This literature review will look at cycling as a means of transportation, both for commuting and leisure purposes, and will examine the issue in depth to know to what extent cycling can improve both our mental and physical health? The review will examine/critique statistics that attempt to prove the public health effects of physical activity, highlight the strengths of each claim, and expose the weaknesses. The great philosopher Plato said that “lack of activity [in society] destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save and preserve it.” This review will describe the dilemma we face in today's society; we can ultimately refer to it, as David Bannister suggests, to the fascination with “distance, speed and time”. For these three qualities so dominate our lives today and their effects (both positive and negative) play a substantial role in our lives. The review will critique the writings of researchers such as Tranter, Bannister, Racioppi, Tight and Lindsay as they attempt to define the importance of physical activity for public health. The similarities that all of the aforementioned researchers have in common is the link between physical activity and health. There are many statistics that indicate and suggest that physical activity increases life expectancy. Here are a few that are relevant. A case study was conducted in the 1950s on the health and well-being of bus drivers who have a very sedentary lifestyle, compared to their counterparts, conductors, who are more active. The study showed that drivers had higher rates of heart disease (Morris, J,N). There was also a health study conducted in England that concluded that in the middle of the article...the fascination with distance, speed and time is categorically evident in the way our cities are run. Dominated by machines that create both environmental and health problems. This review attempted to highlight the health benefits of cycling and critique them using scientific evidence. The evidence that Tranter, Bannister, Racioppi, Tight, and Lindsay are trying to illustrate is essentially a shift from a sedentary lifestyle to a more active lifestyle. Plato was perhaps well ahead of his time when he asserted that “lack of activity [in society] destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save and preserve it.” (Plato, 427-347 BCE). This encompasses and summarizes all the physical and mental impacts that cycling has on the body and this review demonstrates how easy it is to change this obesity epidemic through cycling..