40 Things I Love About Cycling

The Para-cycling team just wrapped up a prep camp before our World Championships at the end of August. During that camp, a sports psychologist talked with the group about many things but one especially stuck out. She said that if you can’t come up with 25 reasons why you love the sport of cycling, you should do something else. So, I decided to sit down and write down some of the things I love about cycling. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Freedom

2. The friends I’ve made along the way

3. Going fast

4. Being outside

5. Being fit

6. Traveling

7. Going on adventures

8. Constant new challenges

9 Trying new things

10. Meeting people I wouldn’t meet otherwise

11. Sunshine

12. Drinking a Coke after a hard ride

13. Being tan (in places)

14. Setting goals

15. Having something to work towards

16. The peacefulness of solo rides

17. Racing

18. The organized chaos of races

19. Dropping in from the rail of the track

20. Cornering really, really hard

21. Pinning on a number

22. The sound of carbon wheels in a race

23. Being in the zone

24. The feeling of wind on my face

25. The feeling of wind at my back

26. Taking frustrations out on the bike

27. Competing with myself

28. Trying to hit the moving target that is “The Top”

29. Feeling the G-forces in the corners of the track

30. Descending

31. Following wheels

32. Motorpacing

33. Having friends around the world

34. Learning how to travel

35. Learning how to be resourceful

36. Getting to sleep a lot as part of my “job”

37. Having a lifelong hobby

38. Café rides

39. The accessibility of the sport

40. Being given opportunities I couldn’t have dreamed of before I started cycling

What do you love about cycling? The list is endless, really. What would you add?