As cyclists, we’ve all got our own relationship with the hill.
When fighting or surfing gravity, some of us want to excel, some enjoy it, and some of us just want to get through it without our asses being handed to us, or ending up in a ravine.
The internet already contains reams of content on the how of climbing and descending — fitness, pacing, line choice, and so on. That’s all good, and you’ll find some of that here too.
But I think that there’s more to the hill and life on a bike than speed or traditional measures of efficiency. How we approach it can teach us about resilience, focus, and a dozen other things that have nothing to do with VAM. At its heart, Gravity + Grace is about the different ways we can think about the hill, so we get more out of it, whether that’s performance or something harder to put a number on.
I’ve spent a decent chunk of my professional life contemplating human behaviour and decision-making. This has been a fascinating mix of philosophy psychology, strategy and group dynamics.
I think that looking at the hill and life through these lenses can tell us something interesting, or at least different.
Philosophy — helps us think about the ‘why’, and what might actually be good for us. What the Greeks and Romans wrote over two thousand years ago about facing hardship turns out to be remarkably relevant on a long climb.
Psychology – everything we experience is filtered through our minds. Understanding how evolution shaped that filter gives us a better shot at excelling, enjoying, and avoiding stupid shit (sorry for the reminder Loulou).
Strategy – once we understand what we want, we need a plan to get there. This isn’t brain surgery or rocket science but over my career, I’ve seen some consistent and repeating patterns that can either derail your plans, or give you the best shot of getting where you want to be.
Group dynamics – humans are social creatures and like it or not we are shaped
by what others do. Whether you want to fit in with the crowd, or strike out from it, understanding how our natures nudge us in certain directions is useful.
Understanding these issues may help us choose different objectives.
Instead of looking for a KOM/leaderboard placing/PR, we might focus on the joy of riding a hill powerfully and fluidly. Not wrestling the bars or being a nodding dog, but everything working in harmony. Or perhaps being resilient when every part of our minds is telling us to stop, or being so absorbed in the climb that everything else disappears.
Grace
I’m filing all of this, and plenty else, under Grace, a word with a long and complicated philosophical history that I’m going to abuse here in a much looser sense. To me it covers everything from beauty in movement to being utterly immersed in what you doing. For most of us, a bit more Grace on a climb is a lot more attainable than a KOM and perhaps better for us.
So that’s the plan for this blog: some ideas about our relationship with the hill through different lenses. And yes, some stuff on how to do it faster too. Because notwithstanding everything I’ve said above, I still love hammering it up and down a hill.
I should say now that if you just know there is a right and wrong way of thinking about riding hills, or if this all feels like pseudo-intellectual ragebait, click here to get taken to some random corner of the internet you haven’t seen before. But if it piques your interest, stick around and share your thoughts – these issues are about perspectives and no one has all the answers.
ME
Grey panther/reasonable climber/productive overthinker/chopper for life
Strava
Better Decisions
Decision Nerds
Gravity + Grace 