Doctor's Advice: Take Two Bike Rides and Call Me in the Morning

If you see a doctor at Interfaith Medical Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant, you might walk out with a helmet and a prescription for a bike membership.

It's part of a pilot program called "Prescribe-a-Bike," which is meant to encourage exercise as part of a daily lifestyle. The program just passed the one-year mark with 70 sign-ups. It came to Bed-Stuy through a collaboration between Better Bike Share Partnership, Citi Bike and New York City's Health Department.

Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. Aletha Maybank says what this pilot program really takes aim at are structural forms of oppression in this city that have led to health inequity.

"You hear it more and more about how your zip code determines your health," said Maybank. "Health alone is not just about the behaviors that people have, but people do things and choose behaviors based on what they have access to in their neighborhoods."

That's why Bed-Stuy was chosen. Dr. Maybank says the Brooklyn neighborhood has a high rate of premature deaths (deaths before age 75), adult diabetes, hypertension and obesity. And one of the biggest barriers to engaging in preventative healthcare measures is access. "Prescribe-a-Bike" takes the cost out of a bike membership and encourages patients to discover the health benefits of daily exercise for themselves.

Xavier Rodney, a 31 year-old from Mill Basin, was prescribed a bike last November. He says the last time he rode a bike was in his teenage years, and it was hard to get back into it.

"It was absolutely terrible!" laughed Rodney. "I was so out of shape. I was wheezing and sweating within the first 5 minutes. It didn't look cool."

But since then, Rodney says he's opted for the bike over public transportation at every opportunity. At his latest check-in, he lost about 25 pounds and his blood pressure dropped a few points.

"I can actually go for long, long periods of time," said Rodney. "And I'm no longer having those feelings of anxiety and depression that I had before."

Rodney's free Citi Bike membership will expire in November. And for people who joined "Prescribe-a-Bike" early on, their memberships are set to expire soon. Rodney says, he typically wouldn't spend $163/year on a bike membership, and while he's glad the pilot exists he'd have to look into other discounted options.

Maggie Veatch, a director of nutrition and physical activity for the Center for Health Equity at the New York City Health Department, says the program will help connect patients with discounted programs once their memberships expire. And while they're still collecting data from the one-year mark, the program has had a successful launch with 69 participants and over 1600 bike rides.

Veatch says the program will continue for a second year, as they continue to look at the positive health outcomes.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the age bracket for what medical professionals consider "premature deaths."