One question I often get asked is, “Aren’t there too many hills in Seattle for cycling?” My response: There aren’t enough! Hills are the straw the stirs the drink, the journey to the destination. Now am I going to ride up Denny Way or Queen Anne Ave. N.? Not if I can avoid it (which is easily done). If you want to get up high in Seattle there are several ways to skin the cat. They do involve climbing, just less grade.
But riding hills keeps one healthy and fit, and provides a daily sense of challenge in a contemporary lifestyle that can easily become lazy, humdrum and uninspired. I sum up my attitude this way: If the world were flat, I wouldn’t ride a bicycle!
Yeah, hardly anyone rides bikes in flat countries like Holland and Denmark. *cough*
Hey Maarten, you jingoist! You’re too young to remember Joop Zoetemelk but that man could climb! Bjarne wasn’t too shabby either, and props for fessing to the doping. If they all did, esp. Lance, we could move on and close the door on that chapter.