can PEDal Canada alone, or with a group. I anticipate that a cycling club that works as a team will be round the 18.000km pretty quickly. It wouldn't take Lance Armstrong and his boys very long.

So, add to your health benefits and enjoyment by keeping track of your kilometres ridden and entering them in P•E•Dal Canada. If you'd like to leave 'Well' and check it out now, this button, which appears on the www.speakwell.com home page, will take you there:

And you will see:



Scroll down to see how the P•E•D functions by recording your steps
and keeping a cumulative record.

Scroll down further and you'll see 3 buttons, and a cyclist.
Click the cyclist and you will arrive here:

It's always a challenge to create a program such as P•E•Dal Canada, which is user-friendly and challenging. We welcome any feedback about your individual or group experiences using P•E•Dal Canada.

«The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine.»
:: John Howard

«The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.»
:: Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

«When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.»
:: H.G. Wells

«The bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon.»
:: Bill Strickland, The Quotable Cyclist

«Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world.»
:: Grant Petersen