Why do cyclists want to climb mountains?

A year in 20 photographs 10/20 – arriving at the top of a climb

Today’s contribution is two photos from our Hebridean Island Hopper tour: cyclists arriving at the tops of the Quiraing and the climb from Kylerhea ferry, both on the Isle of Skye.

Part of the fun (quite a big part to be truthful) of riding a bike is going downhill. However, cycling is an activity that demands payment in effort and sweat before it relinquishes the pleasures of gravity. There are, of course, ways to cheat the burden of gradient. For example, you could go up to the top in a motorised vehicle. But then, as my teachers at school were very fond of saying, “You would only be cheating yourself”. 

Being over six feet tall and not the lightest of cyclists, I often feel that my due payment to the climbs can be a bit on the expensive side – smaller and lighter riders may exert the same power through the pedals as I do. Still, their diminutive stature dictates a power-to-weight ratio that means they will get to the summit more quickly than I do. Fortunately, my extra ballast usually means I can catch them again on the way down the other side. Despite the effort involved, the general masochistic nature of a cyclist means they generally enjoy the suffering of going uphill on their bike. Why else would they spend so much money going on cycling holidays to mountainous areas? 

Everyone has their own reason for riding a bike. For some it’s for fitness, for others it’s to travel and see the world from a different perspective. Perhaps it’s for purely utilitarian reasons. But often, above all, it’s because it is great fun. Maybe the effort that it takes to ride a bike, especially on an ascent, makes these reasons more appreciable. In my lifetime of uphill efforts on a bike, I have never really worked out why I find so much enjoyment in suffering on a climb. 

When asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, the mountaineer George Mallory, reputedly replied with the infamous retort “Because it is there”.

Perhaps it is better not to question the why and just enjoy the activity.