This is the problem with bikes. When the car dominated it lead to bikes being a sport thing only. My Grandfather rode a bicycle everywhere. To the shops, to his mates, to the pub, definitely to work (he said the gates opened at 5pm and all the bikes rolled out into the road). He also smoked like a fucking chimney. Everyone did back then. So no, the problem is not environmentalists having unreasonable expectations on the human body, its modern people having become lazy and weak - even to the point where they wont investigate how people used to get by.