Why I Love Climbing
- matthewhoulberg
- Feb 4, 2021
- 2 min read
Climbing; it's hard, unrelenting and slow. So what's so good about climbing. It's about you and your bike, strength and stamina, determination and drive, riding on your limits, battling gravity. It's selective. It's a test for training and dedication, all those cafes you've cycled past and not stopped, all the long hours on the saddle all to make you better at those climbs.
There's less wind noise, instead you have the calming feeling of heart, lungs and legs pumping; working together, doing their part. The back tire propelling you up the climb. The bike swaying beneath you.
Climbing is always the feature of the ride, how you feel on the climb is how you remember the ride went.
Where did I learn to love climbing?
When I first started cycling I was always the small one in the group, I'd get dropped on the descents and would be hanging on, on the flats, but when the road went up things seemed to change. I didn't have much power (in fact I had the smallest shorts I could find and they were still baggy, I had to use safety pins so I didn't look like a mountain biker), but when your 40kg you don't need much (200w will do, that's 5w/kg). I looked forward to the climbs, I liked getting out the saddle.
PNE club runs, there would always be a few riders wanting to get to the top of the hills first, I'd be down the road with the rest of the group looking up the hill watching who would crack first wishing I could be there too. The climb up to the Sustainability Centre, where we would stop for coffee, would always be a fierce battle, the first one to the top would be first in the que (unless you had to wait for your Dad to bring the money of course) it was like a summit finish. The stories of the climbs would be relived in the café.
Over the years I got better and I was able to keep up with the fastest riders in the group on the hills. My confidence just grew and grew and I could push myself harder and longer. When David Gwilliam started coaching me, my fitness made huge improvements. When I started road racing as a junior in 2019 it was the hilly races I looked forward to. That summer I also went cycling in the Alps and it was absolutely amazing.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short blog on why I love climbing, let me know why you love climbing in the comments.
Sign up and subscribe to be notified of new posts, it's completely free!
Matt
Comments