Cycling is Not Suffering

We have all heard someone proudly exclaim how much they suffered on a ride or describe an activity as a “Sufferfest.” While I don’t want to belittle the difficulty of a challenging experience, I also don’t think it is just to relate suffering to a sport we are fortunate to enjoy. Cycling is a beautiful thing that connects communities and provides millions with a means of transportation, a competitive community, active meditation, and SO much more. So why would we tag this fantastic aspect of our lives with this heavy description?

“Suffering is part of our training program for becoming wise.” — Ram Dass

In endurance sports, the term suffering is so common that it loses meaning and is reshaped to become an accolade attached to a hard effort or grueling adventure. The more you think about the weight behind the word, the more you see the disconnect, and it feels entirely out of place when used to recount something as wonderful as riding our bikes.

My problem is not with people subjecting themselves to an experience that promotes growth and profound self-discovery; the problem is that these unique moments when we willingly subject ourselves to struggle are not negative. Although they may feel arduous at the moment, and we might feel empty and ready to give up, we don’t - we continue because there is something beneficial at the end. Individuals are rewarded for submitting themselves to these efforts in one way or another, be it the personal sense of accomplishment for hitting a goal, a podium result, bragging rights, or just the descent after a long climb.

To accomplish personally fulfilling things on the bike, you must offer up a part of yourself to the gods or deities that guard the road or singletrack to nirvana. Humans need to visit a special chamber in our minds to complete rides with excessive elevation, great distance, and technical segments; there is no denying the feelings you must become familiar with in moments of adversity.

When you analyze the feeling often misdiagnosed as suffering in our sport, you realize that it is enlightening and a reminder that you are alive and feeling that life, albeit unpleasant in the moment; you are still totally in control. You realize you are more powerful than the uncomfortable feeling in your legs, the burning in your lungs, and the sweat in your eyes. This is a perfect example of balance in all things, with the Bad often amplifying the Good . The struggle and perseverance to reach the top make the descents, vistas, and personal fitness milestones all the sweeter; contributing to the overall Good feelings. This perceived suffering is, in fact, a positive. This may be a masochistic way of deconstructing these sensations, but why not shift the optics to see these moments as a positive?

We live in a world where suffering is abundant, so why add riding our bikes to that tally? Maybe it is human nature to exaggerate the feelings of self-inflicted hardship to prove to ourselves and our peers that something was gained from an experience. Someone once said, “Pain is inevitable, and suffering is optional.” This gives insight into the evolution of our big ol’ brains and their ability to fabricate sensations that are not necessarily true externally but very true internally. Humans have evolved to benefit from suffering as motivation to change and improve our lives; maybe this is why we see the word used so much in cycling and endurance sports. The human mind thrives under these conditions, and we are wired to crave the sensation of adversity in order to discover more about ourselves.

How lucky we are to seek out suffering rather than be subjected to it unwillingly, as the definition suggests. With so many core needs met without external suffering, we generate and seek out internal suffering to satisfy our primal hardwiring. I see nothing wrong with the need to supplement our evolutionary requirements with a big, brutal bike ride. I fully believe in the importance of feeling uncomfortable in a world where comfort is so abundantly available, so if slogging big miles for euphoric descents or grinding out a wet and cold ride scratches that itch and gets the brain to recognize that we are ultimately okay to feel discomfort, then get after it!

Nothing comes easily in this life, and those dedicated to bettering themselves, the sport, and checking off boxes know this more than the average person. You can ask anyone who has pushed boundaries in this sport, and they will all tell you the same: Work is required, and the hard days are the foundation on which the best days are constructed. I know from personal experience, as we all do, that if you aren't subjecting yourself to rides that give you a touch of adversity, there are far more difficult days in the saddle than enjoyable ones.

If you are able to take a look at the bigger picture when in those moments of pain, you are likely to recognize how much the experience is contributing to your sense of self or raising the bar for what you think you are capable of. When you are caught in those moments, this is nearly impossible to keep in mind and could be seen as its own form of active meditation. My own experience is that it is possible to acknowledge and will take some of the edge off if you can consciously partition these feelings to show your own mind who is really in control. It might not make things easier or hurt less, but there is a sense of strength that surfaces at a time when you feel weak, and a small mental victory can make all the difference.

“No victory without suffering.”— J. R. R. Tolkien

While I can see both perspectives and am guilty of suffering on a ride, I invite us all to find another way to view this feeling and refocus our interpretation of what we are feeling during a hard ride. Is it genuinely suffering if you are subjecting yourself to it? Yes and no. Nothing is absolute, and everyone is encouraged to live, feel, and translate their own feelings however they want. However, from the perspective of someone who has dealt with plenty of non-self-inflicted suffering, I think it’s a corny description of something as life-changing and beautiful as riding a bike.