Bike Riding is just Not Climbing...

For the past year, I've been pondering how and why being a fast climber is the pinnacle of MTB riding and road riding. At least, outside of the loose-jersey DH guys, this seems to be what many are striving for. Many times I've read - and experienced myself - people's "fitness running out of talent"; you know the folks who haul ass uphill just to white knuckle and on brake a descend? I also understand people's fear and risk trade-off's - although with some focus on skillful descending, many (if not most) people can overcome this.

A lot of people talk about working on their fitness for climbing - and granted, most of us can use that sort of focus. Myself, I've been trying to get faster on climbs for the past 5 years (since I started MTB'ing seriously). However, why not take a few rides out of the week to focus on downhill skills, cornering, obstacles and flow? These skills, at least in my Cat3 point of view, are equally as valuable to being a great climber.

I appreciate it when I see fast riders at the top of Strava on both uphills and downhills - but also find it strange to see fast climbers WAY behind me on DH segments. I ask: What happened there? Even though I get smoked at races, it amazes me how much faster riders will hold me up on the downhill sections.

People use the old clich�: "Races are won on the climbs..." - but what good is that if you're not racing?

I get that many people ride for many reasons - and some people will just huddle-up to their strengths. My strength is downhill, technical and flow (God Bless BMX) - so I work on my climbing to try and balance my riding... but I still work on my downhill a LOT. Not only is it fun, but to me, it makes sense to be a well-rounded rider.

Now that I got that off my chest, here's Chad Degroot's segment from Baco 10...

Source: http://www.dionridesbikes.com/2013/03/bike-riding-is-just-not-climbing.html

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