Good Cyclists

My husband is away with a friend just now, chasing ticks on Simon Warren’s app in relation to cycling climbs all over the UK. They are tackling some of the Welsh ones, and I am following them from home with the book in my hands. 

But I am slightly disturbed by something which the esteemed Mr Warren has written on the back cover of the book. He says, and I quote: “... Wales, under clear blue skies, is cycling heaven”.

Praise indeed, for the country of Wales, and justified praise too. But for me, it’s simply untrue. I can’t ride up those hills, and if I were staying with my husband in his accommodation, I would have very few bike rides available to me on account of those hills. For me, it’s a walking area. 

I’m not alone. There are plenty of people who ride bikes every day who wouldn’t want to ride up steep and hard hills only to ride back down them again. Riding up and down hills purely for the sake of it might be what some people want to do (and judging by Mr Warren’s rapid rise to fame, evidently quite a lot of people), but it’s not what everyone wants to do, nor is it what everyone is capable of doing. 

Are those of us who don’t enjoy cycling up pointless hills somehow lesser cyclists? I would argue that we are better cyclists. I have a reason for saying this. I think that if at any time you replace just one car journey with a bike ride, then you are a better cyclist. That’s because as they pursue “Warrens”, there are far too many people who drive back and forth to the foot of each of these climbs, creating unnecessary car journeys in the process, and calling themselves “good cyclists” in the process.

In fairness to my husband and to clarify, our car is still outside our house, my husband and his friend cycled from home to their accommodation, taking in a spot of tick-collecting as they went. I’m not claiming any high ground for him, and I am not saying they are better, or worse, than anyone who drives to the start of each climb.  

I’m just saying:  have respect for yourself. Because you are also a good cyclist.